Back in 2020, Brandon Joseph exploded onto the scene for the Northwestern Wildcats. He was a redshirt freshman and earned First-Team All-American honors and was named Big Ten Freshman of the Year. He finished 2020 with 52 total tackles, two pass deflections and six interceptions. Despite another strong season in 2021 with 80 total tackles and three interceptions, we didn’t see Joseph enter the NFL Draft as a redshirt sophomore.
Instead, we saw Joseph enter the transfer portal and he found his way to Notre Dame. In 10 games for the Fighting Irish, he didn’t look like the same player. He was no longer making one-handed interceptions in the Big Ten Championship and just wasn’t around the football the way he was doing before.
Entering the 2023 NFL Draft, Joseph didn’t blow up the Scouting Combine. His vertical jump was 30.5 inches, and his 40-yard dash was 4.62 seconds. That 40-yard dash time was tied for 4th-slowest of any defensive back and his vertical jump was the lowest of any defensive back at the Combine that year.
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The less-than-ideal performance was a contributing factor to him being undrafted to the Lions in the 2023 NFL Draft. Despite spending most of his entire rookie season on the practice squad, Joseph did play 14 special teams snaps between weeks 3 and 4 (Atlanta and Green Bay) last season.
With a season under his belt, Joseph is doing his best to prove he’s worthy of a roster spot in Detroit this summer. It’s been a strong camp for him and adding to that, he had a strong performance against the New York Giants in week one of the preseason. Let’s dive into some tape to look at what he could provide the Lions on defense this season.
During Lions training camp, one of the big things that Dan Campbell wanted to see from Brandon Joseph was for him to be more physical. Against the Giants, he showed that from time-to-time and he finished with three tackles in that game.
Looking at the play above, you’ll see the Giants come out in an unbalanced formation to the left of the defense. With an additional offensive tackle and tight end to the right of the quarterback, you’ll see Brandon Joseph (#40) move down towards the box.
Prior to the snap, the quarterback motions a receiver towards the offensive line. Once the ball is snapped, you’ll see Joseph fly up field and lower his shoulder into the receiver. Making himself difficult to block, Joseph creates enough separation to fit into a potential cutback lane for the running back. Sure enough, he meets the running back and contributes to making the tackle.
Lastly, I want to focus on Joseph being in the right place at the right time. Looking at the play above, the Lions defense is running Cover 1-Hole. All linebackers and defensive backs are playing man coverage except for Joseph. He’s aligned as the strong safety and he “funnels left” into the “hole.”
In this instance, he sits about 10-12 yards off the ball and reads the quarterback and the three receivers to his side. Sitting in the passing window of a post route, Joseph reads this one perfectly and is able to intercept this pass. With a good return, he flips the field and gives the ball back to the offense with good field position to potentially score.
Overall, there’s much to be desired with Joseph from his college tape to now. He has the ball skills to make plays and as you can see, he’s not afraid to get physical and tackle. The hope is that this will carry into the rest of the Lions preseason games and if it does, I’d anticipate for him to make the Lions 53-man roster.
Last season, we saw the Lions have three safeties listed “officially” at safety with Tracy Walker III, Kerby Joseph and Ifeatu Melifonwu. They also had Brian Branch and C.J. Gardner-Johnson, but they were listed as nickelbacks for the defense.
This season, the question will be if the Lions roster will have three safeties or four safeties in their secondary? Despite Brian Branch having the versatility to play in the slot, he’s listed as a safety with Kerby Joseph and Ifeatu Melifonwu. If the Lions are looking for that 4th safety to allow Branch more freedom to roam around the defense, then I’d look for Joseph to be part of their plans this season.