If you were to select the Detroit Lions’ most underrated or unappreciated player, whatever term you want, quarterback Jared Goff would be the obvious choice, and you would not be incorrect. However, despite the team’s success last season, he is not the only Lions player that is underappreciated by many. When Pro Football Focus released their ranking of the top-25 players in the NFL under the age of 25 for the 2024 season, five Lions made the cut. There was, however, one major snub, as evidenced by PFF’s own date.
Brian Branch, operating as the Lions’ slot corner during his rookie season last year, was PFF’s 14th-ranked cornerback with a 78.9 overall grade. His 83.9 run defense grade was sixth-best at the position, and his 77.7 coverage grade was in the top 25. Being a slot corner/safety probably hurt him to make the “top-25 under 25” compared to others who play more glamorous positions.
Pro Football Focus analyst practically retcons Brian Branch young players’ snub
Working for The 33rd Team on a series looking the most under appreciated players on each team, sorted by division, PFF’s Steve Palazollo and Sam Monson took a run at the NFC North.
Monson called Branch the Lions’ most undervalued player. The Branch portion lasts roughly 33 seconds and ends around 1:03 in the video.
“I think Brian Branch is an absolutely underappreciated player. Safety, slot corner, do-it-all at Alabama in college. I think if he ran a faster 40 time, we would be talking about this guy as a top-10 prospect, top-10 player, coming into the NFL. Hit the ground running, the Lions said ‘you are our slot corner’, he goes out there and absolutely dominates in Year 1, exactly the way he did in college. This guy is a superstar player, and doesn’t get the recognition he should for being exactly that.”
