Year 2 is always an important season for players looking to take their games to another level and that couldn’t be closer to the truth for Lions second-year cornerback Brian Branch.
Detroit’s second-round pick from a year ago made an immediate impact as a rookie, registering 74 tackles, one sack, one forced fumble, three interceptions, 13 passes defensed and one touchdown. That all came in 15 games, nine of which he started.
Defensive assistant Jim O’Neil believes if Branch can stay healthy, he could see a lot more playing time in 2024.
“Last year they were a little more hesitant with BB to just kind of fix him at one spot. Now that he’s going into Year 2, I think we’ll be more aggressive with him,” O’Neil said, via the team’s website. “He’s the type of player you want to see out there on all three downs, so we’re going to push him to that. At the end of the day, he still has to come out in training camp, and he has to take that job.”
Branch will have to prove in training camp that he should be one of 11 Lions who can be on the field for every defensive snap, but he will also have to prove he can play safety after playing most of his rookie year at nickel.
O’Neil said defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn prefers his nickel corners to have some safety in their background because of how much they ask those players to play the run.
“Now it’s, can he make the next jump as a second-year player and can he make the next jump maybe just being fixed as a safety or maybe being a safety and a nickel,” O’Neil asked. “That’s all things we’re going to figure out in training camp.”
Branch must first get healthy. He didn’t take part in the spring OTAs and minicamp practices as he was rehabbing from postseason surgery.
However, Branch is expected to be ready come training camp and Detroit is confident he’ll continue to build upon the team’s young nucleus of players who will look to pick up right where they left off in the NFC title game last season.
“I think he can be really good,” O’Neil finished. “I think he can [be one of the] better ones in the league coming off the rookie campaign he just had and some of the things he did coverage-wise and run-fit-wise and blitzing. I’m excited about him. I’m really excited about him.”