Tyvon Branch will meet with KC

[ShowtimeSBMVP]

Former Raiders S Tyvon Branch to the Chiefs. One-year deal.

— Mike Garafolo (@MikeGarafolo) March 10, 2015

[Rausch]

Originally Posted by Meatloaf

This is a GREAT signing. Virtually no risk dollar-wise. 6', 200lb guy ran in the 4.3's at his combine workout (2008). Everything I read suggests that when healthy, he's a beast. Super signing!!!

Deals like this are what this team needs.

Gives us a number of options for different packages.

On top of that another possible P/K returner?...

[Mr. Laz]

Originally Posted by Mother****erJones

@SeanKeeler: Tyvon Branch (via @PFF) vs. run in '14: +0.8 in 195 snaps. R. Parker: -8.9; Coleman: +1.0; Abdullah: -5.7. Hello, box support. #Chiefs #NFL

Maybe Branch can teach Mauga somthing

[R8RFAN]

Originally Posted by BigMeatballDave

Bye, Parker.

I would like to have Parker in Oakland

[ct]

Originally Posted by R8RFAN

I would like to have Parker in Oakland

We would too, then we can specifically run routes his way to pull him up toward LOS where he's as lost as your GM with his head up his black hole.

[Three7s]

Originally Posted by ct

We would too, then we can specifically run routes his way to pull him up toward LOS where he's as lost as your GM with his head up his black hole.

I still think Parker would make a pretty decent FS, but that's about the only position he could perform at a manageable level. His tackling is too porous for anything else.

[rtmike]

Originally Posted by BigMeatballDave

He was a corner.

+ going by the hit on Moeaki he's not afraid to tackle.


Did Rhoutt even tackle anyone with us?

[thabear04]

Chiefs Safety Tyvon Branch Can't Wait for "Home of the Chiefs!"

The Kansas City Chiefs signed seven-year NFL veteran safety Tyvon Branch on Monday.

The former Oakland Raider, who has played in 75 career games with 67 starts, all with the Raiders, can’t wait to play on the right side of Arrowhead Stadium this fall.

“I think on the national anthem when they say, ‘Home of the Chiefs!’ I think I’m going to go a little crazy when I hear that,” Branch said.

He continued.

“It’s so loud in there. I’m excited to be on the other side of it now and have them rooting for me instead of against me.”

But for Branch, the opportunity to play for the Chiefs defense, which ranked No. 2 in the NFL last year in scoring by allowing just 17.6 points per game, made Kansas City the right fit for him.

“I’m just excited to play in that defense,” he said. “I’m very relentless out on the field. I’ve got that never-say-quit mentality and I go hard. It’s already a great defense, I’m just trying to put my little special sauce on it.”

What’s most often associated with defensive coordinator Bob Sutton’s scheme is a downhill, physical mentality, something Branch feels suits him well.

That’s my style of play,” he explained. “I like to play physical and this defense definitely caters to what I like to do. I get to play fast and with that front four, the way they’ve been playing, I can play fast in that defense.”

After missing just two games between 2009 and 2012, Branch has dealt with injuries over the past two seasons, allowing him to play in just five games combined.

When healthy, Branch showed that he can produce at a very high level, having more than 90 tackles in each of those four seasons in Oakland.

Now that he’s with the Chiefs, Branch is excited about making the most of his opportunity.

“I had some setbacks and I’m just excited to have another opportunity,” he said. “Every opportunity you get to play this game is a blessing, and I’m blessed to have an opportunity with the Kansas City Chiefs.”

[planetdoc]

Countering the Trend: How Branch Shut Down Gronkowski
Rob Gronkowski’s 2011 performance set all-time NFL records for a tight end for yardage (1,327) and touchdowns (17). He was one of the league’s most dominant forces and had such an impressive season that he ranked sixth in the PFF Top 101 players list.

When he played the Oakland Raiders in Week 4 he was held to a single catch for 15 yards largely by the work of Tyvon Branch, who shut Gronkowski down like nobody else was able to manage all season. We took a look at Branch in a recent Secret Superstar article and noted how well he had played Gronkowski as well as other receiving tight ends, and decided to investigate further. So, just how did he do it?

The Raiders played almost exclusively man coverage in this game, which is obviously what they do best, but also an extremely gutsy thing to do against the Patriots who have a series of players built to destroy that strategy. They caught a break with Aaron Hernandez out of the game, but even though they handled Gronkowski, Wes Welker sliced that man coverage for nine catches, 158 yards and a touchdown (and came up about six inches shy of a second score).

That is the beauty of the Patriots’ offense: you can never shut everything down–if you take away one option, they simply move on to something else and kill you all game with that. Nevertheless, the Raiders are the only team all season to really shut down Gronkowski, and that is what we are going to look at.

The majority of the work was done by Tyvon Branch, though the Raiders did occasionally replace him in coverage against Gronkowski with Joe Porter and Jerome Boyd. Whoever was over him, the game plan was the same: aggressive man coverage, engaging as soon as possible at the line.

In essence, Branch was left on his own against Gronkowski most of the game, and simply beat him one-on-one, but there were some schematic quirks that the Raiders employed to help Branch out at times. When Gronkowski lined up in tight to the line, the Raiders often aligned their defensive end wide, essentially funneling Gronkowski’s release directly ahead between the defensive end and the defensive tackle on that side of the formation. This meant that he had to release into a channel and right into Branch, who would stack the gap and ensure that he could get his hands on the big tight end almost immediately. Branch is one of the few defensive backs in the league that is strong enough to deal with Gronkowsi coming straight at him, and this alignment meant that he didn’t have to contend with any fakes or sidesteps in the release.



From that point, Branch could simply ride Gronkowski down the field as he tried to run his route. Safeties tracking big tight ends over the middle will get away with a lot more contact than corners out on the edge against wide receivers, and there were several plays in the course of this game that could easily have been penalties for the contact involved, and surely would have been had it been corner on receiver.

The Patriots were obviously well aware of how effective the Raiders were at taking away Gronkowski, because they were quick to go to him if he was ever left open. With 1:22 to go in the first quarter, the Raiders started to do something a little different. They had Branch in man coverage with BenJarvus Green-Ellis out of the backfield, on the far side of the formation from Gronkowski. Instead of putting Porter or Boyd on him as they would opt to do elsewhere, they left Rolando McClain with the task of covering him.

That was all Tom Brady needed to see, and he immediately went deep to Gronkowski up the seam. To McClain’s credit, he was in good position all the way through and made a solid play on the ball to deflect it away, but the job Oakland was doing on Gronkowski was clear, and any time Branch was not on him, Brady was going to try and get him the ball.



His only reception of the game came with three seconds to go in the first quarter. Gronkowski was split out in the slot on the left of the formation and Tyvon Branch was once again in coverage, but this time playing off-man rather than press coverage at the line. The Patriots threw a quick out to the tight end and Branch had just left himself too much real estate to make up to stop the play.



he reason Gronkowski was so unstoppable last season is because teams didn’t have players that could match up with him reliably and take him out of the game. He is also too big a target–and Brady too accurate a passer–to contain with zone coverage. He is a savvy enough receiver that he can attack the space between zones and Brady can get the football into those spaces, or high enough that only Gronkowski can come down with it, removing any chance the zone coverage has of stopping the plays.

Oakland went a different route. They eschewed zone schemes in favor of their usual aggressive man coverage, and found a guy who could live with Gronkowski both athletically and physically at the line.

In a league where players like Gronkowski and Jimmy Graham are becoming unstoppable forces as teams struggle to match up with them, everybody is looking for a safety with the kind of coverage skills to be matched up one-on-one and win. It turns out the Raiders have exactly what everybody is looking for in the shape of Tyvon Branch, who just might be the best man-coverage safety in the league.

[Dunerdr]

Nice were gonna **** you up gronk!

[BigMeatballDave]

Originally Posted by BigMeatballDave

I believe this signing means they are not.

Oops.

[Jiu Jitsu Jon]

Now you just need to sign a center. Hopefully one recovering from a torn labrum and still available.

[Hammock Parties]

Reminds me of the Sammy Knight signing.

[Baby Lee]

Originally Posted by Numbah One

Reminds me of the Sammy Knight signing.

- Stay Gold Claynyboy!!

[Reerun_KC]

I thought Trayvon was shot?

[Hammock Parties]

You needn't take it as a negative. Sammy Knight was a decent player for this franchise.