The Detroit Lions' talk of moving Brian Branch to safety last offseason was backed up by moves to bolster the cornerback depth chart, so he could be moved off the slot corner role he was so good in as a rookie. The move has worked out well, with Branch and Kerby Joseph forming arguably the best safety duo in the league.
Branch's move to safety did not remove the versatility he offers. Here's how his 916 defensive snaps over 16 regular season games were divvied up (according to Pro Football Focus)
- Free safety: 328 snaps
- Slot corner: 272 snaps
- In The Box: 226 snaps
- Defensive Line (OLB spots): 65 snaps
- Wide Corner: 25 snaps
For comparison sake, Branch lined up in the slot for 530 of his 786 defensive snaps during the 2023 regular season.
Branch also rarely came off the field, playing 91 percent of the Lions' defensive snaps in the 16 regular season games he played. If not for suffering a concussion in Week 3 against the Arizona Cardinals and being ejected in Week 9 against the Green Bay Packers, and a couple blowout wins, his snap share would have been even higher.
Brian Branch put up numbers not recently seen from a defensive back this season
As the start of training camp loomed, Lions head coach Dan Campbell talked about how the move to safety could make Branch even more impactful than he was as a rookie.
"Branch is a guy that has got a lot of flexibility and versatility in what he can do," Campbell said in late-July. "Certainly we know he can play the nickel position, but safety, you can make a lot of plays at the nickel and produce in this defense. But safety is, you’re talking about you’ve got a lot of freedom within the structure, within the system. You talk about making plays, you can make some plays there."
Branch finished the season with 109 total tackles, 16 pass breakups, four interceptions and eight tackles for loss on his way to earning a Pro Bowl selection. Pro Football Focus also gave him the best run defense among qualified safeties (90.0), as he finished as the site's 11th-best graded safety overall.
A segment of the above statistics put Branch in a category not seen from a defensive back in a long time, as noted by The 33rd Team.
To put it plainly, 100 or more tackles, 15 or more pass breakups and five or more tackles for loss in a season means you're around the ball a lot. Branch's nose for the ball in college at Alabama has translated well over his two NFL seasons, which makes it even more egregious that he fell to the second round of the 2023 draft.
