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azcatz11 wrote:Watching the Hall of Fame game (thank God football is back) how would you rank these DB's? These are the first elite DB's that came to my mind so please don't take offense if I'm missing anyone.

Sean Taylor
Ed Reed
Troy Polamalu
Earl Thomas
Taylor Mays

Cactus Jack wrote:

azcatz11 wrote:Watching the Hall of Fame game (thank God football is back) how would you rank these DB's? These are the first elite DB's that came to my mind so please don't take offense if I'm missing anyone.

Sean Taylor
Ed Reed
Troy Polamalu
Earl Thomas
Taylor Mays

Taylor Mays?


Ed Reed
ET
Polamalu
Taylor

Cactus Jack wrote:

azcatz11 wrote:Watching the Hall of Fame game (thank God football is back) how would you rank these DB's? These are the first elite DB's that came to my mind so please don't take offense if I'm missing anyone.

Sean Taylor
Ed Reed
Troy Polamalu
Earl Thomas
Taylor Mays

Taylor Mays?

No mention of Ronnie Lott? Kenny Easley?


Ed Reed
ET
Polamalu
Taylor

Taylor was Kam Chancellor like. If he hadn't been killed, he's likely higher on this list.

azcatz11 wrote: I don't think we're old enough to remember Lott or Easley

azcatz11 wrote:

Cactus Jack wrote:

azcatz11 wrote:Watching the Hall of Fame game (thank God football is back) how would you rank these DB's? These are the first elite DB's that came to my mind so please don't take offense if I'm missing anyone.

Sean Taylor
Ed Reed
Troy Polamalu
Earl Thomas
Taylor Mays

Taylor Mays?


Ed Reed
ET
Polamalu
Taylor

Hah Mays was obviously a joke (but still arguably the most physically imposing S ever coming out)

If I was ranking (peak)

Taylor
Reed
ET
Pol

azcatz11 wrote:Watching the Hall of Fame game (thank God football is back) how would you rank these DB's? These are the first elite DB's that came to my mind so please don't take offense if I'm missing anyone.

Sean Taylor
Ed Reed
Troy Polamalu
Earl Thomas
Taylor Mays

Safety Rankings: The 32 best safeties entering the 2021 NFL season

By Sam Monson
Jul 29, 2021
After ranking the best players at every position as a part of PFF's 2021 NFL season preview, we have finally come to safeties.

Often forgotten men of the team, safeties can make a major difference to the quality of a defense and a secondary. And while some positions in the league are extremely thin, highlighted by just a few stars but lacking any real quality beyond that, the safety position seems to be in excellent health.

Let’s dive into PFF's top 32 safeties entering the 2021 NFL season.

1. JUSTIN SIMMONS, DENVER BRONCOS
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. Over the last two seasons, Simmons has the No. 1 overall PFF grade at the position and is the only safety who has put up a 90.0-plus grade over that time.

2. HARRISON SMITH, MINNESOTA VIKINGS
Smith’s 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. 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.

3. JOHN JOHNSON III, CLEVELAND BROWNS
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.

4. MARCUS WILLIAMS, NEW ORLEANS SAINTS
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. But both before and after that play, Williams has been one of the best in the NFL. The now fifth-year safety missed just two tackles from 67 attempts in 2020.


5. MINKAH FITZPATRICK, PITTSBURGH STEELERS
Since moving to Pittsburgh and being allowed to play his natural position, Fitzpatrick has blossomed into one of the best safeties in the NFL. Some of that play is built off the back of a couple of exceptional games, but he now has nine picks and 11 pass breakups over the last two seasons, including the playoffs.

6. DERWIN JAMES, LOS ANGELES CHARGERS
Had it not been for injury, James might be the best safety in the league, and football fans everywhere have their fingers crossed that the injury bug is finally behind him so we can see the kind of special player he can be. The Florida State product posted an overall PFF grade of 87.8 as a rookie, but he has played just 299 total snaps in the two seasons since.

7. MARCUS MAYE, NEW YORK JETS
Marcus Maye was the deep-lying free safety who allowed Jamal Adams to be the do-it-all star in the Jets secondary. But when the team traded Adams to Seattle, Maye was able to step into that role and show that he can also do a bit of everything well. Maye earned a career-high PFF grade of 82.9 last season, also notching career highs in snaps from the slot and in the box.

8. JESSIE BATES III, CINCINNATI BENGALS
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. 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.

9. ADRIAN AMOS, GREEN BAY PACKERS
Amos is often underrated and overlooked because he doesn’t make as many spectacular plays as other safeties — he has just nine interceptions in six years — but he produced the highest PFF coverage grade among all safeties in 2020 (91.5), with seven pass breakups and three picks on the year.

10. JAMAL ADAMS, SEATTLE SEAHAWKS
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. What was concerning about last season was how badly he was exposed in coverage within the Seahawks defense. Adams was often deployed in favorable coverage matchups with the Jets, but he was on the receiving end of that too often in 2020. He finished the year with 34 total pressures, 15 more than any other safety.

11. TYRANN MATHIEU, KANSAS CITY CHIEFS
Tyrann Mathieu is a complete and versatile player who has been a difference-maker within the Chiefs defense since he arrived there. 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.

12. KEVIN BYARD, TENNESSEE TITANS
Byard’s play has dropped off recently after two seasons of spectacular PFF grades above 85.0. This most recent season saw him post career-low marks in overall grade (65.8) and coverage grade (61.5), which drags him outside of the top 10, such is the strength of competition. If Byard can bounce back to his best, he is a top-10 safety in this league.

13. ANTHONY HARRIS, PHILADELPHIA EAGLES
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. 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. Before that, Harris generated 10 picks and an overall PFF grade of 90.6 over the previous two seasons combined.

14. MICAH HYDE, BUFFALO BILLS
The Buffalo Bills have an incredibly reliable pair of safeties, and the first on the list is Micah Hyde, who now has four straight seasons with an overall PFF grade of at least 70.0 — and three of the four are significantly better than 70.0. 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.

15. JORDAN POYER, BUFFALO BILLS
Just behind his teammate is Poyer, a similarly versatile safety who allows the Bills to run any kind of coverage shell they want to. Poyer allowed just 8.7 yards per reception from 55 targets last season. He also forced two fumbles, making five in total over the last two seasons.

bwgood77 wrote:This year safeties:

Safety Rankings: The 32 best safeties entering the 2021 NFL season

By Sam Monson
Jul 29, 2021
After ranking the best players at every position as a part of PFF's 2021 NFL season preview, we have finally come to safeties.

Often forgotten men of the team, safeties can make a major difference to the quality of a defense and a secondary. And while some positions in the league are extremely thin, highlighted by just a few stars but lacking any real quality beyond that, the safety position seems to be in excellent health.

Let’s dive into PFF's top 32 safeties entering the 2021 NFL season.

1. JUSTIN SIMMONS, DENVER BRONCOS
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. Over the last two seasons, Simmons has the No. 1 overall PFF grade at the position and is the only safety who has put up a 90.0-plus grade over that time.

2. HARRISON SMITH, MINNESOTA VIKINGS
Smith’s 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. 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.

3. JOHN JOHNSON III, CLEVELAND BROWNS
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.

4. MARCUS WILLIAMS, NEW ORLEANS SAINTS
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. But both before and after that play, Williams has been one of the best in the NFL. The now fifth-year safety missed just two tackles from 67 attempts in 2020.


5. MINKAH FITZPATRICK, PITTSBURGH STEELERS
Since moving to Pittsburgh and being allowed to play his natural position, Fitzpatrick has blossomed into one of the best safeties in the NFL. Some of that play is built off the back of a couple of exceptional games, but he now has nine picks and 11 pass breakups over the last two seasons, including the playoffs.

6. DERWIN JAMES, LOS ANGELES CHARGERS
Had it not been for injury, James might be the best safety in the league, and football fans everywhere have their fingers crossed that the injury bug is finally behind him so we can see the kind of special player he can be. The Florida State product posted an overall PFF grade of 87.8 as a rookie, but he has played just 299 total snaps in the two seasons since.

7. MARCUS MAYE, NEW YORK JETS
Marcus Maye was the deep-lying free safety who allowed Jamal Adams to be the do-it-all star in the Jets secondary. But when the team traded Adams to Seattle, Maye was able to step into that role and show that he can also do a bit of everything well. Maye earned a career-high PFF grade of 82.9 last season, also notching career highs in snaps from the slot and in the box.

8. JESSIE BATES III, CINCINNATI BENGALS
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. 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.

9. ADRIAN AMOS, GREEN BAY PACKERS
Amos is often underrated and overlooked because he doesn’t make as many spectacular plays as other safeties — he has just nine interceptions in six years — but he produced the highest PFF coverage grade among all safeties in 2020 (91.5), with seven pass breakups and three picks on the year.

10. JAMAL ADAMS, SEATTLE SEAHAWKS
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. What was concerning about last season was how badly he was exposed in coverage within the Seahawks defense. Adams was often deployed in favorable coverage matchups with the Jets, but he was on the receiving end of that too often in 2020. He finished the year with 34 total pressures, 15 more than any other safety.

11. TYRANN MATHIEU, KANSAS CITY CHIEFS
Tyrann Mathieu is a complete and versatile player who has been a difference-maker within the Chiefs defense since he arrived there. 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.

12. KEVIN BYARD, TENNESSEE TITANS
Byard’s play has dropped off recently after two seasons of spectacular PFF grades above 85.0. This most recent season saw him post career-low marks in overall grade (65.8) and coverage grade (61.5), which drags him outside of the top 10, such is the strength of competition. If Byard can bounce back to his best, he is a top-10 safety in this league.

13. ANTHONY HARRIS, PHILADELPHIA EAGLES
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. 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. Before that, Harris generated 10 picks and an overall PFF grade of 90.6 over the previous two seasons combined.

14. MICAH HYDE, BUFFALO BILLS
The Buffalo Bills have an incredibly reliable pair of safeties, and the first on the list is Micah Hyde, who now has four straight seasons with an overall PFF grade of at least 70.0 — and three of the four are significantly better than 70.0. 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.

15. JORDAN POYER, BUFFALO BILLS
Just behind his teammate is Poyer, a similarly versatile safety who allows the Bills to run any kind of coverage shell they want to. Poyer allowed just 8.7 yards per reception from 55 targets last season. He also forced two fumbles, making five in total over the last two seasons.

https://www.pff.com/news/nfl-safety-rankings-the-32-best-safeties-entering-the-2021-nfl-season