Both before and after the upcoming NFL season, there’s sure to be a heated debate about the best safeties in 2023. Even compared to other football positions, safety is of particular importance because it is the last line of defense.
Appropriately, we’re witnessing a generation of incredible safety across the NFL.
Ranking of the best collateral in 2023
With so many great safeties in the league, it’s not easy to distinguish the best NFL safeties right now. In fact, some of the best safeties in the NFL could go down in NFL history.
Although we were a little afraid of leaving anyone out, we wanted to try and put together a ranking of the 10 best security guards of 2023.
10. Tyrant Mathieu
He may not be the same Honey Badger of his youth, but Bully Mathieu still deserves to be ranked among the top safeties in the league.
Even in his early 30s, the undersized Mathieu put on an impressive season in 2022, starting all 17 games for the Saints, recording eight passes saved and three interceptions. The guy can still do it and brings the same tenacity with him as he did when he was young. Keep in mind that Mathieu has been a pro bowler twice in the last three years, so he’s far from the end of his NFL career.
9. Budda Baker
Just because he’s likely to play for a bad side in 2023 doesn’t mean Budda Baker can’t still be among the league’s best safety guards. His resume speaks for itself: Baker has been selected to the Pro Bowl five times in the past six years.
He’s been a fixture in Arizona’s high school since he was a rookie, and now the Cardinals need him more than ever. There was only one season that Baker didn’t have at least six passes defended. That part of his game ties in well with his 7.5 career sacks and seven career interceptions. He doesn’t have the same physical presence as some other safeties, but he can do everything else that the NFL’s top safeties can.
8.Kevin Byard
Throughout his career with the Titans, Kevin Byard has been so consistent and dependable that it’s easy to forget he’s one of the best safety guards in the league. He has started every game for Tennessee for six straight seasons and accumulated at least four interceptions in five of those six seasons.
Somehow, Byard was only selected to two Pro Bowls in his career, so he certainly doesn’t get the recognition he deserves. However, he’s barely 30 years old and has a good chance of becoming one of the NFL’s top safety guards in 2023.
7.Jordan Poyer
It wasn’t until his tenth season in the league, but last year Jordan Poyer finally made it to his first Pro Bowl. It kind of took an injury to his running mate Micah Hyde for everyone to realize just how good Poyer was all along.
In fairness, he was also a first-team all-pro in 2021, further showing Poyer is one of the NFL’s elite safeties. Poyer’s only downside is that he’s 32 years old. Therefore, it is possible that he is slowing down a bit or showing signs of aging. However, he’s still playing at a high level and will remain a vital part of Buffalo’s defense into the 2023 season.
6. Micah Hyde
Just as he was finally being recognized as one of the NFL’s top safeties, Micah Hyde suffered a neck injury in Week 2 last year that cost him the rest of the season. But if he’s healthy in 2023, there’s little doubt Hyde will quickly become one of the league’s best safety again.
He’s just a year away from amassing five interceptions and 10 pass defenses in the 2021 season. Of course, Hyde’s contributions to Buffalo Secondary go well beyond the stats, and that will be evident when the Bills have a resurgent year this side of the ball and Hyde is healthy in 2023.
5.Antoine Winfield
With his father being a three-time Pro Bowler, Antoine Winfield entered the NFL in 2020 with great expectations. It’s safe to say that he more than lived up to those three years of his career.
He started every game as a rookie when the Buccaneers won the Super Bowl and has only gotten better from there. Winfield isn’t quite the tackling machine of some of the league’s elite safeties, but he’s not quite there either.
In three short seasons, he’s amassed nine sacks and 15 passes defended, which means he’s covering a lot of ground and playing all over the field. Winfield made his first Pro Bowl appearance in 2021 and it shouldn’t be long before he’s back as he’s emerged as a leader and an invaluable part of the Tampa defense.
4. Talanoa Hufanga
Just two years into his career, Talanoa Hufanga is already one of the NFL’s best safety guards. His hair and Polynesian heritage — not to mention the fact that he’s from USC — make comparisons to Troy Polamalu impossible to avoid. At this rate, Hufanga could have as good a career as Polamalu.
Hufanga reached his first Pro Bowl last season and was also named a First-Team All-Pro. He’s quickly become an invaluable part of one of the NFL’s best defenses. To think that he was drafted in the fifth round a few years ago makes him an absolute steal. Keep in mind that he’s only 23 years old and isn’t likely to improve until 2023 and beyond.
3.Justin Simmons
Although Justin Simmons only played 12 games last season, he finished the game with six interceptions to secure the championship lead. Combined with his seven passes defended and three forced fumbles during an abbreviated season, Simmons was named a second-team All-Pro for the third time in four seasons.
Playing on an underperforming team in recent seasons has meant he’s easily overlooked as an elite safety player. But Simmons is truly one of the greatest athletes in the league and still seems to be in his prime.
Keep in mind that Denver’s defense was among the best in the league last year, despite the team’s poor record. Simmons was a big part of that after missing the first part of the season, and he looks set to be one of the NFL’s top safety guards in 2023 as well.
2. Minkah Fitzpatrick
Since arriving in Pittsburgh, Minkah Fitzpatrick has been shortlisted as the NFL’s top safety. Arguably having the best season of his career, he was a Pro Bowl and First-Team All-Pro for a third time.
Fitzpatrick also had six interceptions last season, the best of his career, to secure the championship lead. His length and athleticism allow him to cover a lot of ground in the defensive backfield while Fitzpatrick isn’t afraid to do the dirty work near the line of scrimmage. He will undoubtedly be one of the best safeties of 2023 as he continues to play at the Pro Bowl level.
1. Durwin James
If you could create a safety in a lab, it would probably look a lot like Durwin James. He has the size, physicality and instincts to play this position at a high level. It’s a shame he only played five games in total between the 2019-2020 season due to injury, which slowed his development a bit.
But in the last two seasons he’s gotten back on the winning track, earning Pro Bowl invites in both seasons. James has actually racked up more sacks than interceptions over those two seasons while putting up at least 115 tackles each year, showing that he currently ranks among the elite safeties in the NFL.
