Brian Branch, a top 20 worthy prospect, falls all the way to the second round, right into the lap of the Detroit Lions. Why did the co-defensive player of the year at Alabama fall down everyone’s Big Board? What type of player is he? Is Branch potentially the steal of the draft? And how can he help the Lions achieve their ultimate goal of winning a Super Bowl?
Read a full 2023 Detroit Lions draft breakdown, along with draft grades, here.
To say Brad Holmes took Lions fans for a ride during the NFL draft would be an understatement. After trading out of the 6th pick and drafting a running back 12th overall and an off-ball linebacker 18th, NFL Twitter ripped the Lions to shreds for their day one draft performance. Before Lions fans could even process what on earth happened (and more importantly, why it happened), Holmes snagged Sam LaPorta, Iowa tight end, off the board with the 34th pick.
Whether or not the Lions needed to draft a tight end was already a hot topic amongst the One Pride community. And considering Michael Mayer, who many draft experts believed was the best tight end prospect in the class, was still on the board during the pick, it was difficult to understand what was running through Brad Holmes’s mind. Throw in the 25-year-old quarterback with a torn ACL the Lions drafted, and you’ve got a fanbase with questions.
Through all the controversy and confusion on draft night, one pick levitates above the rest; Alabama defensive back Brian Branch.
What Makes Branch Special?
When the Lions signed Chauncey Gardner Johnson in free agency, it opened the door for new defensive wrinkles in Detroit. In Johnson’s four years in the NFL, he’s been listed as a defensive back, linebacker, and safety, per Pro Reference. Gardner-Johnson’s versatility as a football player will allow Lions’ defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn to play different types of coverages, formations, and blitzes, all with the same personnel; every DCs dream. I refer to these players as X-Factors or Wildcards rather than strictly labeling them a safety or corner. It’s rare to find one of these players, and now the Lions have two.
Listed as a safety at Alabama, Brian Branch wreaked havoc in the SEC, giving quarterbacks headaches and opposing head coaching the urge to drink. In 13 games his senior season, the Georgia native broke up seven passes and reeled in two interceptions while adding three sacks as part of his 14 tackles for a loss, only trailing third overall pick Will Anderson on the Alabama defense (Branch was second on the team in solo tackles). The mayhem Branch caused landed him a spot on the All-American second team.
Branch plays with a relentless edge. He’s always at the location of the ball by the time the whistle stops play if he hasn’t already stopped it himself. His ability to see plays develop ahead of time leads to inexplicable closeout speed.
In a zone scheme, if an opposing receiver wasn’t prepared to get cracked within a nano-second of making contact with the ball, they must’ve not the scouting report on Branch. And in man coverage, it was nearly impossible to create separation on route breaks. Once the ball was on the way, Branch was coming in hotter than a summer day in Miami, smothering the offensive target and using his hands to break up the play, rarely drawing a penalty (he only drew five pass interference flags all season).
Watching Branch play is like watching a coked-up lion hunt its prey. He sniffs out the ball, and nothing but time can prevent him from getting to it. The 21-year-old has an uncanny tendency to get into the backfield in three different ways. 1) He can toss weaker wide receivers off him without being thrown off course. 2) He can lineup up in the box as a linebacker and find a gap within trenches to explode through. 3) He can stand at the line of scrimmage like a Pit Bull Terrier, ready to be unchained at the snap of the ball. (Animal metaphor count: two). But wait, there’s more!
It’s not just his ability to get into the backfield that makes Branch a special player, but what he does once he gets there. ‘Over-pursuing’ was a (frankly, overused) phrase thrown out when criticizing rookie edge Aidan Hutchinson last season. The very first thing Branch does when he crosses the line of scrimmage is break down and analyze. It often leads to indecisive decision-making by offensive players, resulting in a loss of yards.
Branch also returned two punts his final season with the Crimson Tide, bringing one to the house for a touchdown.
So, Why Did He Fall?
The standout senior was a sure thing to be a top-20 pick until the NFL combine. Branch’s 40-yard dash time was relatively ‘slow’ compared to other defensive backs at the combine.
- Branch: 4.58
- Average Strong Safety: 4.55
- Average Free Safety: 4.53
- Average Corner: 4.48
- Average Outside Linebacker: 4.60
- Average Inside Linebacker: 4.76
Branch scored an underwhelming 58 on the NFL’s athleticism chart based on each combine event. The score ranked 32nd amongst CBs. However, the 96 production score Branch earned was the highest at the combine.
Still, the speed alarmed teams, as each organization passed on the safety at least once during the draft. But, after watching his peers get selected for three and a half hours without hearing his name called during night one, Branch never lost his composure.
“I feel like I should have been called yesterday, but, you know, God’s got a plan, and I’m happy it’s Detroit,” Branch said moments after being drafted. “Chauncey Gardner-Johnson is there, and I’m ready to be there with him and learn a lot from him.”
What Should We Expect for 2o23 and the Future?
In a loaded secondary featuring an ascending Kirby Joseph, five-year veteran and captain Tracy Walker, and newcomers Cam Sutton, Emmanuel Moseley, and CJ Gardner Johnson, who led the league in interceptions last season, it’s going to be difficult for Branch to earn a high volume of snaps early in the season. But a player as talented as Branch can’t be kept off the field for too long. Expect his workload to slowly increase as the season goes on, eventually having an impactful role in the secondary; hopefully sooner rather than later if you’re Aaron Glenn. With that said, there are few players Branch could learn more from than 25-year-old CJ Gardner-Johnson, a fourth-round pick in 2019.
Gardner Johnson signed just a one-year deal with Detroit after helping lead the Eagles to an NFC Championship a season ago. He’s a talented player who brings a handful of things to the defense, but there’s a reason he’s been under contract with three different teams in his young career.
Over the last decade, signing big-name safeties to big-time contracts hasn’t led to big-time success. The Saints, unwilling to hand out a premium contract, moved Gardner-Johnson to Philadelphia when he was on an expiring contract. The Eagles, fresh off a Super Bowl appearance, didn’t see the value in resigning Gardner-Johnson to a long-term contract despite leading the league in INTs. The Lions signed the former Florida Gator to just a one-year contract rather than locking up the stud DB to a multi-year deal. To put it simply, there are a handful of other positions teams prioritize paying before safety.
Highest paid safeties in the NFL, per overthecap:
- Derwin James | $76 million
- Minkah Fitzpatrick | $72 million
- Jamal Adams | $70 million
- Jessie Bates III | $64 million
- Harrison Smith | $64 million
The way CJ Gardner-Johnson has been playing, he’ll certainly want to get paid as much, if not more, than everyone on the list above, deservingly so. But are the Lions willing to be the team to hand out the massive contract? Or did Brad Holmes draft Gardner-Johnson’s replacement when the premium prospect fell into the second round?
Aaron Glenn and Brad Holmes will have an entire year to make any long-term decisions. But if Branch quickly adapts to the speed of the NFL and shows flashes of excellence his rookie season, it wouldn’t be shocking if the Lions didn’t offer CJ Gardner-Johnson a new contract next off-season.