Tag: Brandon Joseph

Houston Texans 2022 NFL draft target: Northwestern S Brandon Joseph

The Houston Texans may need to replace safety Justin Reid in the offseason. Northwestern S Brandon Joseph provides a promising solution.

The NFL is a business. Players move on, and the basis for such dissolution of bonds between players and franchises can be due to better opportunities or salary cap restrictions.

Safety Justin Reid is in the last year of his deal with the Houston Texans. Although he is well respected in the locker room and would love to stay with the AFC South club that drafted him in Round 3 in the 2018 NFL draft.

“I love Houston,” Reid told reporters on a Zoom call on April 23. “I made a home here. At the end of the day though, that’s just going to be a decision that’s going to have to come throughout the year. I’ll be excited about it but that’s just going to have to be a negotiation between myself, my agent and the front office. We’ll see if we can come to a conclusion.”

It could be that Reid has an All-Pro season and just can’t turn down a contract offer the Texans can’t match. It could be that Reid has an underwhelming season and can’t adapt to the new Tampa 2 scheme with defensive coordinator Lovie Smith.

If the Texans have to move on from Reid, they ought to consider Northwestern safety Brandon Joseph.

According to Anthony Treash of Pro Football Focus, the junior safety from College Station, Texas, is the 26th-best player in college football ahead of the 2021 season.

Joseph played only 13 snaps in his first season on campus in 2019 before taking a redshirt, but he exploded in 2020 and established himself as one of the game’s top cover safeties. He intercepted six passes while being responsible for only one explosive pass play of 15-plus yards.

It didn’t matter if he was playing single- or two-high deep safety or if he was down in the box or manning the slot, Joseph’s coverage ability was on full display all season, and it ended in a top-three coverage grade among FBS safeties (88.5).

If Joseph enters the 2022 NFL draft as one of the top-50 prospects in the country, Houston would have a shot at him late in the first round with a trade back. If Houston waited until early in the second round to grab him, he could be gone, but it would be great value if they were to pick him up there.

The fall will tell the tale of whether Reid stays with the Texans, and whether Joseph can remain as one of the best players in college football.

Draft Wire 2022 mock draft offers jarring reality of 49ers’ picks

The San Francisco 49ers get Brandon Joseph in a Draft Wire mock NFL draft, but where they pick is the real story.

The 49ers made a decision in the 2021 offseason to bet their future on quarterback Trey Lance. They packaged their 2021 first-round pick, along with their first-round choices in 2022 and 2023 to move up to No. 3 overall where they selected the former North Dakota State standout. A 2022 mock draft from our friends at the Draft Wire offered a look at the reality of the selection process for San Francisco over the next couple years.

Given that we’re still a few months out from the 2021 college football season, it’s nearly impossible to project draft positions for most players. Injuries happen, players go back to school, performances on the field can buoy or sink a player’s stock. The 49ers used their lone pick in the Draft Wire two-round projections on Northwestern safety Brandon Joseph.

Safety could certainly be a high priority for the 49ers with Jimmie Ward entering his 30s, Jaquiski Tartt on a one-year deal and Tarvarius Moore dealing with a torn Achilles.

The more jarring thing is that San Francisco’s first pick in the two-round mock doesn’t come until No. 60.

This isn’t a surprise, and picking 60 means the 49ers made the playoffs. Still, after a number of years where the draft was such a vital part of the team’s roster construction, they’ll now be without a first-round pick, and won’t pick in the top 50 if they make it back to the playoffs.

Ultimately how much this impacts San Francisco will depend on Lance’s success. Not picking until the 60s could be crippling if it turns out Lance can’t successfully make the jump to the NFL. It becomes much less perilous if he’s an All-Pro caliber signal caller who makes up for potential shortcomings on the roster.

Regardless, the onus will now be on the front office to work with a bit of a handicap in the draft. They don’t need home runs, but finding a handful of starters in the two drafts without a first-round pick will go a long way toward ensuring they’re putting a quality roster around their young signal caller.

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Texans should keep tabs on Northwestern safety Brandon Joseph in 2022 NFL draft

The Houston Texans will have holes to fill in the 2022 offseason. Northwestern S Brandon Joseph could fill one of them.

It is possible the Houston Texans will be picking in the top of the 2022 NFL draft.

While draft analysts are focused on the Texans’ first-round pick, which could be a top-5 pick, Houston will also have the benefit of selecting in the mid to late thirties overall at the beginning of Round 2.

Houston could get two first-round talented players to really complete the rebuild.

One player the Texans should consider throughout the 2021 college season is Northwestern safety Brandon Joseph. Anthony Treash from Pro Football Focus has Joseph ranked as the third-best returning safety to watch this season.

Joseph played only 13 snaps in his first season on campus in 2019 before taking a redshirt, but he exploded in 2020 and established himself as one of the game’s top cover safeties. He intercepted six passes while being responsible for only one explosive pass play of 15-plus yards.

It didn’t matter if he was playing single- or two-high deep safety or if he was down in the box or manning the slot, Joseph’s coverage ability was on full display all season, and it ended in a top-three coverage grade among FBS safeties (88.5).

Expect interception regression from Joseph in 2021, but don’t let that change your opinion on the Northwestern safety.

If the Texans choose to move on from Justin Reid, whose contract will expire at the end of the 2021 season, Joseph could be a bridge to another youth movement on the back end. If Houston elects to re-sign Reid, Joseph would a great mentor to acclimate him to the pro game.

The one hangup would be if Joseph decided to return to college. He is a redshirt sophomore. While he would be eligible to enter the NFL draft, he would also still have some seasons remaining at Northwestern. Nevertheless, the Texans need to keep tabs on Joseph in 2021.

Watch: Northwestern’s Brandon Joseph with insane pick against Ohio State

Northwestern is giving Ohio State all sorts of problems in the Big Ten Championship

Ohio State was expected to waltz through Northwestern in the Big Ten Championship game on Saturday. Someone is stepping on the Buckeyes’ toes.

The Wildcats are giving Ohio State fits in the first half and have gone into the break with a lead.

One reason was Brandon Joseph, a redshirt freshman from College Station, TX, who made this incredible pick of Justin Fields in the end zone as the Buckeyes were driving for a score in the final minute of the first half.

The pick was Joseph’s sixth, good for the lead in the country.