​ESPN concluded their positional rankings on Thursday with safeties. If you haven’t seen the series yet, they polled NFL executives, coaches, and scouts to determine the top-10 players at each position. Several Detroit Lions have made the list, and in the final installment of the series—the top-10 safeties in the NFL for the 2026 season—the Lions had two more players make the list.Brian Branch came in at No. 4 on the list, while Kerby Joseph ranked ninth. That’s down from last year’s list, where the two ranked No. 2 and No.5, respectively.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement“Versatility, toughness, smarts — he’s a complete player,” one passing game coordinator said about Branch. “He’s a baller when healthy. He’s got elite instincts.”“He finds the ball,” a scout said about Joseph. “It’s hard to find guys with post range like him who can play over the top.”Of course, the elephant in the room with both players is injuries. Branch suffered a torn Achilles in early December, and the overwhelming expectation is that he’ll miss at least the first month of the season as he continues to recover. The good news is that he hasn’t appeared to suffer any sort of setback, and he’ll be expected to return to form at some point.Unfortunately, Joseph’s situation is a little less clear. He’s dealing with a knee injury that Dan Campbell once said was a condition that won’t be “necessarily going away, but I think you do the best you can to manage it.” Detroit shelved Joseph this spring, hoping to delay any irritation of the knee until necessary. However, Campbell openly admitted this spring that he has no idea how Joseph’s knee will react to action on the football field once he returns.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement“I don’t know. I honestly do not know,” Campbell said. “I know this, we’ve done everything we can do, and he’s done everything he can do to this point. And we are trying to be as smart as we can and not push this until we absolutely have to because once we’ve done that, then we’ll know one way or another.”How Joseph’s knee responds to action this summer could decide his future in Detroit. While he’s only one year into a big extension, the Lions may consider getting out of the deal before a $16.6 million option bonus hits in 2027 if his career is in jeopardy.This is all likely a frustrating position for the Lions to be in. They have two players who are commonly believed to be top-10 safeties in the league, but they may not see either player at their physical peak this year—or possibly ever again.Still, this ranking provides the kind of perspective Lions fans (or doubters) need. With the series at its conclusion, the Lions have tallied:AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementA top-10 quarterbackA top-2 running backA top-5 tight endA top-5 wide receiverThe No. 1 offensive tackleA top-5 defensive endA top-5 linebackerTwo top-10 safetiesNot many teams can boast that much top-