#16

Brandon Joseph

Junior safety for Notre Dame. 2022: 1 interception, 1 pass breakup, 30 tackles.

S · Notre Dame · Jr. · #16

6′1″ · 196 lb · College Station, TX

CFB Index 37 · #353 of 493 safetiesMedium confidenceNotre Dame 2022 alumnus

The story

3 safety for Notre Dame. 2022: 1 interception, 1 pass breakup, 30 tackles.

Signed as a 2-star recruit to Georgia State in 2018.
Transferred from Northwestern to Notre Dame in 2022.
Named All-America (AFCA) in 2020.

His career, year by year

Recruiting

2★

OG recruit

No. 2471 nationally · Signed with Georgia State

No college snaps yet.

His career numbers, season by season

How it ended

Four seasons at Notre Dame, 165 tackles, a Consensus All-American season (2020) — his college career is complete.

His career

Nobody recruited him. He earned the honors anyway.

2018

Signed with Georgia State2-star

2019

Recruited3-star out of College Station

20208 games

The role got bigger.

All-Americafirst · 8 selectors
All-Big Tenfirst
Big Ten Thompson-Randle El Freshman of the Yearwinner

202112 games

All-Big Tensecond

202210 games

Entered the portal

Career arc

Recruit

★★

#2471 national

CFB

College

2 teams

2019–2022

NFL

NFL Draft

—

Not drafted

Trophy case · Confirmed honors

What the selectors said

11 honors · 3 categories

🏆

ALL-AMERICA · CONSENSUS

Consensus AA (2020)

6 first-team selectors

🎖

ALL-BIG TEN · 2ND TEAM

All-Big Ten 2nd team (2021)

🎓

FRESHMAN HONORS

Freshman recognition (2020)

1 mention(s)

Coaching lineage · 2019–2022

2 coaches

2019–2021

Brian Kelly

Notre Dame

2022

Marcus Freeman

Notre Dame

era →

Coaching transition mid-career: Brian Kelly → Marcus Freeman. Worth noting in scheme + development context.

2022 snapshot

Season context · Team result + system

2019Northwestern3-9HC: Pat Fitzgerald · Run-heavy

2020Northwestern7-2HC: Pat Fitzgerald · Run-leaning, fast tempo

2021Northwestern3-9HC: Pat Fitzgerald · Run-leaning

2022Notre Dame9-4HC: Marcus Freeman · Run-heavy

Where this defender ranks vs the field

Box-score production percentiles vs the position cohort

37Below cohort / limited sample #353 of 493?

Medium confidence7 metrics · season cumulative

Concern: tackles for loss (7th percentile).

Box-score production (7)

QB hurries#823 / 2755 · 59th pct

Tackles#1304 / 2755 · 52nd pct

Passes defended#1116 / 2755 · 48th pct

Solo tackles#1413 / 2755 · 47th pct

Interceptions#321 / 811 · 30th pct

Sacks#1454 / 2755 · 24th pct

0.0

Tackles for loss#2352 / 2755 · 7th pct

0.0

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 & context

Splits · Per-game

2022 season · 10 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Home6g	3.5	0.0	0.0	0.2
Road4g	2.2	0.0	0.0	0.0

First half vs Second half

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Weeks 1-76g	4.2	0.0	0.0	0.2
Weeks 8+4g	1.2	0.0	0.0	0.0

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2026 season

Head Coach

Marcus Freeman

Scheme reads (pass share, tempo, sack rate) need at least 3 team games — 2 games in so far.

Awards

Player standing · 2022

Rotational

Tackle volume for the position in rotation-piece range.

Recognition

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Production · CFB Index Score

37 · #353 of 493 safeties

Three-star recruit. Now #353 at the position.

Career stats

Season	Team
2022	Notre Dame	30	15	0.0	0.0	1	1	--
2021	Northwestern	79	54	1.5	1.0	4	3	--
2020	Northwestern	52	28	1.0	0.0	2	6	--
2019	Northwestern	4	4	0.0	0.0	--	--	--
Career		165	101	2.5	1.0	7	10	--

Signature game

SIGNATURE GAME · Week 10 · 2022

W 35–14

vs Clemson

2 NO · 21 YDS · 10 AVG

Dominant 21-point win at home against Clemson.

With J. Sot — 38 AVG · 3 IN 20 · 49 LONG · D. Pyne — 85 yds · 1 TD · 0 INT · QBR 53.9 · 21 rush yds (4 car) · 1 TD

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week