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.

• Fantasy draft approaching? Use PFF’s AI-powered Live Draft Assistant to win the draft and dominate your 2023 fantasy football league.

Estimated Reading Time: 10 minutes

Breaking fantasy football rankings down into tiers helps fantasy managers better understand what separates each group and how to value each player.

Defensive backs in IDP fantasy football are among the more volatile producers, 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.

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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 defenses.

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

While Kyle Hamilton didn’t play a full-time role as a rookie, 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. 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 lead to more usage in the box than he in prior years. When we last 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 more than 100 total tackles in his first season as a starter in 2022, Delpit could hit a new career high if Schwartz continues to lean into his single-high deployment.

Jalen Pitre came out of 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. While some regression is expected in 2023 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.

Tier 2: Full-Time Starters to Feel Comfortable Starting Every Week