Player: Brian Branch
School: Alabama
Measurables:
- Height: 6’ (NFL Combine)
- Weight: 190 (NFL Combine)
- 40: 4.58(NFL Combine)
- 10 Yard Split: 1.56(NFL Combine)
- Bench: 14(NFL Combine)
- Vertical Jump: 34.5”(NFL Combine)
- Broad Jump: 10.5”(NFL Combine)
- 3 Cone: DNP
- 20 Yard Shuttle: DNP
- Other Notes: Branch ran a little slower than I would’ve thought, but overall his day wasn’t too bad. He looked good in positional drills, which helped his overall Combine performance.
Graded Position Specific Traits:
- Field Vision: 8.25/10
- Range: 5.75/10
- In-The-Box Zone Coverage: 7.25/10
- Deep Zone Coverage(If Applicable): 6.25/10
- Tackling: 7.5/10
- Man Coverage: 6.75/10
- Run Support: 5/10
- Blitzing(If Applicable): 8.25/10
Prospect Grade: 55/80; 68.6%- Top tier starter, who is a borderline pro bowler. Potentially in the pro bowl conversation almost every year though.
Projected Draft Day: Mid-Late Round 1
Player Comparison: CJ Gardner-Johnson
Player Summary:
Brian Branch is an extremely solid prospect. Do I think he’s a generational talent? I don’t think so, but you are definitely getting yourself a high end day one starter. Branch in my opinion was the best player in the Alabama secondary, and if I’m being honest I actually thought he was a better linebacker than To’oto’o. I know that’s probably a huge hot take, and I don’t really care.
One of the first things you notice about Branch is his extreme versatility across the defense. He primarily played nickel for the Tide, but based on how they would spin coverages and things like that Branch would end up playing safety. I didn’t fully take note of when he was playing like a “sub-package linebacker” role, but it seemed like he was there whenever Malachi Moore came in to play nickel.
These are neither positive nor negative notes, but more so just notes about his style of play. Branch for the most part seems to play the pass before he does the run. In coverage he is more likely to play off than in your face. From the tape I watched, I think he does that because it allows him to read the field better than when he’s pressed in your face.
Here are the positives I saw in Branch’s game. He is a good and reliable tackler. The first game I watched was Tennessee, and I had concerns about his tackling, but as I continued to watch more games, I saw that Branch wasn’t as bad as his first impression suggested. Branch is also a pretty good coverage prospect. I thought he did really well against both Jalin Hyatt and Kayshon Boutte in the slot.
Branch is also a great blitzer and can be really disruptive. He flashes the ability to be absolutely relentless. If he gets blocked he will continue trying to get to the QB. Branch has laid out RB while blitzing, he does not care who or what is in his way. Branch is also not afraid of lineman. He will stand toe-to-toe against lineman without flinching. He will attack lineman in the same way that he would a WR or TE.
Now onto the negatives. In zone, sometimes he can have his eyes glued in the backfield. He can see things in front of him, but once they cross face he is just unaware of what’s going on behind him at times. In coverage, he can be too handsy and too aggressive at times. He got flagged a few times for holding/PI. I know that it’s normal for a DB to get flagged, but I could tell just by the way he plays he may need to be a little more careful as he heads to the league. His footwork isn’t bad, but it looks like it could use some work. His ability to plant his foot in the ground and change direction/break on a route looks like it’s not great. Assuming it’s not in his footwork, I would just note that his closing speed isn’t great. There are some plays where he looks like he just does not have good enough range to make a play on the ball.