Notre Dame safety Brandon Joseph declares for NFL Draft
If all went well for Brandon Joseph at Notre Dame, his stint as an Irish safety would be a short one. He arrived in January 2022 as a transfer from Northwestern looking to recapture his 2020 All-American form and build his draft stock to first-round status.
Joseph came short of both this year, but rebounded well enough to feel comfortable being one-and-done in South Bend anyway. He declared for the NFL Draft Dec. 31, one day after Notre Dame beat South Carolina 45-38 in the Gator Bowl. He did not play in the bowl due to injury.
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Joseph started 10 games this season, making 30 tackles with 1 pass broken up and 1 interception. He scored Notre Dame’s first defensive touchdown of the season, a 29-yard interception return on the first play of a 41-24 win at Syracuse Oct. 29. He was also the Irish’s primary punt returner and had 179 yards on 18 returns. He missed two regular-season games due to an ankle sprain suffered in the Nov. 5 win over Clemson. Head coach Marcus Freeman said the same ankle kept him out of the bowl.
Joseph arrived at Notre Dame with the résumé of a plug-and-play starter. He snatched 9 interceptions in 19 games at Northwestern from 2020-21 and was a consensus All-American in 2020. He hit the portal after following up an elite 2020 season with simply a good 2021 campaign, though. Joseph had 80 tackles, 3 interceptions and 4 passes broken up in 2021, but Northwestern went 3-9 and he struggled with missed tackles.
He felt his draft stock had slipped after 2021, and decided his best move to reboot it was to go somewhere else.
“My personal goal is being a first-round draft pick,” Joseph said in January 2022. “It didn’t look like that was going to happen this year.”
Joseph appeared in the first round of some way-too-early 2023 mock drafts last spring, but the latest prospect rankings do not portend a selection there. The middle rounds appear more likely. He is the No. 81 player in Pro Football Focus’ top 100 prospects for 2023. He is not in the top 10 of ESPN analyst Mel Kiper Jr.’s safety rankings, but Kiper put him in the “just missed” category.
Joseph joins grad student Houston Griffith in departing Notre Dame’s safety unit. Juniors Xavier Watts and Ramon Henderson are slated to return. Grad student DJ Brown has a sixth year option available, but has not announced his plans. Like Joseph, he was honored as part of Senior Day. The Irish also have junior-to-be Justin Walters on the 2022 roster.
