First, a confession.
I love watching safeties.
It likely stems from a background playing quarterback, where you are taught at an early age to read the safeties first to figure out what the defense is doing. Are they showing single-high, or two-deep? Is one down in the box showing blitz? How do they respond to shifts or motion? How often are they rolling the coverage at the snap? If footwork is a window into the mind of a quarterback, the safeties are a window into the soul of a defense.
That fascination continues to this day. When you spend so much of your time studying the quarterback position, you end up watching a ton of safety play, going through the same checklists. What are the safeties doing before the snap? Are they rolling coverages post-snap? Are they making the quarterback’s life miserable?
A few years ago Dan Hatman, a former NFL scout and current director of The Scouting Academy, gave me an assignment. He asked me to take a hypothetical NFL team and rank the starting 22 positions (offense and defense) in terms of importance. Starting with QB and moving on through the positions. It is a fascinating exercise.
In a similar vein, Dan was astounded how quickly I got to both safety positions.
Safeties are taking on a more important – and diverse – role in today’s NFL. If we truly are in the midst of an offensive paradigm shift, with matchup-based gameplans, more athleticism at the quarterback position and more “college style” designs working into the NFL, then defenses need to adjust. Adjust they have, as the league is trending towards more lighter personnel packages, more three-safety packages, and more hybrid defenders. Because of those latter two reasons, safeties are key to the future of the NFL.
Here are the best the game has to offer. In terms of methodology, rankings are made with an eye towards the 2020 season, based upon film study and available and relevant statistical data.
Honorable Mentions
Making lists are hard, and no one is ever satisfied with the finished product. In an effort – likely a failed one – to stave off timeline rage I wanted to highlight some players that did not crack the Top 11, but are tremendous talents at the position. Players like Patrick Chung, who serves so many roles for Bill Belichick, and Marcus Maye who does the same. Jimmie Ward was a big part of San Francisco’s defense in 2019, and looks to do the same in the season to come. Tre Boston with the Carolina Panthers, Quandre Diggs with the Seattle Seahawks, Adrian Amos with the Green Bay Packers and Justin Reid with the Houston Texans; all of these men are tremendous players at the safety position that were hard cuts to make. Eddie Jackson with the Chicago Bears had a down season by his lofty standards in 2019, but should certainly be back on this list next summer. Finally, there is Derwin James. James is one of my favorite players to watch in the league, period. Full stop. But with the injury he failed to see 50% of his team’s snaps last season, so he did not qualify. It caused me legitimate anguish to leave him off, and I again have no doubt that he belongs on lists like this when healthy…and near the top. There will be lists that include these players and they are certainly defensible.
Then there is a tandem that I carved out another exception for. (As an aside, my editors are gonna hate me this week I think, more than usual).
Best Safety Tandems: Micah Hyde/Jordan Poyer and Harrison Smith/Anthony Harris
In today’s NFL safeties need to be versatile, and they need to work in tandem. When offenses do so much to confuse safeties pre-snap, and to get them out of position with motion and shifting, safeties need to be able to play both down in the box, or deep downfield. If you lack all the tools, an offensive coordinator is going to see that on film, and exploit that on Sunday.
That is why tandems are so important. The abilty to work in concert to respond to an offense, and shut it down, is critical. These two pairings do it so well.
Both Harrison Smith and Anthony Harris are going to be on this list, but their ability to work in concert and fill a variety of roles is special at the back of Minnesota’s defense. They are great players in their own right, but what they do together is art.
Earlier I mentioned the idea of a safety tandem frustrating a quarterback to no end. Over the past few seasons, perhaps no tandem has frustrated a quarterback more than what the Buffalo Bills’ pair of Micah Hyde and Jordan Poyer has done to Tom Brady. Whenever you get a chance, study the Bills’ defense and their tandem of Hyde and Poyer. They do such a tremendous job of rolling their coverage, disguising looks and moving in concert that it is difficult for any quarterback – including arguably the best of all time – to get a read on what the defense is doing. Poyer is on the outside looking in with this list, but I wanted to give them a special mention as the game’s best safety pair.
Now, to the Top 11.
11. Devin McCourty, New England Patriots
Versatility is going to be a trait woven throughout this piece, and the first player on this list is a prime example of what this ability means at the safety position. Bill Belichick asks a ton of his defenders, and in particular his safeties, and perhaps moreso from his veteran Devin McCourty. A former cornerback at Rutgers, McCourty can be seen lining up all over the field for the New England Patriots. You might see him down in the box helping against the run, in single coverage against receivers or even tight ends (such as Travis Kelce in some of the memorable Patriots-Chiefs games of recent history) or playing in more of your traditional single- or double-high alignments.
The “pass coverage or pass rush” debate is one that plays out yearly – if not monthly – on football twitter. While Belichick himself has stressed that the two need to work in tandem, last season’s version of the Patriots did have its strength with the coverage unit. Stephon Gilmore won accolades as the Defensive Player of the Year, but behind him McCourty certainly played a role with what he brought to the table. The veteran safety was targeted 31 times in pass coverage, allowing just 19 receptions for 130 yards and a single touchdown, along with his five interceptions. That translated to an NFL passer rating allowed of just 41.8, the best mark of his career.
10. Earl Thomas III, Baltimore Ravens
Earl Thomas III has been a mainstay of lists such as these since his days with the Seahawks’ “Legion of Boom,” and with good reason. Thomas is perhaps the prototype at free safety, with sideline-to-sideline ability and the eye skills to match. His first season with the Ravens after a decade in the NFC West did see his play slip a bit, but when you start at such an elite level any slippage still sees you check in as one of the game’s best.
His coverage skills remain elite. Thomas was targeted in the passing game just 14 times last season, allowing just six receptions for 87 yards and a touchdown, to go with his pair of interceptions. He allowed an NFL passer rating of just 47.9, which was the lowest mark surrendered by him since the 2016 season in Seattle. His ability to read the eyes of a quarterback remains elite, as he displayed on this interception of Ryan Fitzpatrick:
Unfortunately, for many their lasting impression of Thomas from last season was from the DIvisional Round, when Tennessee Titans’ running back Derrick Henry gave him the stiff-arm of all stiff-arms on a long run, but with some recent additions to the Ravens’ defensive front, Thomas should get to focus on what he does best in 2020: Shutting down opposing quarterbacks.
9. Micah Hyde, Buffalo Bills
It is no secret that the Buffalo Bills have a tremendous defense, and it probably comes as no surprise given the background of their head coach. But Sean McDermott – along with general manager Brandon Beane – has assembled a top-flight defensive unit that could be one of the best in the AFC.
From where I sit, it begins with the safety tandem of Jordan Poyer and Micah Hyde, already acknowledged as the best pair in the league in my opinion. Hyde in particular has raised his level of play the past few seasons. He does perhaps some of his best work down in the box helping stop the run, but he also has coverage skills that are necessary in today’s game. His awareness on this red zone interception of Tom Brady, coupled with his ability to read the QB, is without question elite:
He and Poyer work so well in tandem, with their ability to confuse quarterbacks like Brady – along with wide receivers – with how they can take basic coverage concepts and make them look exotic to an offense. Erik Turner, who covers the Bills extremely well for Cover 1, has a audio breakdowns of this in action that you can watch here:
I expect to see more of plays like this from this tandem, and Hyde in particular, in 2020.
8. Minkah Fitzpatrick, Pittsburgh Steelers
Now we are getting into even tougher territory to tread, with the players having such talent at this point in the list. If someone wanted to include Minkah Fitzpatrick as their top safety in the game, I could see the argument. Fitzpatrick is part of the next generation of safeties, players that can align all over the field and play three different roles on three consecutive downs. For example, in a piece on the safety from Doug Farrar it was highlighted that in 2018:
…[Fitzpatrick] played 23 snaps on the defensive line, 95 in the box, 166 at free safety, 281 at wide cornerback and 379 in the slot. The slot was where Fitzpatrick did his best work as a rookie last season; no other interior pass defender with at least 20% of his team’s snaps at that position allowed a lower opponent passer rating than Fitzpatrick’s 53.4. He allowed just 20 slot receptions on 39 targets for 200 yards, 111 yards after the catch, one touchdown and two interceptions.
But after his acquisition by the Pittsburgh Steelers, Fitzpatrick was used in more of a traditional single-high role. In that element, he shined last season. During his time with the Steelers last year, Fitzpatrick was targeted 16 times in coverage. On those targets he allowed eight receptions for 89 yards, no touchdowns and a career-high five interceptions. That translated to a passer rating allowed of just 27.3. And on a play such as this, you can see how he put up those numbers:
Players like this make Top 100 lists…
7. Harrison Smith, Minnesota Vikings
In the talented tandem of Minnesota Vikings’ safeties, both Anthony Harris and Harrison Smith have their preferred roles. Harris is more of your traditional free safety, while Smith is more of the in-the-box, strong safety type. But these two can do both, as evidenced by their utilization last season. For his part, Smith saw 91 snaps on the defensive line, 278 snaps in the box, 91 snaps in the slot, 22 snaps at boundary cornerback, and 488 snaps in a deep safety alignment.
Smith does some of his best work down near the line of scrimmage against the run. According to Pro Football Focus, his run defense slipped a bit in 2019, but he is still a force in that part of the game. Smith notched 66 tackles and 20 “stops,” plays which constitute a failure for the offense according to PFF. Plays like this are considered a failure for the offense:
When you add what he can do in coverage to his run defense skills, Smith remains a formidable talent at the position. Smith had one of his better pass coverage seasons in 2019, allowing just 18 receptions on 30 targets and an NFL passer rating allowed of just 35.7, his second-best season in his career. With Harris patrolling the field alongside him, Smith and the Vikings remain a stout defense to face.
6. Tyrann Mathieu, Kansas City Chiefs
Speaking of versatility…
Tyrann Mathieu already made a list like this here at Touchdown Wire, when we named him one of the league’s best slot defenders. Mathieu saw 561 snaps in the slot last year, and as Doug Farrar highlighted, he was a force in that role:
. .When he was in the slot, there was no more effective defender in the league last season. Mathieu allowed 42 slot receptions on 61 targets for just 297 yards, 174 yards after the catch, one touchdown, two interceptions, and an opponent passer rating of 69.1.
Mathieu is able to do so many things at such a high level because he has somehow managed to combine the ideal traits for multiple positions — he has the quickness to excel in the slot, the range to play two-deep safety, the aggressiveness to face up to the run in the box, and his diagnostic abilities make him nightmare fuel for receivers all over the field. If you want to see the ideal slot guy — not to mention the best five-tool pass-defender in the game — look no further than the Honey Badger.
But Mathieu also saw over 500 snaps at safety, and he more than deserves to be recognized for his contributions from that spot on the field. Specifically, Mathieu saw 388 snaps down in the box, and another 205 snaps in a deep safety alignment.
And when a guy can do this in the box, against one of the league’s more talented QBs:
Or do this as a Robber:
You are talking about greatness. As Farrar described him, a true five-tool player.
5. Jamal Adams, New York Jets
Just insert the John Malkovich as “Teddy KGB” video here please. Pay that man. Pay that man his money.
Jamal Adams, like some of the players discussed and those yet to come, is the modern defender. That player who can pressure the QB on first down, stop the run on second down, and lock down a receiver on third down. As the game transitions to perhaps a model of the “positionless defender,” Adams is that player.
Last year Adams was elite in almost every facet of the game. You could actually begin with what he did in rushing the passer. He was used often as a blitzer, and Adams generated 25 total pressures, seven sacks and seven quarterback hurries.
I mean, come on:
Adams blitzes here, runs through Saquon Barkley, strips Daniel Jones and takes the football to the house.
Then Fran Duffy from the Philadelphia Eagles his this quick audio breakdown of what Adams does near the line of scrimmage:
Adams did allow a pair of touchdowns and an NFL passer rating of 79.1 last season. But numbers alone do not speak to his coverage skills. Adams is a tremendous, fast-twitch athlete who can lock down tight ends, running backs and even receivers in coverage. That allows the Jets to use Marcus Maye and the rest of the defense in a variety of roles around him. For what he brings to the table, the Jets need to bring the dough.
4. Marcus Williams, New Orleans Saints
His rookie season was perhaps defined by a single moment in time. A missed tackle at the end of a playoff game that allowed the Minnesota Vikings to pull off a stunning miracle finish in the NFC Divisional Round. But that one moment in time propelled Williams towards becoming one of the NFL’s best players at his position, and last season was no different.
Last season was his best in terms of pass coverage. Williams was targeted 24 times in the passing game, allowing just 12 receptions for 139 yards and a single touchdown, against four interceptions. He gave up an NFL passer rating of just 42.2, his best mark in three seasons in the NFL. A prime example of his ball-hawking ability comes from his interception of Matt Ryan this past season, on a deep throw intended for Calvin Ridley. Williams reads the quarterback’s eyes perfectly and breaks on the throw, taking a perfect angle to undercut the pass:
With his steady growth over the past few seasons, and now with a veteran running mate in Malcolm Jenkins in town, Williams should continue to shine.
3. Kevin Byard, Tennessee Titans
A few seasons ago Kevin Byard was a darling of #DraftTwitter, but was left on the outside looking in when invitations to the Scouting Combine were sent out.
Now he is one of the league’s premier safeties.
Byard had another great season in 2019 as he and the Tennessee Titans made a run to the AFC Championship Game. While Derrick Henry and the offense grabbed the lion’s share of the headlines, Byard and the Titans’ defense is not to be overlooked. Byard spent the bulk of his season in a deep safety role, logging 691 snaps in that alignment. A scant majority of those, 397 to be exact, were in some kind of two-high coverage. On this interception of Baker Mayfield, he begins in a two-high alignment before buzzing down underneath, and reads the quarterback perfectly:
Byard has been one of the league’s most dangerous secondary players the past few seasons, tallying 18 interceptions and 17 passes defended since he entered the NFL. His coverage skills and ball-hawking ability keep him near the top of any list of the league’s best safeties.
2. Justin Simmons, Denver Broncos
Speaking of breakout seasons, Justin Simmons with the Denver Broncos had one a year ago, and his great season coupled with how that defense looks heading into 2020 has him jump to the top of the board.
Last season Simmons posted some of the best coverage numbers of any safety in the league. He was targeted 47 times, allowing just 25 receptions, a completion percentage of just 53.2%. On those targets Simmons allowed zero touchdowns, grabbed four interceptions, broke up 11 potential completions and surrendered an NFL passer rating of a meager 32.1.
Simmons was also solid against the run. He notched 80 total tackles, including 28 “stops,” as charted by Pro Football Focus. Put together what he did in both facets of the game, his improvement going from 2018 to 2019, and what the Broncos defense looks like going forward on both sides of the football, and Simmons looks here to stay.
1. Anthony Harris, Minnesota Vikings
The aforementioned-Harris joins the list now after what was a breakout season of sorts for him. After serving as more of a role player the previous three seasons with the Minnesota Vikings, Harris took on a featured position with Minnesota the past two seasons. He took over as a starter midway into the 2018 season, and locked down a role across from Harrison Smith. That continued into 2019, and with the Vikings last season, he notched a career-high 1,033 snaps.
He was a stalwart in coverage, holding opposing passers to an NFL passer rating of just 55.0 and tallying seven interceptions, without allowing a touchdown catch. This interception of Aaron Rodgers demonstrates both Harris’ ability to play in coverage, and how he and Harrison Smith work together in concert:
This interception of Drew Brees from Wild Card Weekend highlights his range as a single-high player:
With what he can do downfield, and what Smith can do near the line of scrimmage, there is no surprise that this is one of the game’s best safety pairings.
