The idea of Brian Branch seeing more action at safety is nothing new. We just haven’t seen it, since he was recovering from ankle surgery during OTAs. The additions the Lions made at cornerback have opened the door to the idea, even after Branch was one of the top slot corners in the league (and Pro Football Focus’ No. 14th-highest graded cornerback overall) as a rookie last year.
Branch was a versatile piece in Nick Saban’s defense at Alabama. Last year that versatility was limited, with the majority of his snaps coming in the slot. Overall the Lions secondary is deeper and more versatile now, which opens the door to Branch moving around and practically never leaving the field.
Branch quickly came off the PUP list as training camp gets rolling. There’s no need to rush him into action on the practice field in the coming days, but in due time we should see how how some combinations in the Lions’ secondary will look.
Dan Campbell thinks Brian Branch can be even more impactful at safety
Branch was an all-around force last season, with 74 total tackles (fifth on the team), seven tackles for loss (tied for second on the team), three interceptions (tied for second on the team) and a team-high 13 pass breakups. But there are some natural limitations to playing slot corner, in terms of the bigger picture of making impactful plays.
On Thursday morning, via SI.com, head coach Dan Campbell, pointed to Branch’s potential playing safety.
“Branch is a guy that has got a lot of flexibility and versatility in what he can do,” Campbell said. “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.”
#Lions coach Dan Campbell on Brian Branch playing high safety…
"You can make a lot of plays at the nickel and produce in this defense, but safety…you've got a lot of freedom within the structure, within the system…you could make some plays."
— Nolan Bianchi (@nolanbianchi) July 25, 2024
Campbell again pointed to the variety of options the Lions have in the secondary, which will certainly be explored during training camp and allows some flexibility for where Branch will play.
“We have options now and we’ve got some guys that we think pretty highly of in the secondary room. It’s all about finding the best combination of who, certainly outside, nickel, safety. So we’re just gonna keep moving them and keep mixing them in.”
It still feels foolish to move Branch off the slot corner role he was so good in last year very much. But it’s also fairly foolish to not explore all options and combinations in the secondary, and nothing ever has to be set in stone.
