It was a zone and the player behind him didn’t pick up the player.
So I’ll be in the minority I guess. I think BB is a fantastic player. Like All Pro fantastic. Sure, Kerby makes him look even better. But he is damn good. I see people remembering the plays he didn’t make, but he made a lot of players too. I did think the TD was a weird deal when he stopped running. Really love the dude though. One of my very favorite Lions.
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The coverage was very good on that 4th down throw.
It took a perfectly placed ball and Wicks still had to make a tough contested catch.
Branch also made a great play on a pass to Watson in the game..
when matched up in man coverage….
and Watson is ~ 4 inches taller with great speed.
The pass rush is not helping the DBs… hard to put too much blame on them when there is very little quick pressure from the front.
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That shit was just perfect offense. We did get pressure. Interior pressure. And a dot in the perfect place and then the difficult catch. Just tip your hat.
The first one though. I’m just so deeply curious as to WTF even happened w/ BB.
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Well, here’s his explanation. Still leaves me a bit mystified but oh well.
Have you guys seen how fast Talanoa Hufanga comes, Hutchinson,kerby and branch can just look
Jack Campbell has been balling out this year
I’ve been thinking about Branch a lot, because we are now in his second year in a row of relatively quiet production. I think Branch’s best year was in 2023. I started looking at what was Branch doing in 2023, and what changed in 2024-2025? Here’s what I think happened. In 2023, we started the year with Kerby and CJGJ as the deep safeties. Branch played mostly as the nickel corner spot as a 3rd safety. I think he is excellent in this role. Once CJGJ tore his pec, Iffy and Kerby basically played deep safety, and the Lions would rotate between Branch or Iffy rushing and that kept teams off guard.
In 2024, Iffy was hurt (as usual) and the Lions moved on from CJGJ. Branch moved back to deep safety with Kerby. I think he is good, but not as great in this role. The Lions idea was for Kerby and Branch to play deep safety and for Amik to handle the nickle spot. Injuries have basically stopped us from seeing that happen at any point. Now with Kerby being out for most of the year, Branch has been playing deep safety with Harper.
When I look at Branch’s best game this year, it had to be the Washington game. The Lions played Branch more at the LOS than in other games and it worked great. I think Branch is a fantastic blitzer. I think he works great in tight space. I think the more open the field gets, that’s where Branch’s lack of elite speed begins to hurt him. Also, in a stange way, I think his propensity to run forward from the deep spot leads to him launching himself too much at guys and causes him to get too many penalties and fines for the late hits or launching.
I like Branch a lot as a player, but I think he might be best suited to being closer to the line and playing as a strong safety or big nickel type guy. I do not think there is any shame in this either. Teams passed on Branch because he doesn’t have elite size and foot speed. Well, when you play him closer to the LOS, his size is a benefit to slip between gaps in the OL to blitz, and his lack of elite speed is less exposed.
What do you guys think?
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100%. I’m fully on board with Branch as a nickel/3rd safety/ in the box. But as a deep safety, he’s just not as good. He’s best shutting down tight ends, running backs, and blitzing off the edge. But we’ve started playing a ton of base-defense with 3 LBs, so Branch is playing more deep safety.
Kerby is a natural at FS- a roving ball hawk with good speed. We need a second decent deep safety and then Branch can play in the slot/ nickel spot. I like him so much better there.
I’ve been calling out Branch since the beginning of the season… Glad to see some of you are catching on. He’s not a bad player, but he’s not the playmaker he was his rookie season. He’s much better when he’s playing up near the line, sniffs out the screens/swing passes well… He’s just okay in coverage, some good some bad… But when you factor in his tendency to get a PF with late hits/hits to the helmet, I question his value in that role
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I thought he was terrific last year.
I dont agree. I think Branch is best at saftey, and he was fantastic last season. At first it was a competition between him and Kerby about who would get the most INT’s. They were considered the best saftey duo. Shepp has him in the box plenty and blitzing the QB. He’s still a tackling machine racking up tackles, but he just hasn’t been making plays this season. I also think part of it is Shepp.
Some of you don’t care for AG, but IMO they are really missing him right now.