Detroit Lions' Brian Branch: Rookie season a 'great stepping stone,' better things to come
LAS VEGAS – The reminders were everywhere.
At the airport when he arrived in town for Super Bowl 58. On billboards and placards and the Las Vegas’ Sphere as he Ubered to his hotel. Even in Defensive Rookie of the Year voting, where he earned six third-place votes to finish seventh for the award.
Brian Branch and the Detroit Lions had good seasons in 2023. Branch established himself as a long-term starter and playmaker in the secondary, and the Lions reached the NFC championship for the first time in 32 years.
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But everything about the season left Branch wanting more.
He wasn’t happy to be in the “others receiving votes” category for Rookie of the Year.
“I feel like I could have done more,” he said.
And he was bummed to be doing paid promotions on radio row days before the Super Bowl.
“We should be here,” were the first words out of Branch’s mouth when he greeted a reporter Friday on radio row. “We should be here. Literally.”
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Branch played 15 games and made nine starts as a rookie and exceeded just about everyone’s expectations but his own.
He tied for second on the team with three interceptions and returned one for a touchdown off Super Bowl MVP Patrick Mahomes. He had 74 tackles, including seven for loss. And he shined as a slot cornerback, where he projects to be an important player on the Lions’ young defense for years to come.
Branch said he finished the season with mixed feelings about his play
“I had my ups and downs and I feel like I left a lot of plays out there on the table that I was supposed to make,” he told the Free Press. “I’m still thinking about that and I’m not kind of proud of that, and I feel like my next year is going to have to be my biggest year.”
Branch was one of just three defensive backs to receive DROY votes. Seattle Seahawks cornerback Devon Witherspoon finished fourth, while Pittsburgh Steelers cornerback Joey Porter Jr. had the same number of points as Branch (sixth) but tied for fifth because he had one first-place vote; Houston Texans pass rusher Will Anderson won the award.
Specifically, Branch said there are two areas of improvement he plans to focus on this offseason.
“I want to say still covering, not really using my hands in a way,” he said. “Like down the field, I have a tendency of using them and you can’t touch these receivers. That, and just my blitzes. I feel like I choked on a lot of blitzes.”
Branch had a lower passer rating against (81.3) than Witherspoon, according to Pro Football Reference, but he tied for second on the Lions with six penalties, including four defensive holding or illegal contact flags.
As a blitzer, Branch had one sack, two quarterback knockdowns and five hurries on 31 blitzes, according to PFR.
“Just sometimes I would hesitate instead of just going full speed,” he said. “If I would have went full speed, it would have been the difference between a sack and a pressure.”
Notoriously hard on himself, Branch begrudgingly admitted he had a good season overall by the time his interview with the Free Press was done.
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He was one of the Lions’ most disruptive defensive players all season. He saw time at safety, his potential future position, after an early-season injury to C.J. Gardner-Johnson. And he enters the offseason healthy and hungry for 2024.
“Great stepping stone,” he said. “I look back at my favorite players and I don’t think they had the rookie season that I had, but just got to keep going.”
Contact Dave Birkett at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Lions DB Brian Branch: Rookie season a 'great stepping stone'
