This past season, he allowed only 17 catches on 32 targets for 176 yards with four picks and three pass breakups. WebGet the latest NFL Draft prospect rankings from CBS Sports. You'll now receive the top The Draft Wire stories each day directly in your inbox. In-depth prospect rankings with linked reports and all updated player information. The obvious name missing is Penn State's Joey Porter Jr. Hamsah Nasirildeen, Florida State (third round) 6. He was far more consistent in Year 2, giving up half as many touchdowns in primary coverage (three to six) as his rookie year while his coverage grade jumped 10 points. https://draftwire.usatoday.com/lists/2023-nfl-draft-rankings-safety-brian-branch-antonio-johnson-jordan-battle/, Your California Privacy Rights/Privacy Policy. He possesses good size and physicality for the position with average range and physicality. Fast forward a year and Carter is on the doorstep of making good on that claim. 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! Techie with an interesting slant on player evaluation? Hyde is often put in a good position by the defensive scheme in Buffalo, but he responds by making the plays he is given the opportunity to make. Bench: 16. Those players still exist, but the defense most in vogue right now is the Vic Fangio tree of two-high safety looks, where free safeties are occupying either one half of the field or even just a quarter with various pattern-match responsibilities. Please check the opt-in box to acknowledge that you would like to subscribe. His acceleration for a 6-foot-3 safety is what really makes him unique. 6-keys: media/spln/nfl/draft/free/stories, By pressing sign up, I confirm that I have read and agree to the. 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. 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. 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. 1, 2023 NFL mock draft: New 2-round projections for Senior Bowl week, Your California Privacy Rights/Privacy Policy. 2023 NFL Draft Safety Rankings includes a prospect ranking, a breakdown of scouting for the position, key questions about the position, and a link to learn more.. 2023 NFL Mock Draft Safety Rankings: Brian Branch, Alabama; Antonio Johnson, Texas A&M; Jordan Battle, Alabama; Jammie Robinson, Florida State A former cornerback, Jackson has transitioned to safety and enjoyed a second career once he moved past the age of 30. A few years ago, this meant Earl Thomas-type players who occupied the single-high zone in defenses playing almost exclusively Cover 3 or Cover 1. 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, 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. With the rise of two-high safety looks in the NFL, the slot position has evolved into an integral part of so many defenses around the league. Winfield is a playmaker and exceptionally good in coverage, where his ability to read the play quickly really comes to the fore. At 6-foot-2 and 220-pounds, New Englands Kyle Dugger has the kind of size to match up with tight ends in the slot, and the Patriots use him in that role a lot. Subscribe to Poyer allowed just 8.7 yards per reception from 55 targets last season. He possesses the skill set that suggests he can be a productive pass rusher, but is likely to be unrefined as a run defender early in his career. Justin Reid, S, Stanford: Round 2, 5. 2021 NFL Draft: Top Safeties Oregon defensive back Jevon Holland (8) had nine interceptions in two seasons at Eugene before opting out in 2020. Thats obviously not as big a deal in a deep role, but the team drafting him may have to accept some role limitations. Our exclusive database, featuring the most in-depth collection of NFL player performance data. He has lined up in the slot on more than 200 snaps in a season for the past seven years and should get the chance to replace Malcolm Jenkins in that matchup role within New Orleans' defense this year. Most importantly, though, Branch finishes plays. PFF's exclusive metrics provide matchup previews, position rankings, grades, and snap counts. Hes extremely fluid for a 220-pounder and can easily be a tight end eraser at the next level. The 2022 NFL Scouting Combine is in the books, and the pro day circuit is in full swing, which means its time to take an updated look at our prospect rankings for the 2022 NFL draft. The agility that Robinson plays with for a 200-plus-pound safety makes me think he missed his calling as a running back. Hes one of the best true backend players in the draft class. Weight: 205. It is difficult to find quality interior pass rushers so that makes a player with Carter's skill set even more valuable. Dugger faced 84 targets in coverage over his first two seasons in the league, allowing 58 catches for 9.3 yards per reception. Since moving to Pittsburgh and being allowed to play his natural position, Fitzpatrick has blossomed into one of the best safeties in the NFL. Willis has back-to-back impressive seasons for the Colts since coming into the league as a fourth-round pick. Thats because, at 205 pounds, hes more than willing to mix it up. Alabama head coach Nick Saban entrusted Branch with a significant share of the responsibility in that scheme. Safety in the NFL Brown has been making plays ever since he took over as a starter for the Nittany Lions in 2021. Harrison Smith has long been the prototype for this group of safeties. Heres how we stack this years safety class: 1. 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. Your inbox approves See the data Golfweek's top news 's best, via Brown may very well have the best movement skills of any safety in the draft class. This site is not endorsed by, sponsored by, or affiliated with these schools or teams. Unfortunately for Baker, the most memorable play of his season and arguably his career is getting chased down from behind by a flying D.K. 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. 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. Having a slot player who can fill in in run support with authority makes defensive coordinators far more comfortable taking their safeties out of the box. Smiths rookie season was in 2012, and he has never had a poor healthy season since that point the kind of consistent excellence that Smith has been able to maintain for the Vikings is freakish at the safety position. Henry To'o'To'o had a higher grade last year than his teammate, Christian Harris, who went No. Thankfully, that couldnt be further from the truth with Branch. Hes one of the best tackling defensive backs PFF has charted in college. He still has a knack for making big plays at the most critical times, as he came down with a pick in both the AFC championship and the Super Bowl, two of seven he had in total last season. Height Feet 6-1. Much of that is because of the Vikings' Mike Zimmer-led defense, but Smith was the player who made all of those coverage shells work. Byards play has dropped off recently after two seasons of spectacular PFF grades above 85.0. If Byard can bounce back to his best, he is a top-10 safety in this league. A few years ago, this meant, 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. Battle is sort of a jack-of-all-trades, but a master of none. Jamal Adams was thought to be this matchup weapon on defense, a player capable of lining up anywhere and doing his job well, But in Seattle, he has been struggling badly in any role other than one close to the line of scrimmage as more of a classic strong safety. 1 overall PFF grade at the position and is the only safety who has put up a 90.0-plus grade over that time. Ranking safeties in todays NFL is becoming increasingly complex because of defensive evolutions and the various roles the position encompasses. 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. Some of these players could fit more than one of these buckets, and in fact have throughout their careers, but this is where they sit right now based on the past couple of seasons. Safety Rankings: The 32 best safeties entering the 2021 NFL season. 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. Hes extremely steady and rarely caught out of control. Adams has PFF coverage grades of 53.1 and 47.4 since joining the Seahawks but has maintained a strong run-defense grade while continuing to shine when rushing the passer. See his 2024 Rankings as well! You'll find the 40 time on the Y-axis and on the X-axis the weight in pounds. Siaki Ika is a traditional nose tackle. Before that, Harris generated 10 picks and an overall PFF grade of 90.6 over the previous two seasons combined. 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. Find out where your favorite Position stacks up against the 2023 class and view expert mock drafts. That season brought forth his best career PFF grade by more than 10 grading points, although the campaigns on either side of it might be why the Bengals have seemed reluctant to hand him a monster new contract. Tyree Gillespie, Missouri. the ones that do often turn into quality starters in the NFL. Please check your email for a confirmation. Forty Time Secs 4.49. Now, those players. 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. Thats because, at 205 pounds, hes more than willing to mix it up. Collins isnt that far removed from a genuine Defensive Player of the Year kind of season, but he has declined sharply since that spectacular 2016 season. She said the support she got from other teams was 'overwhelming. Kyzir White, S, West Virginia: Round 2, 6. Brian Branch is a flex defender capable of playing safety, fulfilling the nickel-back role and even playing on the boundary in a pinch. Ranking safeties in todays NFL is becoming increasingly complex because of defensive evolutions and the various roles the position encompasses. While lacking splash plays, he is consistently in the right place at the right time and grades very well in all facets of the game. The 2023 NFL Draft safety class should provide a deep talent pool throughout Day 2 of the draft. Reed Blankenship | Middle Tennessee State, 2023 NFL mock draft: New 1st-round projections with trades, 2023 NFL mock draft: Pre-combine 3-round forecast with trades, comp picks, 2023 NFL mock draft: New 3-round projections with trades, comp picks, 2023 NFL mock draft: 3-round projections after Senior Bowl week, 2023 NFL mock draft: 2-round projections with big trades, and a new No. Budda Baker is a heat-seeking missile in the Arizona defense, amassing 160 defensive stops in just five seasons of play. Even with that tremendous speed, though, it may surprise you to know that Brown was almost entirely a box safety this past fall (only 60 of his 742 snaps came deep). 2023 NFL Draft Free Safety Rankings John Vogel October 31, 2022 in 2023 Rankings - 6 Minutes 1. Here are the 10 most physical safety prospects in this class. If he cant show that play again this year, then it really may never happen again. Please check your email for a confirmation. Even the players on this list need to have more strings to their bow than simply stuffing the run from heavy formations. Watching him, you get the real sense that he is on the precipice of being a genuinely great player rather than the very good one that he is right now. He carries one of the highest floors in the class. He scored an unofficial 9.11 RAS at the Combine out of a possible 10.00. Visit CBSSports.com for an aggregate look at the2023 NFL Draft prospect rankings! This site is not endorsed by, sponsored by, or affiliated with these schools or teams. Even with that tremendous speed, though, it may surprise you to know that Brown was almost entirely a. safety this past fall (only 60 of his 742 snaps came deep). The results are (sometimes) interesting but what it really does show, is that on the whole - NFL teams would have done better by putting their feet up and just switching on autodraft. Take a look, we have every team's draft since 2011 rated. That recklessness shows up a bit too often in coverage, but if that can be coached out of him, a drafting team is getting a heck of a player. As part of our ranking of the position groups in the 2023 NFL Draft class, we have the safeties ranked No. Coverage is king in todays NFL, and the safety position is pivoting toward players who excel deep downfield. WebGet the latest NFL Draft prospect rankings from CBS Sports. At almost 34 years old, McCourty is coming off his lowest-graded season since 2011, when he was still playing cornerback for the Patriots. Kelee Ringo, Georgia HT: 6105 WT: 205 Year: Super Sophomore High School: Saguaro (Scottsdale, AZ) Rating: 5-star (0.9976) Kelee Ringo has all of the makings of an elite safety prospect, perhaps even generational. They feel he is not strong or physical enough for the NFL because he missed a Armani Watts, S, Texas A&M: Round You'll now receive the top The Draft Wire stories each day directly in your inbox. Adams was often deployed in favorable coverage matchups with the Jets, but he was on the receiving end of that too often in 2020. 2023 NFL Draft Eligible Safety Prospects 1. Those are great strengths to have on the back end. Another strong candidate to hear his name called on Day Three of the draft, Harris was one Marcus Williams signed a big free agent deal this offseason and has been incredibly consistent in the NFL at a position where consistently high-end play is hard to come by. His 26 coverage stops over that span were the fourth most among Power Five defensive backs, as his 91 targets went for only 368 yards (4.0 yards per target). at All Scouts Average Position Rank 11. Hes elite when on the field, but he needs to stay healthy. Experienced Jammie Robinson comes in at No. Athlon Sports. From a testing perspective, theres a chance he puts up the most lackluster numbers at the combine of any player on this list. Antonio Johnson, Texas A&M, Jr, 6-3, 190 3. Gipson missed just seven tackles from 80 attempts in 2020. Player Catch up with our positional rankings here. Brisker is one spot behind Michigan s Dax Hill. Please check your email for a confirmation. 2021 NFL Draft: Safety Rankings. Another player coming off a down season, this was the first play we had seen from Harris dating back to college that had been anything but good. Similarly, Justin Simmons 90.7 PFF grade from 2019 represents his career-high by more than 10 grading points. Teams looking to add some size, speed, physicality, and athleticism to their secondary will have their share of options at the safety He has a thinner build that brings questions about his sustainability in the run game, but there is no doubt about his immediate upside as a pass rusher. Reid was dragged down by the unit as a whole in 2020, and his coverage grade of 67.2 was the lowest of his career, but his previous two seasons had been flirting with an 80.0 grade, and he has increased the number of defensive stops he has made each season. The best days of Devin McCourty may be in the past. Marcus Maye was the deep-lying free safety who allowed Jamal Adams to be the do-it-all star in the Jets secondary. Harrisons career wasnt stellar in Jacksonville, but the second he was traded to Cleveland, he began to look like a different player, and that was within a secondary that wasnt loaded with quality. Tier 1 consists of the players expected to be taken in the first round. DeShon Elliott, S, Texas: Round 1, 3. He can get past a block or knife into the backfield in the blink of an eye. 58 catches for 9.3 yards per reception from 55 targets last season up! Been making plays ever since he took over as a fourth-round pick in-depth prospect rankings take a look we. 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