Brandon Joseph Complete NFL Draft Profile (Coverage Skills Paint Joseph as Potential Late-Round Steal)

Notre Dame safety Brandon Joseph is eligible for the 2023 NFL Draft following his standout college career. A first-team All-American, Joseph developed a reputation as a ballhawk that was not afraid to step up in the biggest moments and could hear his name called as early as the fifth round in April.

Here's everything you need to know about Brandon Joseph heading into the 2023 NFL Draft.

Brandon Joseph Draft Stock & Mock Draft Projections

Mock draft sources accurate as of 4/24: NFL.com, ESPN, CBS Sports, Walter Football, Sporting News.

Projected Draft Round: Round 4 (1), Round 5 (1), Round 6 (1), Round 7 (2)
Projected Team: Bengals (1), Texans (1), Falcons (1), Cardinals (1), Packers (1)

Brandon Joseph Scouting Report

Joseph committed to Northwestern out of high school and redshirted for a year before making a legitimate impact in a loaded Big Ten Conference. He finished the 2020 season with 46 total tackles (1.0 for loss), 6 interceptions, and 2 pass breakups while being named Big Ten Freshman of the Year.

The Texas native was able to replicate that success in 2021 as he tallied 79 total tackles to go along with 4 pass breakups and 3 interceptions. Joseph then transferred to Notre Dame for his final college season, where he racked up 30 total tackles as well as an exciting pick-six across 10 games played.

Highlighted strengths of Joseph's game revolve around his natural instincts. He excels at diagnosing routes and making plays on the football, which is how he grew a reputation as a ballhawk in the first place. Joseph's ability to adapt to multiple defensive schemes in college proved his versatility as well.

Joseph is far from a perfect prospect, though, as his level of play drops off when asked to step into the box and closer to the line of scrimmage. He isn't the best run-stopping safety due to his poor tackling angles. Nevertheless, his coverage skills give him a ton of upside in a pass-heavy NFL.

Brandon Joseph NFL Draft Prediction

As mentioned above, Joseph is best utilized as a coverage safety and has experience defending all kinds of pass-catchers. He was tasked with taking away deep balls, while he was also asked to shut down slot receivers near the end zone. Joseph should land with a team in need of pass defense help.

That makes the Bengals stick out as a logical landing spot. Of course, Cincinnati lost both of their starting safeties in free agency this offseason (Jessie Bates and Vonn Bell). The current depth chart includes a couple of veteran players not known for taking on starting roles in Nick Scott and Dax Hill.

Adding Joseph to the mix would give defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo a player he can trust to perform well on passing downs. Any improvement in his rushing defense would obviously be a boost as well. Projections suggest that selecting Joseph would cost the Bengals a fifth-round draft pick.

Prediction: Cincinnati Bengals (Round 5, 163 overall)

Check out more NFL Draft content from The Duel:

Brandon Joseph NFL Combine Results

Brandon Joseph College Stats

Brandon Joseph College Highlights

Larry Rupp is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Larry Rupp also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username phillyfan424. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his personal views, he may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his personal account. The views expressed in their articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.