Packers at Lions Big Matchup: Jayden Reed vs. Brian Branch
DETROIT – In the second round of the 2023 NFL Draft, the Detroit Lions and Green Bay Packers agreed to a rare intradivisional trade. The Lions moved from No. 48 to No. 45 and selected Alabama defensive back Brian Branch. The Packers traded back one more time before it grabbed Michigan State receiver Jayden Reed at No. 50.
Two of the top-performing rookies in the entire draft class will be in the Thanksgiving spotlight when the Packers face the Lions at Ford Field on Thursday.
Branch, who made some midseason all-rookie teams, mans the slot for the Lions. That’s where he’ll find Reed, who has blossomed during a rookie season that has gotten more impressive by the week.
“He is a dog. He’s a war daddy,” coach Matt LaFleur said after Reed caught four passes for 46 and carried three times for 46 yards, including a 32-yard touchdown, vs. the Chargers. “He goes out there and he’s such a competitor. Got a lot of confidence in him. He continues to make big-time plays.”
If you’ve never heard the phrase “war daddy,” you’re not alone.
“Never heard ‘war daddy,’ either,” Reed said on Tuesday. “I was notified of that. It’s got to be something good, so I told him thank you.”
Before the game against Pittsburgh, Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said he considered Reed the most NFL-ready slot receiver in the draft. He’s played like it. For the Packers, he’s third with 32 receptions, first with 463 yards and second with four touchdown catches. Among all rookie receivers, Reed is eighth in receptions, sixth in yards and third in touchdowns.
Why has he been so good so soon?
“I would say just my mindset, my love for the game, passion for the game, my competitiveness,” he said. “I would say I have a pretty good level of maturity when it comes to life. I understand how to go about things, how to attack things. I’ve just got the right people around me to keep me going in that direction.”
That mindset was developed via the “adversity” Reed faced throughout his childhood.
“Being a kid from Chicago, from nothing, living in a room with five cousins, brothers,” Reed explained. “Watching my mom work three jobs, watching my dad work many jobs, watching my dad be sick, watching him pass away. Just how he went about things, no matter what situation he was in. My mom, as well. Worked three jobs with three kids. She made no excuses, so I’ve got no excuses.”
Already in Packers history, Reed’s 463 yards rank 10th among rookie receivers. While Billy Howton’s franchise-record 1,231 yards probably is out of reach, catching Sterling Sharpe, who is third with 791 yards, and James Lofton, who is second with 818 yards, isn’t totally out of the question.
That’s because Reed keeps getting more opportunities. He obviously was a focal point of the game plan against the Chargers last week. With the Packers set to line up on Thursday without tight end Luke Musgrave (injured reserve), running back Aaron Jones (out) and maybe receiver Dontayvion Wicks (concussion protocol), Reed figures to be a featured part of the plan again.
“He came in, obviously, you see his explosiveness, his receiving ability, just getting the ball in his hands and him making plays,” offensive coordinator Adam Stenavich said. “You don’t want to put too much on his plate because then you lose some of that when he’s thinking too much. It’s been good to ease him into it like we have so, hopefully, we can just keep rolling with that and just get him the ball as many times as we can.”
Getting him the ball will mean attacking Branch. He’s first on the team with seven tackles for losses and third with five passes defensed. According to Pro Football Focus, 33 defensive backs have played at least 125 coverage snaps from the slot. In that group, Branch ranks seventh with 0.88 yards per coverage snap.
“Jayden’s good,” the Packers’ slot defender, Keisean Nixon, said. “I saw it in him when he first got here. He was the slot I had to go against all of camp. I told him, we can’t do nothing but get each other better or worse. So, we made it a point that we were going to get each other better. He’s playing hell of [good] ball right now.”
When Reed was a kid, Thanksgiving dinner typically was at his grandmother’s house. The family would gather for food and, of course, football.
This Thanksgiving, Reed will be on the field as one of the team’s obvious building-block players.
“Just being thankful for breath, for air. It’s being thankful for life. I’m just thankful for everything and everybody,” he said. “I’m highly thankful and grateful to be here. God put me in this position and I’m grateful for that.”
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