Welcome to the dead zone Detroit Lions fans. OTA's and Mandatory mini camp are over and for the next few weeks, things are going to be quiet in Lions land as we prepare for the start of training camp.

As we make our way towards camp, we're going to do a deep dive into the Lions entire roster. We'll be doing it section by section and player by player and go over the expectations for each player going into camp.

So far we've already covered interior defensive linemen, edge rushers linebackers and cornerbacks. Today We'll  be wrapping up the defense by talking about the safeties. 

Tracy Walker

I'm putting the leader in the room right up at the top. I know there's reason that some might want to default to C.J. Gardner-Johnson, but this is Tracy Walker's defense. Of everyone on this entire defensive unit, Walker is who I expect to be the teams defensive captain when the season starts in September. That's not a stretch. Walker was a captain last year too. 

The camp expectation is that he shows up and continues to show why he's a leader on this team. It would also be good to see that he's overcome his torn Achilles and that he'll be ready to go on Week 1. The good news is that we know he's cleared and he'll be at camp on day one. That's half the battle. 

C.J. Gardner-Johnson

It's not very often when you see something like the Lions going out and scoring one of the top free agents in all the land. The Lions did that when they signed 2022's interception leader back in March. Gardner-Johnson has already made his presence felt and has become a leader in Detroit in his own special way. 

The expectation for Gardner-Johnson is to keep up his great play and mesh back up his former defensive backs coach in New Orleans and now defensive coordinator in Detroit, Aaron Glenn. Also, keep the swagger coming. Make this team mean out there. There can't be enough smack talk. 

Kerby Joseph 

This wasn't supposed to happen. At least not some damn quick. I think a lot of us thought that Joseph would be something of a project player for a minute. Then Walker got hurt and Joseph got thrust into the lineup. The next thing you know, he's on this streak where he's forcing a turnover in four of his first seven starts. The big ones, of course, came from picking off Aaron Rodgers. 

Intermission. We now take a brief intermission to remind everyone that Aaron Rodgers' last pass as quarterback of the Green Bay Packers was intercepted by this man. 

Moving on. The expectation for Joseph is to take the next step in his game and become an integral part of this defense at camp. The good news is that he's already started to do stuff like that this offseason. 

Brian Branch 

It's still hard to believe that the Lions got such a steal in the second round. Alabama safety Brian Branch was firmly planted in the first round of every mock draft I read from January to April. Teams just decided they wanted to try a bunch of different things this year. It was a very strange draft. Nevertheless, he was there and the Lions grabbed him. 

In terms of camp expectations, the one thing I liked so much about Branch at Alabama was that he was so versatile. Nick Saban could play him at any of the safety spots and could even get him in as a corner at times. Let's see that versatility show up in the NFL.

The fringe

This is really going to come down to a camp battle here. Who's going to be able to make up for the loss of C.J. Moore? No disrespect to Brady Breeze. He's been with the Lions for a while and even got some regular season play in 2021. But this is really going to come down to Ifeatu Melifounwu and Brandon Joseph. 

Melifonwu is going to have to show that he can find a place on this team. He's struggled to do that in his firs two seasons. The Lions have move him back and forth form corner to safety and nothing has quite worked out yet. Maybe he can do it this year. Brandon Joseph has a real shot at it though. He has a lot of the same qualities that Moore had and before he had a rough senior year at Notre Dame, he was one hell of a prospect at Northwestern. A real ball hawk. 

This is going to be a fun battle to pay attention to. A roster spot could very well be on the line. 

4 Lions with something to prove in 2023

Let’s see what you got

Feature imager by Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK