2023 Fantasy Football IDP: Defensive Back Rankings & Tiers

• Roles that matter for IDP: Safety alignment and deployment continue to be key in opportunities for production with many in Tier 1 representing the best of the bunch.
• Plenty of options to target late: With so many starting safeties in the NFL combined with volatile scoring, IDP managers can fade the position and still land quality options.
• So much depth at corner: Whether IDP managers want to stream the position week-to-week or grab their guy earlier, there are more options to choose from than any other position, with the top-24 listed here.

Estimated reading time: 11 minutes

Breaking fantasy football rankings down into tiers helps fantasy managers better understand what separates each group and how to value each player at the position for this coming season.

Defensive backs in IDP are among the more volatile producers for fantasy football, mostly due to lower tackle production and a reliance on unstable big plays. In order to circumvent that volatility, bet on players who have proven to be strong tacklers, or even better, get prime IDP usage (closer to the line of scrimmage) allowing for better tackle opportunities and creating more consistency on a weekly basis. 

#FFIDP – Most efficient defensive alignments for safety tackling in 2022:

OUTSIDE CB – 11.2% (smaller sample, but weird)

????BOX (SS 10.6%)/LB 10.2%) – 10.8%????

– Average safety tackle efficiency – 9.3%

SLOT – 9.3%
DEFENSIVE LINE – 9.0%
DEEP – 8.5%

Box snaps (still) matter.

— Jon Macri (@PFF_Macri) January 19, 2023

Be sure to check out the rankings page for updates as the offseason progresses.

Preferred scoring for 2023 IDP Fantasy Football Rankings

Tier 1: Role + alignment + skill = top-tier production

The top defensive back tier consists of safeties with high production floors thanks to strong tackling ability and ideal deployments within their defense. 

Derwin James sees snaps all over the defense and is a threat to make a tackle no matter where he’s lined up prior to the snap. He is the only safety to repeat within the top five in tackles versus expected and as long as he’s healthy, he should be the best bet to do so again.

Jalen Pitre came out the gate swinging as a rookie, posting nearly 150 total tackles and leading all defensive backs by a large margin. Pitre’s 38 tackles over expected in 2022 were also the most at his position and while some regression is expected under a new coaching staff and defensive system, he should still be in a prime spot to clean up tackles from his safety spot in Houston.

Another second-year player with a prime opportunity to be productive, Kyle Hamilton didn’t play a full-time role as a rookie but what he did on limited snaps was very encouraging for IDP purposes. With Chuck Clark getting traded to the New York Jets this offseason, Hamilton will step into an every-down role, and given his size and skill set, he should see plenty of snaps up near the line of scrimmage while continuing to blitz, which led him to two sacks last season, making him one of the higher upside players at his position. 

Grant Delpit may be a surprise name within this top tier but his role in Jim Schwartz’s defense should allow him to get a lot more usage in the box than he has in prior years. When last we saw Schwartz as a defensive coordinator (2021 Eagles), he ran one of the highest rates of single-high coverages (66.4%) in the league, allowing one safety to play the majority of his snaps in the box while the other roamed deep. Juan Thornhill figures to play the deep role with the Cleveland Browns, which will allow Delpit to rotate down into prime tackle territory. After posting over 100 total tackles in his first season as a starter in 2022, Delpit could potentially hit a new career-high if Schwartz continues to lean into his single-high deployment.

Tier 2: Full-time starters to feel comfortable starting every week 

There really isn’t a need to target DB early in IDP drafts, as it is not only one of the more volatile positions to score each week, but it’s also the deepest. By ending up on the right side of variance in the big play/interceptions category, any of these players could finish as the top overall safety thanks to having solid production floors as full-time players. Betting on big plays, however, is near impossible so focusing on potential tackle opportunities continues to be the best bet to hone in on when targeting the position.

Rayshawn Jenkins is an excellent example of a safety who will likely be a value in most drafts as he doesn’t have the name value of others in these rankings, but his optimal alignment in a full-time role should help him be productive once again in 2023. Jenkins recently posted over 110 total tackles thanks to a box-heavy role (39%) in the Jacksonville Jaguars’ defense, which figures to continue this season. There are going to be a number of names within this tier drafted before him but for fantasy managers that like to extract value in drafts, he’s a great target to grab later in drafts with a similar, if not better, production outlook than those within this tier.

Jamal Adams has been unable to remain healthy since joining the Seattle Seahawks in 2020, as he's missed nine games between 2020 and 2021 and then appeared in just one game in 2022. The injury luck has hit Adams hard but assuming health, there’s no reason he shouldn’t be able to produce at a high level on a weekly basis. Adams’ usage in the box and as a blitzer has often led him to be a productive tackler with sack upside so taking a shot on him as he falls due to health concerns could pay off in a big way.

The Los Angeles Rams’ defense is nearly completely depleted at this point with Jordan Fuller the only established veteran in the safety room, he figures to move back into a starting role after beginning 2022 as a part-time player and then getting injured. Fuller has shown an ability to be a productive tackler and with the Rams deploying one of the higher single-high safety schemes in 2022, there’s a chance for him to be the favorite to rotate down in the box at a high rate given his size and strong run defense ability.

Tier 3: Solid depth options and perfect candidates to target when fading safety

Jimmie Ward reunites with DeMeco Ryans in Houston and should step into a starting role alongside Pitre. Ward dealt with injuries and more of a nickel corner role last season with the 49ers but figures to return to more of a typical safety role for the Houston Texans. Ward was surprisingly productive, even in a different and limited role in 2022, posting 50 tackles and three interceptions on just over 500 defensive snaps. Between Pitre and Jonathan Owens, the Texans’ safety position was exceptionally productive last season and they’ll likely have plenty of opportunities to do so once again in 2023.

Julian Blackmon hasn’t been much of an IDP contributor for most of his NFL career, but with a significant role change expected for 2023, that should change. Blackmon is expected to step into the strong safety role in Gus Bradley’s defense, which will allow him to line up closer to the line of scrimmage on the large majority of his defensive snaps. If Blackmon even ends up with a typical tackle efficiency correlating to those high percentage of box snaps (10.8%), then he could very well outperform his current ADP by a wide margin.

Jessie Bates III is now one of the league’s highest-paid safeties after signing with the Falcons this offseason and carries a lot of name recognition that gets him overdrafted in a lot of IDP leagues each year. Bates has been a solid producer, but this mostly comes from him staying healthy and playing a full-time role. He should once again play a deep safety role with the Atlanta Falcons without a major expectation shift in his production numbers which pushes him lower in these ranks than his likely ADP.

Tier 4: Cornerbacks

The cornerbacks all get their own tier within these ranks in order to simplify things. Fantasy managers are welcome to draft corners they like earlier than represented in these tiers. It is important to try not to be the first manager in your league to draft the position as there is almost always better options at more valuable positions to target and still more than enough corners to add in the final rounds. Streaming the position week to week is also a very viable option considering the sheer volume of options available on waiver wires across most leagues.

L’Jarius Sneed will likely be the first corner drafted in the majority of IDP leagues, and after the season he had in 2022, it’s hard to argue. However, the first corner drafted in previous years has rarely been able to live up to those expectations and repeat to a point where he was worthy of that selection. Sneed isn’t likely to be different and savvy IDP managers will be better suited to let someone else draft him in 2023.

Tier 5: Plenty of value left for those willing to wait on the position

Plenty of safety options remain for those who were willing to wait, and while there may not be a guaranteed production floor for some, or even a sure-fire starting role for others, finding startable IDP options from this tier and later is still not a difficult task. A personal favorite target in this range is Miami safety, Brandon Jones, who tore his ACL in Week 7 last season but has consistently been one of the most productive safeties when on the field over the last few years, and if he can win the starting job over DeShon Elliott, he is a good bet to keep that production going. Jones’ ability to rush the passer, make tackles and be the primary option to rotate down toward the line of scrimmage would have him higher in these ranks if his health and starting job were a safer bet.

Tier 6: Not the worst options for those that faded the position to an extreme

Each of these safeties will see the field in 2023, a lot of them in full-time roles. Most are going to play primary deep roles, but with some big plays, they could put up some week-winning numbers. It’s just harder to trust their weekly floor when those plays aren’t there. For fantasy managers who are willing to stream the position in-season in order to attack more valuable positions earlier in drafts, this group is where a lot of those targets will come from.