Brian Branch was one of the best rookies in the NFL last season. The Lions are pushing him to become one of the best defensive players in the game.
"He can be really good, he can be one of the better ones in the league," new defensive coach Jim O'Neil said Tuesday. "Coming off the rookie campaign he just had, some of the things he did coverage wise, run-fit wise, blitz wise, I’m excited about him. I’m really excited about him."
O'Neil smiled, knowing Branch is just getting started. He's seen some special players over his 11 years coaching defense in the NFL, including three years as coordinator with the Browns and 49ers. He had a secondary littered with Pro Bowlers in Cleveland. O'Neil is working primarily with the safeties in Detroit, where Branch is looking at an expanded role in his second season. The Lions want to unleash him.
Branch, 22, played primarily as a nickel last season. Nearly three quarters of his snaps came in the slot. But the Lions always envisioned him as a versatile weapon. Defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn often cited C.J. Gardner-Johnson as a developmental model for Branch, after helping Gardner-Johnson evolve from a nickel early in his career to a more free-ranging, hard-hitting ballhawk.
Branch and Gardner-Johnson have similar builds and play styles. They crave physicality, which is part of what made Branch such a natural fit last year at nickel where, as O'Neil said, "you gotta cover like a corner, fit the run like a linebacker and communicate and do multiple jobs like a safety." There's no escaping contact in the slot, and there was no escaping Branch. He finished fourth on the Lions in solo tackles (50) and second in tackles for loss (7). He also led the team in passes defended (13).
And now the coaches want to loosen the reins.
"I think last year they were a little more hesitant with BB to just kind of fix him at one spot, whereas now that he's going into Year 2, I think we'll be more aggressive with him," said O'Neil. "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. But at the end of the day, he still has to come out in training camp and take that job."
That job is basically all jobs in the secondary, a role in which Branch excelled at Alabama. He was an All-American defensive back in his final season when he finished second in the SEC -- to defensive end and future third overall pick Will Anderson -- in tackles for loss. Last year, he was third in the NFL among corners in defensive stops, per Pro Football Focus, which also named Branch one of its top 101 players.
Branch is still in a boot as he recovers from offseason surgery to repair an injury from last season. He was compromised for most of the year after rolling his ankle in Week 4, not that you could really tell. The Lions expect him to be ready for training camp. In the meantime, they've been challenging Branch with extra mental reps at both safety and nickel.
"He’s had an awesome offseason in the classroom," said O'Neil. "We forced him to over-communicate with us as a secondary group and as coaches. Now he’s just gotta be able to take it to the grass."
O'Neil isn't the only fresh set of eyes in the Lions' secondary. There's also new defensive backs coach DeShea Townsend, who roamed the secondary for 13 years in the NFL and won two Super Bowls with the Steelers. Townsend comes to Detroit with 10 years of NFL coaching experience, most recently as the cornerbacks coach for the Jags, and said Tuesday that "seeing (Branch's) improvement in the classroom this year has been major."
"He's a football player," Townsend said. "Wherever he's needed, he'll get it done. You can’t dress everybody. You have to have guys that have position flex, and that’s a testament to who Brian Branch is. He's a guy that you know can play nickel and you know he can play safety, it's just what's best for the team."
What's best for the Lions this season remains to be seen. Their secondary, a glaring weakness a year ago, has been overhauled with the arrival of veteran corners Carlton Davis III and Amik Robertson and rookies Terrion Arnold and Ennis Rakestraw. Robertson and Rakestraw look like natural fits in the slot, with Davis III and Arnold on the outside.
This much is clear when it comes to Branch: As soon as he gets back on the field, the Lions don't want him coming off.
"In the role he had last year I thought he played really well as a rookie," said O'Neil. "Now it's, can he make that next jump as a second-year player and can he make that next jump just being fixed as a safety or maybe being a safety and a nickel? Those are all things we're going to figure out in training camp."