Senior defensive back on Nebraska's 2025 roster.
5′11″ · 195 lb · Lincoln, NE
The story
4 defensive back on Nebraska's 2025 roster.
The record fills in as he plays.
His career, year by yearDerek Branch
He has spent three seasons in the Nebraska secondary. The receipt on tape: 2 tackles against Utah, Bowl, 2025.
Low coverage — composed from the verified record.
Career arc
Coaching lineage · 2023–2025
1 coachPlayed his entire career under Matt Rhule.
Season context · Team result + system
3 seasons under Matt Rhule — 19-19 over that span.
Where this defender ranks vs the field
Box-score production percentiles vs the position cohort
Concern: tackles (0th percentile).
Percentiles are versus same-position peers with enough snaps this season, based on box-score production. There are no play-by-play efficiency bars here: CFBD's play-value model credits offensive players only, so no defensive EPA exists to rank.
Splits · Per-game
2025 season · 5 games
Home vs Road
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home2g | 1.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| Road3g | 1.3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
First half vs Second half
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-74g | 1.2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| Weeks 8+1g | 1.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
Supporting cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Matt Rhule
Scheme reads (pass share, tempo, sack rate) need at least 3 team games — 2 games in so far.
Player standing · 2025
On the two-deep and pushing for snaps.
Game log · Week-by-week
2025 season · 5 games
| Wk | Opp | TKL | SOLO | TFL | SACK | INT | PD | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 1 | W 20-17@ Cincinnati | 1 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | Season-high 2 tackles |
| Wk 2 | W 68-0vs Akron | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 4 | L 27-30vs Michigan | 1 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 11 | W 28-21@ UCLA | 1 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Bowl | L 22-44@ Utah | 2 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Total | 6 | 3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 |
2026 Outlook
Nebraska
2026 Depth chart
Projected starter
Defensive back · Nebraska
Returning around him
2026 Award watch
No preseason watch lists yet (most drop June 15 – July 15)
Nebraska · Last season: 7-6 (AP #25) · Talent rank #22 · 2026 recruiting class #88