We are breaking down the Notre Dame football prospects ahead of the NFL Draft which begins on Thursday, April 27th in Kansas City, Missouri. Today we’ll take a look at a former Northwestern product who made a 1-year stop in South Bend.

SPECS

Name: Brandon Joseph
Hometown: College Station, Texas
Position: S
Height: 6-0 (per NFL Combine)
Weight: 202 (per NFL Combine)
40: 4.62 (t-14th out of 19 S)
Vertical: 30.5 (19 out of 19 S)
10-Yard Split: 1.56 (t-8th out of 19 S)
Broad: 9′ 10″ (t-15th out of 19 S)
3-Cone: 7.08 (2nd out of 2 S)
20-Yard Shuttle: 4.23 (2 out of 3 S)
Bench Press: 17 (t-8th out of 16 S)

STATS

YEAR TACK TFL INT PD
2019 4 0.0 0 0
2020 46 1.0 6 2
2021 79 1.5 3 4
2022 30 0.0 1 1
Total 159 2.5 10 7

BIO:

Joseph was a 3-star recruit out of College Station High School in Texas who committed to Texas Tech in the summer of 2018. Right before the early signing period began that winter, Joseph left the Red Raiders’ class and signed with Northwestern. He would appear in 4 games in 2019 but take a redshirt. As a redshirt freshman, Joseph burst onto the Big Ten scene with 6 interceptions and was named a team captain for Northwestern in 2021.

Seeking to increase his profile, he transferred to Notre Dame for 2022 where Joseph ended up playing only one season, despite leaving behind 2 more years of eligibility due to the Covid rule. Joseph had his moments with the Irish but missed 2 games with an ankle injury and did not play in the bowl game against South Carolina.

STRENGTHS:

Smooth athlete with very good ball skills for a safety. Flashes ball hawk skills. Overall, displays good speed and can cover pretty well in a free safety role. Has a bit of a rangy playmaking style. Aggressive coming down-hill as a tackler. Shows good burst and closing speed. Able to complete a crunching tackle on occasion.

WEAKNESSES:

Never built upon his best season at Northwestern. Tackling technique can be really poor at times. Ruins his speed by not being under control enough when breaking down to make a tackle. Didn’t wrap up enough. Questions remain about his athleticism in coverage and ability to play as a single high safety in the NFL.

OVERVIEW:

Joseph was supposed to be an elite level safety coming to Notre Dame and his 2022 season didn’t really play out that way or come close to reaching that level of hype. Upon closer inspection, the NFL scouts seem to like a lot to his game but don’t find individual areas to be super excited about following stops at 2 separate schools. His invite to the Combine was a good sign for his future, although at one point he was talked about as a solid 2nd-round pick and he’s now moved back closer to the 8th to 10th best safety prospect in this draft class.

PREDICTION:

4th Round, 116th Overall to the Green Bay Packers

The Packers should be looking at safety sometime in the middle rounds on Saturday with this 4th-round slot looking appealing for a team that needs to build quality depth at the back end.

Former starter Adrian Amos is a free agent but due to prorated bonuses the Packers will carry a huge $7.95 million dead cap hit from him for 2023. Darnell Savage is entering his final year of a deal that will see Green Bay put another $7.9 million on the cap, as well. I know Packers fans weren’t happy with the safety play and Joseph could be a valuable player on the roster without further killing their cap even more.