Brian Branch is not a secret to Detroit Lions' fans, and any team the Lions faced last year certainly has some impression of him. Primarily playing nickel corner as a rookie last year, Pro Football Focus graded him out as their 14th-best cornerback in the league.
Branch is shifting toward primarily playing safety in his second season, where he is in line to be deployed in a variety of ways by defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn and practically never come off the field. He is looking forward to a particular part of that new role, as a blitzer.
As the season approaches, Branch is getting some late attention as a breakout candidate for this year. That attention may now hit a different level.
Brian Branch makes notable list of 2024 breakout candidates
No one hits 100 percent of the time on anything, but "Good Morning Football" co-host Peter Schrager has a pretty good track record when he unearths his unique list of breakout players before each season. Last year, he had Lions' running back Jahmyr Gibbs at No. 3 on his top-10 list of breakout players.
Friday morning, Schrager unveiled the final five of his top-10 breakout players for this year. Branch came in at No. 5.
#5 on @PSchrags annual Breakout Player list:
— Good Morning Football (@gmfb) August 23, 2024
Brian Branch, DB, Detroit Lions @Lions @BrianBB_1 | #OnePride pic.twitter.com/tTqIPtkbwT
"Who's No. 32 on the Lions? That is their starting safety, Brian Branch. 6-feet, 200 pounds, out of Alabama. Second year in the league, Brian Branch was all over the field last season. Played in 15 games, had 74 tackles, three different interceptions...he led Detroit with 13 passed defensed, and he's going to be the man calling the shots from the middle of this talented and decorated, young Lions' defense.....Brian Branch is gonna step up, I'm talking Pro Bowl season from the safety spot. One of Nick Saban's favorite players on defense that he ever had, now Branch is gonna make Aaron Glenn's defense sing..."
-Peter Schrager, NFL Network's "Good Morning Football"
Schrager even started his soliloquy about Branch with the question a lot of people on a national scale may have been asking when the picture was shown during the segment-"Who's No. 32 on the Lions?" Then he proceeded to answer the question for the uninitiated, while predicting a second-year boom for Branch.
Further validation for Branch as a breakout candidate this year wasn't necessarily needed, but it's nice to see the bandwagon grow in a notable way.