6 Detroit Lions players who could be first-time Pro Bowlers in 2024

4. CB/S Brian Branch

Branch was the best player in the Lions' secondary last year as a rookie. He moved into the primary slot/nickel corner role, and thrived (74 total tackles, seven tackles for loss, a team-high 13 pass breakups, three interceptions, PFF's 14th-best graded cornerback). If he hadn't missed two games, he may well have joined Gibbs and LaPorta as a rookie Pro Bowler.

There has been plenty of talk all offseason about Branch will seeing more time at safety this year. Moving him completely away from slot corner still feels foolish, but playing safety (and thus being designated more so as such) could allow him to compile noticeable numbers at a thinner position in terms of worthy Pro Bowlers.

If Branch refines some little areas of his game (as he noted himself), and takes another step this year, it will be hard to make a case that he shouldn't be a Pro Bowler.

3. CB Carlton Davis

Over his last couple seasons with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Davis' overall level of play fell off. Durability has also become a thing with him, with at least four missed games in three straight seasons. But his skill set seems to match what the Lions need and want from their perimeter corners, and his scheme fit with Tampa Bay (fairly zone heavy) was easy to question.

At 27 years old (28 in December), the cornerback who twice finished second in the league in pass breakups (19 in 2019, 18 in 2020) presumably still exists within Davis. Better health (fingers crossed) and a defensive scheme that better suits him may be all that stands in the way of him earning a Pro Bowl nod for the first time in his career. It's not a stretch to say the Lions are counting on him re-establishing that type of form.