Quarterback Jared Goff is the obvious choice if you were to choose the Detroit Lions’ most undervalued or underrated player—whichever term you choose—and you wouldn’t be incorrect.
But even with the team’s success the previous season, it’s also fair to argue that he isn’t the only Lions player who isn’t well-known to many.
Five Lions players were included in Pro Football Focus’s ranking of the top-25 players in the NFL under 25 heading into the 2024 season (just one other team had more than two).
But PFF’s own date revealed at least one significant omission.
With a 78.9 overall grade, Brian Branch, who played as the slot corner for the Lions in his rookie campaign last year, was placed 14th among cornerbacks by PFF.
His 77.7 coverage grade was in the top 25, while his 83.9 run defense grade was sixth-best at the position. Being a safety/slot corner probably made it harder for him to crack the “top-25 under 25” than it would have for players who play more glamorous positions.
PFF’s Steve Palazollo and Sam Monson made a run at the NFC North while working for The 33rd Team on a series looking at the most underappreciated players on each team, grouped by division.
Branch was regarded by Monson as the Lions’ most undervalued player. The section on Branch spans approximately 33 seconds and ends at 1:03 in the film.
Branch’s rookie season gave the Lions’ opponents and the rest of the league a close-up look at just how talented he is, in case they weren’t aware based on what he accomplished at a highly visible university like Alabama.
Another bit of recent good draft luck for the Lions was that he slipped to the second round the way he did, based on matters unrelated to playing football.
