Brandon Cisse aims to ‘take it to another level’

GREEN BAY – As a South Carolina native, Brandon Cisse wanted to play in college for his home-state school.

That didn't happen coming out of Lakewood High School, but after two years across the border at North Carolina State, he got a chance to transfer back to South Carolina, and he happily took it.

Lo and behold, Packers national scout Mike Owen happens to live just 35 minutes from the South Carolina campus. On a practice visit last September, Cisse made a strong first impression, as he simply talked a lot about football.

Fast forward seven months and the Packers drafted Cisse, a cornerback, in the second round of the NFL Draft on Friday night with the No. 52 overall pick.

Owen describes the 5-11¾, 189-pound prospect as a "smart, tough, physical corner" who's "wired right." Part of that wiring is how he kept fighting for what he wanted in college.

"You can feel that chip on his shoulder when you talk to him, about getting overlooked by South Carolina, coming full circle and then really helping his team and helping that defense elevate to a different level," Owen said. "You could still see he's got that chip on his shoulder. He still holds it today. I hope he carries it on as he's in the NFL."

That chip isn't a source of bitterness or resentment, though, but pure motivation, and Cisse is grateful everything worked out the way it did.

"I was kind of under the radar," he said of his original recruitment. "But it all happened for the better and ended up back at South Carolina with a great coaching staff to help develop me. I can't thank those guys enough."

As a freshman at North Carolina State, Cisse played sparingly but got his first career interception. He then worked his way into the defensive back rotation in 2024, breaking up five passes in nine games playing both outside and in the slot.

When he got to South Carolina, he became a full-time starter on the boundary over 12 games and broke up five more passes, getting a second INT. He decided to enter the NFL Draft at the age of 20 (he'll turn 21 in early July) with a lot of room for growth.

"Each game that you see, he just caught your eye and you're like, 'OK, we need to pay attention to this dude,'" Owen said.

"You come into the NFL, you're going to get the welcome to the NFL moments, it's just getting over that hurdle, getting over that adversity. The toughness is always a mentality thing. You always have it. It doesn't leave you, but it's just about you maintaining it."

Cisse joins a Packers cornerback room led by another South Carolina product, Keisean Nixon, with whom he's talked, and he's looking forward to playing with him. As of now, it could be a heated competition for the No. 2 corner spot amongst Carrington Valentine, Benjamin St-Juste and Cisse.

With only two INTs in college, Cisse's takeaways don't jump off the page. But Owen pointed to the 10 breakups over his last 21 college games and how at the catch point he makes things difficult on the opposition.

"When you see the game clips, he attacks the football," Owen said. "He's aggressive with his hand combat, jarring the ball loose."

Cisse also is noted for his run support, which he feels rounds out his game. He takes pride in his run fits and says they make him "a complete corner."

His connections to Green Bay go beyond Nixon, too. Cisse's girlfriend's family is from the Madison area and full of Packers fans, and now they'll get to see him play for their favorite team.

"It's something I believed since I was a little kid, so it's just exciting to see it come true," Cisse said of making it to the NFL. "But it's not where the job ends, and just know that I've got to take it to another level."

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