During a year where the Detroit Lions’ defense was ransacked with injuries, there was always a consistent bright spot for the team: the safety duo of Brian Branch and Kerby Joseph.
The duo combined for 13 interceptions during the 2024 season, with both players recording a multi-interception game. Immediately following the season, both earned their just rewards. Joseph was named first-team All-Pro after leading the league in interceptions with nine, and Branch earned his first Pro Bowl nod.
The praise is warranted, as Joseph, on top of being the reigning interception king, was given the best Pro Football Focus overall grade for any safety in the league (91.0). Meanwhile, Branch was the best safety against the run, grading out at a 90.0, and he also led all safeties in pass breakups last season (11).
The best safety duos (and one trio) going into the season 📡 pic.twitter.com/q7XCrZpcFk
— PFF (@PFF) June 7, 2025
The preseason honors for the 2025 season are already starting, too. In fact, Pro Football Focus' Zoltán Buday listed the Lions’ duo as the top safety tandem in the league, beating out the Cardinals, Broncos and the Seahawks, among others.
The preseason rankings have the Lions as the only team with two safeties among the top 18 at the position, with Branch ranked fifth and Joseph directly behind in sixth. Not only are the two Lions among the best individually, but there is no duo that comes close in comparison.
Unsurprisingly, the Lions locked Joseph into their long-term plans this offseason, signing the safety to a record-setting, four-year, $86 million extension. With Branch only entering his third season in the league, there is a minimum of two more years with the dynamic duo anchoring the secondary in Detroit.
Joseph already has strong predictions for both himself and the Lions.
Recently, he appeared on "The Rich Eisen Show," and stated that he saw 17 wins on the Lions' schedule in 2025. And when asked which quarterbacks he would intercept, he replied, “All of them.”
