ASLEEP Bama safety Branch could be first-round target for Joe & Gang
Joking during the NFL Combine last week, Jets general manager Joe Douglas said he is sure the media has a lot of questions about the safety prospects available in this year’s draft.
However, the backend of the Jets secondary remains a primary concern heading into free agency, which begins on March 15.
Gang Green safeties were the weakness of its improving defense a season ago. That’s why Alabama safety Brian Branch could be a target for the Jets at 13th overall.
Last Thursday, Branch met with Douglas and Jets officials before his workouts at the combine.
“Sauce Gardner, I played against him my sophomore year when we played Cincinnati, and just seeing him transform into the player he is now, I feel like is crazy,” Branch said when he met with reporters at the combine. “He’s really a lockdown corner, and it would be huge to play alongside him.
“And also Quinnen Williams. I watched him when I was a kid in high school. Just the O-line can’t mess with him.”
Last year, Gardner took the NFL by storm as a rookie as he earned first-team All-Pro and Pro Bowl honors. Branch could be the next rookie who makes an immediate impact.
During his three seasons for the Crimson Tide, Branch’s played several different positions. He can play up in the box as a strong safety, along with playing as an outside cornerback, a nickel cornerback, or even deep as a free safety.
Branch’s current NFL comparison is Steelers safety Minkah Fitzpatrick, who also played at Alabama. In three years, Branch finished with 172 tackles, 19.5 tackles for loss, four sacks and three interceptions. Fitzpatrick registered 171 tackles, 16.5 tackles for loss, five sacks and nine interceptions at Alabama.
Like Branch, Fitzpatrick was a Swiss Army Knife in Nick Saban’s defense from 2016-18. At the NFL Combine, Branch ran 4.58 seconds in the 40-yard dash after posting a 34.5-inch vertical leap.
“I love his game,” Branch said about Fitzpatrick and the comparisons between the two. “The way he’s able to play every position in the back end and able to do it at a high level, I think I’ve been able to do that my years at Alabama.”
Although he measured at 6 feet and 190 pounds at the combine, Branch only missed four tackles during his college career.
Branch’s football IQ is as high as any available prospect in the 2023 class.
“I think versatility is a great selling point to the NFL,” Branch said.
“Let them know wherever they need me, I can play.
“Just being able to go out there and work on it, I feel like it’s going to enhance my game in the long run in the future. I’ve just got to keep working at every position.”
The Jets defense made the biggest improvement in the NFL going from 32nd to fourth in yards (311.1) and points allowed per game (18.6). But both safeties Jordan Whitehead and Lamarcus Joyner were inconsistent with tackling, covering receivers and tight ends and tracking the ball. Instead of teams throwing toward Gardner and DJ Reed, they would attack Whitehead and Joyner, especially during the Jets six-game losing streak to end the year.
That’s why Branch would instantly improve the Jets secondary. While he was primarily a nickel cornerback at Alabama, Branch has the quickness and the ability to stay with faster receivers and tight ends. He also has the strength to break up passes from taller possession receivers.
Although they have other needs, especially on their offensive line, if Branch is available at 13, the Jets have to consider selecting him with the flexibility he brings to a defense.
“When I take the field, it’s almost like I’m allowed to release a sort of an anger that’s legal anger that I can’t do on an everyday basis. But when I go on the field, I’m able to make contact, and doing that just makes me be able to express myself and just have fun. I just have a mentality of I have to do my job and can’t let the opposing team do a better job than I do.”