Alan Branch for Pro Bowl? Hightower thinks so.

[RayClay]

FOXBORO — There’s a growing sentiment within the Patriots locker room that Alan Branch deserves Pro Bowl recognition.

Furthermore, the biggest stars in the front seven believe Branch and Malcom Brown haven’t gotten nearly enough credit for their work in the middle. Amazingly, 670 pounds of defensive tackles have found a way to fly under the radar...

The 6-foot-6, 350-pound Branch has been the more disruptive this season. He has a sack, a forced fumble, one pressure, one drawn holding penalty and a team-high eight run stuffs (tackles at or behind the line of scrimmage). The 31-year-old has at least one run stuff in six of the seven games this season, and has twice as many as anyone else on the team. It certainly hasn’t gone unnoticed.

“I mean, Alan Branch, my God, he doesn’t get enough (outside credit),” Hightower said. “In my eyes, the guy is a Pro Bowler. He has done so much for us since he’s been in New England.”

Alan Branch, Malcom Brown doing the dirty work

 

[Joey007]

Hightower himself deserves pro bowl recognition already!

 

[Julius]

He's been our best DT for two years. He's the one guy on the line that can, from time to time, completely overpower the OL and blow up a run play.

 

[farn]

There are players on this team that contribute & don't often get enough props. Branch IS among them.

 

[willard]

I love Vince Wilfolk as player and as a man. Would hold the door for him and his family any day of the week. That said Vince only had a few years better than the 2+ Branch has given us. Definitely probowl player, but will not get it both because of his rep and because Patriot DT control the line more than they get stats. So many plays he is a force influencing a bad play by the opponents, but there is no stat for that.

Flat out, he plays a lot and by arguably one of the top measures, points per game, we are one of the best teams.

Brown is having a real good second season too, but Branch still is the better player so far. Injuries really dictate these things.

 

[Joey007]

Ahhh I won't put Branch ahead of any of Vince's seasons other than maybe his first and last years here. But he's absolutely been a consistent force in his time here.

 

[RobertWeathers]

I love Vince Wilfolk as player and as a man. Would hold the door for him and his family any day of the week. That said Vince only had a few years better than the 2+ Branch has given us. Definitely probowl player, but will not get it both because of his rep and because Patriot DT control the line more than they get stats. So many plays he is a force influencing a bad play by the opponents, but there is no stat for that.

Flat out, he plays a lot and by arguably one of the top measures, points per game, we are one of the best teams.

Brown is having a real good second season too, but Branch still is the better player so far. Injuries really dictate these things.

I'm not sure what you are saying here but from 2006-2012 VW was a superior player than what AB has been here

 

[BobDigital]

He does not deserve to make the probowl overall but he has stood out to me at times and at times plays at a probowl level. I am happy to have him here.

 

[TheFlyingWedge]

He's distinguished himself in every game this season. The Brown and Branch combo up the middle is SOLID.

 

[ausbacker]

Au contraire mon frére, there is a significant portion of Patsfans who does value the contribution of the modern incarnation of our beef curtain. Branch and Brown have been and are enormous.

 

[The NZ Patriots]

Au contraire mon frére, there is a significant portion of Patsfans who does value the contribution of the modern incarnation of our beef curtain. Branch and Brown have been and are enormous.

 

[Wax Frog]

Au contraire mon frére, there is a significant portion of Patsfans who does value the contribution of the modern incarnation of our beef curtain. Branch and Brown have been and are enormous.

......

 

[GoBlue]

Branch was a great player at Michigan. Just a great competitor...
I'm happy he ended up on my favorite team.

 

[convertedpatsfan]

Nice to see the big guys getting some attention. They deserve it.

Branch is a guy who got cut from the Bills for a DUI. Quite frankly, I would drink myself silly if I had to live in Buffalo year-round too, although driving was dumb. But he came to New England and has been a model citizen. We often think of people as good or bad, smart or dumb, honest or a liar. In reality, we are all good AND bad and smart AND dumb and honest AND liars. So much of it has to do with circumstance and situation and context. And this is a long way of saying that Branch has adapted to the culture extremely well, and I'm glad we took a chance on him.

As for Brown, well, he might be the guy that eventually gets Grigson fired. The Colts are 24th in run defense in yards per game, 27th in yards per carry. But Grigson wants to blame Luck's contract rather than selecting a speed receiver they didn't need who is averaging 2 catches a game. Really lucky that Grigson is an idiot, as that let us draft Brown not even 2 months after letting Wilfork leave.

 

[NG Pats Fan]

I love Vince Wilfolk as player and as a man. Would hold the door for him and his family any day of the week. That said Vince only had a few years better than the 2+ Branch has given us. Definitely probowl player, but will not get it both because of his rep and because Patriot DT control the line more than they get stats. So many plays he is a force influencing a bad play by the opponents, but there is no stat for that.

Flat out, he plays a lot and by arguably one of the top measures, points per game, we are one of the best teams.

Brown is having a real good second season too, but Branch still is the better player so far. Injuries really dictate these things.

Don't agree with this at all. Vince Wilfork 2006-2013 was a far superior player to branch.


Unfortunately. A lot of pats fans on this forum tend to overrate current players performances and severely underrate past patriot performances.

 

[RobertWeathers]

Don't agree with this at all. Vince Wilfork 2006-2013 was a far superior player to branch.


Unfortunately. A lot of pats fans on this forum tend to overrate current players performances and severely underrate past patriot performances.

Every now and then, fans need reminders.

 

[RayClay]

I'm not sure what you are saying here but from 2006-2012 VW was a superior player than what AB has been here

Yeagh, he'll never be as good as Wilfork. few could be. He's a damn good Alan Branch, though. His improvement from his first year is phenomenal IMO. Not taking anything away from Brown either. To think we'd have two DTs holding the line almost on their own without Wilfork is amazing. When Valentine is healthy, that's quite a rotation.

 

[RayClay]

Every now and then, fans need reminders.

Can't wait to watch that, but it's like when the backup is "as good as Brady." Paleeeze. Vince should be NFL hall of fame.

 

[RayClay]

Every now and then, fans need reminders.

Got a little verklempt when I saw Vince with the Pat Patriot helmet. RIP Houston Antwine.

 

[RobertWeathers]

Can't wait to watch that, but it's like when the backup is "as good as Brady." Paleeeze. Vince should be NFL hall of fame.

If VW plays in a different system his numbers become more impressive