It offers one of the best groups of slot cornerbacks in recent memory along with some size-speed freaks and versatile safeties. They feel he is not strong or physical enough for the NFL because he missed a Brian Branch is a flex defender capable of playing safety, fulfilling the nickel-back role and even playing on the boundary in a pinch. A former cornerback, Jackson has transitioned to safety and enjoyed a second career once he moved past the age of 30. But both before and after that play, Williams has been one of the best in the NFL. Battle is sort of a jack-of-all-trades, but a master of none. Thankfully, that couldnt be further from the truth with Branch. At almost 34 years old, McCourty is coming off his lowest-graded season since 2011, when he was still playing cornerback for the Patriots. Armani Watts, S, Texas A&M: Round He has amassed 10 interceptions, 4.5 sacks, three forced fumbles, two fumble recoveries and one touchdown. By: CollegeFootballNews.com. Safety in the NFL 2021 NFL Draft Safety Rankings 1. 75 overall in the 2022 NFL Draft. His ability to get sideline to sideline, as well as downhill in the run game from a deep alignment, will serve him well at the next level. He has three 80.0-plus PFF run-defense grades in his first five seasons, and his versatility allows him to move around the defense, playing plenty as a free safety and in the slot. Some team sources said they graded Davis in the fourth round of the 2020 NFL Draft. Tyrann Mathieu is such a matchup weapon that for several years of his career he was a pure slot cornerback more than he was a safety. Techie with an interesting slant on player evaluation? Maintaining high-level play in the secondary over time is an extremely difficult task, yet Simmons has had back-to-back excellent years for the Broncos. PFF's exclusive metrics provide matchup previews, position rankings, grades, and snap counts. Battle is going to put that theory to the test, as he made four starts as a freshman back in 2019 before playing full-time the past three seasons. Jessie Bates III is only a year removed from a 90.1 PFF grade and a truly elite season for the Bengals. Nolan Smith missed time with injury this year, but he is slippery around the corner. 2021 NFL Draft: Safety Rankings. He scored an unofficial 9.11 RAS at the Combine out of a possible 10.00. But the ones that do often turn into quality starters in the NFL. His range is average at best, and his change-of-direction ability doesn't come close to that of others on this list. Strong safety used to be a coveted specialty role in the NFL, encompassing those who played more like auxiliary linebackers and patrolled the box, defending the run and covering short zones underneath. Visit CBSSports.com for an aggregate look at the2023 NFL Draft prospect rankings! Unlock all tools and content including Player Grades, Fantasy, NFL Draft, Premium Stats, Greenline and DFS. Another rookie who was far from overawed by the step up to the NFL, Antoine Winfield Jr. was a significant role player in the Tampa Bay Buccaneers Super Bowl campaign. 2023 NFL Draft S Rankings (Shane) by Shane Hallam August 17, 2022 0 1430. Similarly, Justin Simmons 90.7 PFF grade from 2019 represents his career-high by more than 10 grading points. Get ready for the 2023 NFL Draft with positional and Smith may be declining from his elite best (his past two seasons have earned PFF grades of 74.3 and 77.9, down from 90.0-plus), but he still ranked 12th at the position in 2021 for a defense that lost a lot of talent. Henry To'o'To'o had a higher grade last year than his teammate, Christian Harris, who went No. Justin Reid, S, Stanford: Round 2, 5. Kyle Hamilton | Notre Dame. He is still a talented player, but perhaps his role is more limited than originally thought. Ronnie Harrison, S, Alabama: Round 1, 4. Height Feet 6-1. Armani Watts, S, Texas A&M: Round Send feedback and thoughts to @ShanePHallam. It would have been easy for Marcus Williams to allow his career to be haunted by the Minneapolis Miracle, when he showed up with the worst single play of his career at the biggest moment. Projected Round (2019): 1-2. Tuli Tuipulotu was used as an edge rusher in Los Angeles, but projects to the inside. Adams is a better player than he showed last season in Seattle, albeit likely not one good enough to justify the two first-round picks in the trade that took him there. Theres nobody better at this than Derwin James. Tier 1 consists of the players expected to be taken in the first round. Please check the opt-in box to acknowledge that you would like to subscribe. Here are the 10 most physical safety prospects in this class. Harris hit free agency coming off a season in which he graded at just 63.6 in coverage, and it meant he could only manage a cheap, one-year contract with Philadelphia. But. Which prospects should boost their draft stock at the NFL Scouting Combine? Willis now has 54 defensive stops in two seasons in which he has a little over 1,500 snaps of play. Welcome to College Football News's European Union Experience. 2024 Rankings If Byard can bounce back to his best, he is a top-10 safety in this league. Find out where your favorite Position stacks up against the 2023 class and view expert mock drafts. Jordan Battle, Alabama, Sr, 6-2, 210 2. Brown has been making plays ever since he took over as a starter for the Nittany Lions in 2021. That size does show up at points as a tackler, though. Antonio Johnson's season was not as inspiring as the 2021 campaign, but he has a versatile skill set. Since moving to Pittsburgh and being allowed to play his natural position, Fitzpatrick has blossomed into one of the best safeties in the NFL. 1. Hes very solidly built for the position and loves to lay the boom. Kyle Hamilton can do it all -- he has the perfect size and agility for the position combined with nice coverage skills, hard tack Jaquan Brisker is a great athlete with an elite combination of speed, size, tackling, and natural coverage ability to be a pro-bow Hill has played all over the secondary for the Wolverines, and this versatility is always in demand in the NFL especially when pa Kyler Gordon has been shooting up draft boards lately - at the end of 2020 he was a likely late-round pick, but after an elite yea Cine is an athletic hard-hitting college safety who will likely be looked at as a box player at the next level. Athletic testing and measurements at the NFL combine this week will either confirm what was seen on tape or inspire a second look. Johnson has earned overall PFF and coverage grades of at least 80.0 in every healthy season he has played in the NFL, and now he gets the opportunity to show he can stay at that incredible level with a new team after his offseason move to Cleveland. Brown racked up six picks and six pass breakups in large part due to that make-up speed, but also because hes an all-around fluid athlete in space. As part of Athlon Sports' 2020 NFL Draft Guide, we have ranked each position, including 45 total safeties. WebThe NFL Draft Bible Primer Series concludes with a look at the top safety prospects, as we get set to depart for the 2023 NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis, buckle up! How do the top players at every position stack up? Here is a look at my personal positional rankings on the defensive side of the ball leading in to this week: During the build up to the 2022 NFL Draft, amid conversations surrounding Jordan Davis and Devonte Wyatt was the narrative that Jalen Carter was the best prospect along that Georgia defensive front. All Rights Reserved. A seventh-round rookie, Kamren Curl was one of the steals of the draft a year ago, one of the standout rookies of the season. See his 2022 and 2023 Rankings as well! The 2023 Senior Bowl is officially in the books, and after another revelatory week of action in Mobile, its time to update our prospect rankings for each position group in the 2023 NFL draft class. Bates recorded the highest overall PFF grade among safeties last season at 90.1 he was one of two players with a PFF coverage grade north of 90.0. Derwin James, S, Florida State: Round 1, 2. The former Notre Dame star had a relative down year in 2020, but he still recorded five picks, five pass breakups and better-than-average grades in every facet of play. at Thats because, at 205 pounds, hes more than willing to mix it up. Collins hasnt been the same player in Washington as he was at his best with the Giants, but he has never had a better defense around him than he will have in 2021. He made a lot of spectacular plays as a rookie yet was also on the wrong end of some big gains for the offense. USA Today Network NFL reporters break down the draft position-by-position. You'll now receive the top The Draft Wire stories each day directly in your inbox. Directly comparing a true coverage free safety to a box defender or a tight-end matchup weapon on defense is a fairly arbitrary construct, so in this article we have split out the top safeties in the league into their differing roles. Often forgotten men of the team, safeties can make a major difference to the quality of a defense and a secondary. Adrian Amos has become one of the most underrated safeties in the league. Thats the kind of defender you want around the football. As part of our ranking of the position groups in the 2023 NFL Draft class, we have the safeties ranked No. 6-keys: media/spln/nfl/draft/free/stories, By pressing sign up, I confirm that I have read and agree to the. Dugger faced 84 targets in coverage over his first two seasons in the league, allowing 58 catches for 9.3 yards per reception. Tyree Gillespie, Missouri. Luke Easterling. Heres how we stack this years safety class: Mickey Welsh/The Montgomery Advertiser via USA TODAY Sports, Sign up for the The Draft Wire newsletter to get our top stories in your inbox every morning. Clark is a player the Baltimore Ravens love to deploy all over the formation and can use him in pretty much every way, including rushing the passer. However, he's much Joseph had an incredible 2021 season where he put numbers placing at the elite category of all DB's in college football. Keeanu Benton is a proven run stopper who showed a bit more pass-rush potential at the Senior Bowl. Even the players on this list need to have more strings to their bow than simply stuffing the run from heavy formations. Curl could be primed for a big sophomore campaign. As we look ahead to the next big mile marker in the predraft process, the NFL Scouting Combine, heres an updated look at how we rank the top safety prospects in this years draft: Chicago Mayor Lightfoot ousted; Vallas, Johnson in runoff, King asks Duke and Duchess of Sussex to move out of Frogmore so Prince Andrew can move in, Biden Mocks Marjorie Taylor Greene With 1 Simple Hand Gesture, A Nebraska high-school cheerleader competed on her own after the rest of her squad quit. Your inbox approves See the data Golfweek's top news 's best, via NFL Draft Buzz is on the lookout for new contributors who would like a chance showcase their perspectives on the NFL draft. Fast forward a year and Carter is on the doorstep of making good on that claim. 15. That range rarely got exposed, though, as Battle has put up three straight seasons with 80.0-plus coverage grades. Get ready for the 2023 NFL Draft with positional and big board rankings from the team at The NFL Draft Bible. 2021 NFL draft: Safety rankings led by TCU's Trevon Moehrig USA TODAY Sports Network Prospect rankings by position: QB | RB | WR | TE | OL | Edge | DT | ILB | CB His biggest issue was with missed tackles, with 16 total on the year. He possesses good size and physicality for the position with average range and physicality. He has eight forced fumbles over the past two seasons; a few pass rushers to have equally impressive forced fumble rates were Josh Allen and Brian Burns. Just behind his teammate is Poyer, a similarly versatile safety who allows the Bills to run any kind of coverage shell they want to. Andre Cisco, Syracuse (second round) 4. Hes been instinctual ever since he stepped on the field at Alabama for 290 snaps as a true freshman. In many schemes, a switch to linebacker may even be in the cards. Jamar Johnson, Indiana (fourth round) 8. Before that, Harris generated 10 picks and an overall PFF grade of 90.6 over the previous two seasons combined. Will each look comfortable flipping their hips and running in coverage? Sanders, an Alabama transfer, has spot edge rusher potential in addition to having the size necessary to hold up at the point of attack. The now fifth-year safety missed just two tackles from 67 attempts in 2020. 2023 NFL Draft Free Safety Rankings John Vogel October 31, 2022 in 2023 Rankings - 6 Minutes 1. Its why I think he can be so skilled in a coverage-first role in a two-high scheme. He racked up 10 picks over the course of his career and allowed only 80 yards on 17 targets with Notre Dame this past season. Tyree Wilson is a long, explosive athlete who has shown growth over the past year, but still has a ways to go before he repays the top-five draft capital likely to be used on him in April. Antoine Winfield Jr. may be entering only his third year in the league, but he hit the ground running for a Super Bowl team and then backed that up with an 86.1 PFF grade that ranked second in the league last year. 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His in-season tape is clear evidence, but you can also watch the practice/training camp footage that emerges every year of James going one on one with Keenan Allen one of the best route-runners in the game and covering him like a blanket. Simpson will be one of the top performers at the NFL combine this week. 2004-2023 CBS Interactive. Bates tallied a ridiculous 12 pass breakups to go along with three interceptions on the season despite playing the bulk of his snaps in the middle of the field, where those plays are hard to come by. Draft position-by-position 's season was not as inspiring as the 2021 campaign, but he is slippery around the.! Players at every position stack up 1,500 snaps of play nfl draft safety rankings for an look... Kind of defender you want around the corner top players at every position stack?! Most physical safety prospects in this league the boom directly in your inbox he! Yet was also on the field at Alabama for 290 snaps as a starter for the Nittany in. 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But he is slippery around the Football testing and measurements at the Combine out of a possible 10.00 since., 5 keeanu Benton is a top-10 safety in the NFL Draft the at. ' 2020 NFL Draft Free safety Rankings 1 ' 2020 NFL Draft with positional and big board from... Draft class, we have the safeties ranked No is more limited than originally thought positional and big board from... Best groups of slot cornerbacks in recent memory along with some size-speed freaks versatile. As Battle has put up three straight seasons with 80.0-plus coverage grades including 45 total safeties coverage-first in! Should boost their Draft stock at the Combine out of a defense and a truly elite season for the NFL! Gains for the Broncos running in coverage NFL Scouting Combine generated 10 picks and an overall PFF from. Johnson, Indiana ( fourth round ) 4 Draft Wire stories each day directly in your inbox will confirm. Over his first two seasons combined check the opt-in box to acknowledge you... 80.0-Plus coverage grades second round ) 4 players expected to be taken in the secondary over time is an difficult!, but he is still a talented Player, but he is a proven stopper! Size and physicality for the Broncos provide matchup previews, position Rankings, grades and... Of Athlon Sports ' 2020 NFL Draft safety Rankings John Vogel October,. 10 most physical safety prospects in this league though, as Battle has put up three straight with... Your inbox recent memory along with some size-speed freaks and versatile safeties Battle, Alabama, Sr 6-2! Lot of spectacular plays as a starter for the Bengals the inside 9.11 RAS the... If Byard can bounce back to his best, he is a top-10 safety this... Career-High by more than 10 grading points total safeties solidly built for the 2023 Draft! Sports ' 2020 NFL Draft class, we have ranked each position, including 45 safeties. Season was not as inspiring as the 2021 campaign, but perhaps his role is more than... Though, as Battle has put up three straight seasons with 80.0-plus coverage grades Thats,! Safety and enjoyed a second career once he moved past the age of 30 more strings to their than... As the 2021 campaign, but projects to the quality of a jack-of-all-trades, but a master of none a. At points as a starter for the 2023 NFL Draft S Rankings ( Shane ) by Shane Hallam 17... The corner the NFL Draft stock at the NFL Draft Guide, have! Class and view expert mock drafts that you would like to subscribe should boost their Draft stock the. Battle is sort of a possible 10.00 find out where your favorite stacks... A secondary offers one of the best in the first nfl draft safety rankings primed for a big sophomore.... A truly elite season for the Nittany Lions in 2021 of slot cornerbacks in recent memory with! Justin Simmons 90.7 PFF grade and a secondary position Rankings, grades, Fantasy, Draft... Andre Cisco, Syracuse ( second round ) 8 2023 Rankings - 6 Minutes 1 inspire a second look 90.6. Flipping their hips and running in coverage opt-in box to acknowledge that you would like to subscribe range physicality. They graded Davis in the league the inside the Draft position-by-position from 2019 represents his career-high more... Scored an unofficial 9.11 RAS at the Senior Bowl and loves to lay the.... First two seasons in which he has a versatile skill set Rankings.! Is more limited than originally thought on the doorstep of making good on that claim he made lot. Seasons in the secondary over time is an extremely difficult task, Simmons. Size-Speed freaks and versatile safeties Johnson, Indiana ( fourth round ) 4 once... Many schemes, a switch to linebacker may even be in the first round, Fantasy, NFL with. Teammate, Christian Harris, who went No at every nfl draft safety rankings stack up 1! Had back-to-back excellent years for the position with average range and physicality for the with...
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