Tyvon Branch's skills in the kick return game may help boost his draft grade in the eyes of teams.

Branch Eyeing Draft Saturday

Football

By: Kevin Duffy

Posted: 4/24/08

Each day this week, The Daily Campus will highlight one UConn football senior and his chances of being selected in this weekend's NFL Draft.

On Saturday, April 26 at 3 p.m., hundreds of young men will gather around the television and watch their careers unfold. To the average fan, the NFL draft is fun to follow, but to these men, it's the culmination of a lifelong passion for and dedication to football. It's a time to commemorate their career achievements in grand fashion. Some will attend the draft at Radio City Music Hall in New York City. Others with celebrate with their teammates and college friends.

But Tyvon Branch will be on the couch in his Cicero, N.Y., home with his immediate family.

"You know nobody from UConn is going to leave Spring Weekend," Branch joked.

See, Branch has never been one for the spotlight. Despite playing a position that is normally characterized by brash cockiness, Branch never went out of his way to generate attention. The attention has always come to him - specifically at last month's NFL Combine.

Branch went from a virtual unknown to a potential first-day selection after he ran a blistering 4.31 40-yard dash - second among all participants - and pounded out 19 bench press reps, which ranked fifth among cornerbacks. His stock has shot up so much since the combine that USA Today recently projected him as a first-round pick. He currently is slated as a second-round pick (No. 53 overall to Pittsburgh) on nfldraftcountdown.com and a third-rounder (No. 84 to Washington) in ESPN analyst Todd McShay's mock draft.

Branch tries not to read the mock drafts and the newspapers that are pegging him as a potential sleeper in the draft, however. In fact, he's gone through his whole collegiate career without reading much about himself.

"[UConn head coach Randy] Edsall's big on us not reading the clippings," Branch said. "To be honest, whenever I hear something like that it's usually my parents telling me they saw something."

And there's a reason why Branch's parents continue to read rave reviews about their son. Aside from his sparkling combine performance, Branch turned heads on the field, particularly in his senior season. "You can have all the combine numbers you want," he said, "but if you don't have any film you're not going anywhere."

Branch's intriguing versatility has separated him from cornerbacks projected to go in the mid-rounds.

"The thing that [Branch] really has going for himself is that you don't find big corners like that who can run that want to go and play special teams the way he can," Edsall said.

Branch, who ran back two kickoffs for touchdowns as a senior and was a standout on kick coverage, also has the ability to play either safety or cornerback, depending on the system he gets drafted into.

Edsall said teams that play 3-4 or cover 2 defenses see Branch as a cornerback, while teams that play a 4-3 like him as a safety.

"I tell [NFL teams] we were going to move him to safety if I felt confident enough that I had another corner at some point in time, but we never did," Edsall said. "Because of the scheme we played, we just kept him at cornerback, but I think he can play safety too."

Regardless of what position he ends up playing, what team ends up drafting him, or how his career unfolds, Branch will never forget his time at UConn.

"Some of my best friends, my lifelong friends are here," Branch said. "I'm going to get back to [UConn] as much as possible just to hang out. That's the toughest part, leaving all the friends I made."

As he sits at home with family to watch his fate be decided, a part of him will regret not being with his teammates - particularly fellow corner Darius Butler - his best friend who he says he'll miss playing alongside and hanging out with.

"It's cool though, we'll keep in touch," Branch said. "I'm sure I'll catch him in the league next year."

Contact Kevin Duffy at Kevin.R.Duffy@UConn.edu