2025 Safety Tiers & Rankings

Here are my 2025 tiers and rankings for the safety position. I ranked the top 28 safeties for the upcoming season and came up with six different tiers within that group. Obviously, if you are playing dynasty and looking ahead, these rankings aren’t what you are looking for. However, they will provide you with what I feel is the immediate value of these safeties for this upcoming season. Let's get started and see who I have ranked where, with some quick thoughts on why.

Tier 1

#1 Budda Baker, FS, Arizona Cardinals

#2 Nick Cross, SS, Indianapolis Colts

#3 Kevin Byard, SS, Chicago Bears

#4 Derwin James, SS, Los Angeles Chargers

My first tier break comes after the top four safeties. All are on the back end of their careers, but they were four of the best at the position. Baker, Cross, and Byard were the leaders in tackles among all safeties. James didn’t quite have the tackle numbers, but his usage in the box and ability to get those TFLs and sacks put him firmly in the top tier for me.

Tier 2

#5 Tyler Nubin, FS, New York Giants

#6 Brian Branch, SS, Detroit Lions

#7 Jessie Bates, SS, Atlanta Falcons

#8 Julian Love, FS, Seattle Seahawks

#9 Kyle Hamilton, SS, Baltimore Ravens

The second tier has five players in it, and they are a different group from those in tier one. Nubin is the youngster of the group, and I really had a hard time not putting him in tier one. I think we see that jump this year for him. Branch is young as well and and we’re only just seeing the tip of ice iceberg of how good he will be. Bates. Love, Hamilton, are all a little older, but they just produce year after year. All five in this tier could easily be tier one options.

Tier 3

#10 Jeremy Chinn, FS, Washington Commanders

#11 Grant Delpit, SS, Cleveland Browns

#12 Xavier Woods, FS, Tennessee Titans

#13 Brandon Jones, FS, Denver Broncos

#14 Tre’Von Moehrig, SS, Las Vegas Raiders

#15 Jalen Thompson, SS, Arizona Cardinals

Tier three has a mixed bag of options. Chinn has rebounded nicely in Washington. Delpit is gonna be need to step up once again for the Browns. Woods is with a new team, which is horrible and has no depth. Jones has a new team as well, but Denver is actually good, and Jones will help them be better. Moehrig was surprisingly good and should continue on that trend. Thompson is the Robin to Baker, and that duo has been good for a long time. A nice plug-and-play group here in tier three.

Tier 4

#16 Xavier McKinney, FS, Green Bay Packers

#17 Kerby Joseph, FS, Detroit Lions

A tier of just two players!! I know, weird, but I had a hard time deciding where these two should be, so they got their own tier. The issue I have with these two is that their tackle numbers are low and and I hate chasing after high interception totals. It’s just not sustainable! If they can get to 100+ tackles, I could move them up a tier, but if these INTs don’t come again, I could just as easily drop them a tier.

Tier 5

#18 Deshon Elliott, FS, Pittsburgh Steelers

#19 Javon Bullard, SS, Green Bay Packers

#20 Josh Metellus, SS, Minnesota Vikings

#21 Kyle Dugger, FS, New England Patriots

#22 Harrison Smith, SS, Minnesota Vikings

#23 Camryn Bynum, FS, Minnesota Vikings

#24 Minkah Fitzpatrick, SS, Pittsburgh Steelers

This tier is the biggest, which has seven players in it. This is a bit of a weird tier as I have all three Vikings safeties in it. All three can play and produce fantasy numbers, but are cutting each other's throats if you will. Harrison is close to retirement, so this could be his last year. Once he’s gone, Metellus and Bynum’s value will change. For now, we wait. Elliott is a great fit in Pittsburgh and just continues to get better. Bullard is one I really love from this group. Only year two for him, and he’s getting the tackles and not McKinney. Always trust a player's floor, and Bullard's is very high imo. Fitzpatrick is…. I don’t know. He has the talent, but has never really played up to it. I feel he should be a tad higher, but I have tried to trade him in some leagues and not even a sniff.

Tier 6

#25 Quentin Lake, SS, Los Angeles Rams

#26 Geno Stone, SS, Cincinnati Bengals

#27 Malakai Starks, FS, Baltimore Ravens

#28 Amani Hooker, SS, Tennessee Titans

The final tier of the Top 28 safeties is one to watch. Many will have Lake higher, and I don’t hate that with how he played a year ago, but LA has a ton of youngsters who are talented and will eat into his production. Also, better linebacker play will really hurt his value imo. I have always liked Stone, and he’s in a good spot with the Bengals. Starks could be a star quickly! The injury to Ar’Darius Washington opened the door for Starks, and I believe he will rock it right away. Surrounded by great talent, and can just play free. Wish the tackle numbers were higher for Hooker, but he’ll get the volume on a bad team and that plays in fantasy.

All stats provided by Pro Football Reference

Thanks for reading my article. I am a member of the FSWA (Fantasy Sports Writers of America). Follow me on Twitter at @HollywoodTitan, on Facebook on my IDPNation page, on Reddit in the fantasy football IDP sub — I’m user KingTitan1 — and tune in each week and listen to IDP Nation and Devy IDP Grind, the podcasts that I co-host, on several different platforms. Feel free to email or dm me with any questions, as I’m always glad to help fellow IDPers. #IDPNation #IDP #IDPDevy