I know he will be good. I hope Brodric Martin or Colby end up being the super sleepers of the draft. I saw somebody (a nobody) on twitter say Colby was the biggest sleeper in the draft. I hope they were not just talking about his size! I loved the interview with Colby… that is for sure
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Definitely wasn’t character. @Owen16 referenced this but allow me to expound.
He wasn’t just a player who came back for day 2 in street clothes. Of all the people in the green room at the end of day 1, he was the only player to come back for day 2. Sat in that big room all by himself waiting. Everybody else took their ball and went home.
In his immediate presser with draft media, he talked about much his father meant to him (died a couple of years ago), and how much his mother did for him. “I can’t wait to finally turn the tables and take care of her. She sacrificed so much. I wouldn’t be here without her. She’s my MVP.”
If nothing else, this young man was raised right.
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This cat continues to amaze me… some jaw-dropping hits and wraps up very well. Can’t believe he fell so far. This dude with 41k subscribers thinks he was top 10 material.
Gotta believe between Branch, Capt Jack, and the free-agent DBs this D is gonna look a lot tighter than last year’s crew.
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That’s the crazy thing. If we had picked Branch at 18 and Campbell at 45, Detroit would have been hailed as killing day 1 & day 2.
We KNOW for a fact that Branch was going to slide that far. We don’t know that Campbell was going to slide that far. So it’s very possible, if these were the guys you wanted, this was the order to take them in.
As far as Branch’s tackling ability, it’s a good example of why I love the Branch pick and why I’m not too hot on the Campbell pick. Watch the feet. Rewatch the highlight reel above but watch his feet. Look how quickly he recognizes what the play is and is going 100% to where the ball is going to be. His target hasn’t even secured the ball, or even had time to read what is going on and Branch is already there. Branch sees the play and starts heading in the correct direction. Rodrigo was like this last year when I watched his highlights. It’s why a guy than less than ideal height was able to play solid last year.
Now Campbell. It’s like his take off is just a 1/2 too slow. Once he recognizes, he’s great. I watched his high school tape recently and thought it looked better than his Iowa tape. Maybe the Lions did too and this is the type of guy we are getting. Maybe Iowa was coaching him not to be too aggressive in attacking plays.
Well see how this pick turns out, but IMO Brian Branch falling to us in the 2nd round is going to be yet another prime example of how NFL teams lose their minds and talk themselves out of really good football players in the time between the end of the season and the Scouting Combine.
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Combine measurables.
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I watched that video today as well…
It is pretty impressive.
Branch may not have tested like an underwear gold medal olympian… but he didn’t have much trouble with SEC speen.
The video showed 1 play where Worthy of Texas beat him for. TD…
though I think the single high safety messed up and didn’t get enough depth. Regardless… Worthy is a bit of a stud… and getting beat happens to everyone. 
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This is a fun thread of highlights… really excited for him to learn under AG and CJ, he’s absolutely going to be an immediate impact player I think. Not a “starter” but by mid season he’s gonna be heavily involved in the secondary.
Probably a lot of the same highlights as you’ve seen but just really excited for this guy.
https://twitter.com/fueledbymotown/status/1654985188256907265?s=46&t=taK5zOfbtzZopwkwUl7OGA
As the old saying goes…
…think long, think wrong.
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IMO Branch will start game one with CJGJ starting at safety instead of Walker. Also, why do folks assume CJ will leave next year? If the Lions have a good season - why wouldn’t he stay? Admittedly- not a cap expert.
The secondary looks nasty on paper. Everyone plays well against the run too.
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You could very well be right, let the best man win the spots in training camp. If Branch earns it, put him in there. Gotta earn it though.
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Its a great problem to have.
Branch is our new “star”.
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Word. I love and wanted both players. The big boy in the middle they picked is the wildcard, but the Lions addressed the secondary and LB which HAD to happen. They happened to get the BEST two guys!
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Brad said he didnt expect us to be able to afford him this year. If he has a great year here you can expect his next contract to be 10mil more per year than we are paying him now.
Worthy is fast as all hell. Tough ask of Branch.
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