Lions roster preview: Will Brian Branch shine in a bigger role?

As we head toward a new season, All Lions is looking at each member of the 53-man roster to recap their 2023-24 season and look ahead to the upcoming campaign. Today, we focus on defensive back Brian Branch. Check out our past stories on each member of the offense , punter Jack Fox , the plan at kicker , the defensive linemen and the linebackers .

The Detroit Lions currently seem to have the Midas touch in the draft, with nearly every young player turning into a gem.

Brian Branch looks like another one after his outstanding rookie season.

As a rookie, the second-round pick played mostly in the slot but was kind of a do-it-all player for the Lions. This year, he seems ready for a bigger role, with perhaps more time at safety. Will he continue to excel with more on his plate?

Despite being listed as Detroit’s starting strong safety, Pro Football Focus lists Branch as a corner due to his time in the slot last season. So, compared to other corners, he ranked 14th in overall grade (78.9), 11th in pass-rush (64.2), 21st in coverage (77.7) and seventh in run defense (83.9), according to PFF. For reference, those grades would’ve ranked 14th, 40th, 16th and eighth among safeties, respectively, and his biggest weakness was a still-respectable 68.9 tackling grade (tied for 29th among cornerbacks and 43rd among safeties).

While he’s listed as Detroit’s starting safety and he may play that more often, part of the 22-year-old’s value is that ability to move around and do everything well.

He played in the box on over 100 snaps (tied for the 12th-most among corners), had the 13th-most snaps in the slot, started three dozen plays along the defensive line (tied for the fourth-most among corners) and played 34 snaps — one fewer than he played near the defensive linemen — at safety.

In doing so, he generated:

• nine pressures (tied for fourth-most among corners),
• 64 tackles (12th-most among corners), and
• 34 stops — tackles constituting a “failure” for the offense (tied for third-most among corners).

He held the opposition to:

• 42 catches on 67 targets — a 62.7% reception rate that was just the 69th-highest among corners,
• 424 yards (71st-most among corners),
• 10.1 yards per catch (the 27th-lowest mark among corners),
• 196 yards after the catch (46th-most among corners), and
• An 86.9 passer rating allowed (78th-highest among corners).

He did allow five touchdowns (tied for the 14th-most among cornerbacks) and was flagged for six penalties (tied for the 19th-most among cornerbacks), but he also picked off three passes (tied for 12th-most among corners) and had 11 pass break-ups (tied for the fifth-most among corners).

That’s incredible production for anyone but absolutely outstanding for a rookie.

He’s shown what he can do and that he can handle more. Now, it’s time to see if he can continue to improve or at least maintain that level with more on his shoulders.