The Detroit Lions finally addressed one of the team’s most pressing needs by selecting Illinois safety Kerby Josephy late in the third round.
Joseph, a converted wide receiver, brings a pass catcher’s hands to the defense. Despite only starting a year for the Illini, last year he had five interceptions and was the highest-rated safety in the country with a PFF rating of 90.4 PFFs. Here’s what PFF’s live draft tracker had to say about the pick:
Joseph is still learning a lot about the safety position, but he has untrainable ball skills and distance. He’s such an easy mover too and should look at split field safety and the pits in Detroit. He just needs more experience at the position to really develop into a legitimate starter in the league.
At 6 feet, 203 pounds with 10.25-inch hands and 33-inch arms — both near the top of this class in terms of safety — Joseph has all the physical tools to be a good safety in this league. However, with only a year of security, his game needs to evolve.
Joseph’s cover-safety instincts are actually more developed than his running defense skills, a trait he attributes to his history as a wide receiver.
“I feel like the receiver also helped me learn what crimes look for, what the targets as a crime, what concepts and all that,” Joseph told reporters Friday night.
New #lions Safety Kerby Joseph is an absolute ball hawk with exceptional reach.
He also doesn’t hesitate to bring the wood and punish pass catchers down.
Thread: pic.twitter.com/gbiCCdl6ER
— Brett Whitefield (@BGWhitefield) April 30, 2022
This is a solid choice for the Lions as it brings together need, talent and value. Joseph was 73rd on the PFF Big Board, 103rd on Dane Brugler, and 138th on The Draft Network. He is said to be applying for an entry-level job at DeShon Elliott with the expectation of keeping the job long-term. And getting potential starting safety in the third round is obviously good value for a team with so many defensive needs. Although Joseph doesn’t win the starter job right away, he was a fantastic special teamer in college and could very well win the gunner job in Detroit right away.
Interestingly, just before that election, the Indianapolis Colts jumped the Detroit Lions to pick up Maryland safety Nick Cross. Detroit still has an equal safety in Joseph, and because they’ve had so many pre-draft visits with Joseph (NFL Combine, Senior Bowl, and a Top 30 visit) it’s reasonable to think they liked him more anyway .