Safeties can help bring you to fantasy glory, so prepare yourself with IDP+’s Redraft Tier Rankings – Safeties edition!
In my second article of the redraft season (check out dynasty thoughts and analysis on the “Ride or Dynasty” podcast with the great JJ Wenner and Jameson Hutchison, live on Thursday evenings), we will hit on a few highly ranked safeties for the 2024 season. Our expert IDP team has ranked all players for the upcoming season. In this series, our writers will break down the top tiers of players in each position, and analyze the groupings and rankings. Today, we hit the Redraft Tier Rankings – Safeties edition, a position that can give your squad incredible upside and floor, if you hit the right players.
For today’s exercise, I have broken our top 32 ranked safeties into four tiers. From here, we will hit on three (or more, we all know I love a smuggle or two) players in more depth; one value, one bust, and one slept-on. These headers are explosive, but remember, these are only in relation to that specific tier. A tier 2 “bust” still could have a good year, but would not live up to an early-round selection. Let’s dive into our Redraft Tier Rankings – Safeties article!
| Derwin James | Los Angeles Chargers |
|---|---|
| Kyle Hamilton | Baltimore Ravens |
| Antoine Winfield Jr | Tampa Bay Buccaneers |
| Jaquan Brisker | Chicago Bears |
Value: The power-slot safeties (Derwin James and Kyle Hamilton)
With a small tier 1, we will combine the top two names on the list. Conveniently, the Chargers and Ravens should now run a similar, Mike MacDonald-esque scheme. Both players’ weekly fantasy production has ebbed and flowed, but they offer DB1 overall upside. Hamilton was a big play machine, evening out modest tackle production. James, however, did not have many big plays but set a career-high with 125 tackles. James is expected to see more time in the prime safety spots (box/slot), with ~60% last season compared to 70% for Hamilton. Hamilton should also see an uptick in tackles with natural regression from the Raven offense.
Bust: Antoine Winfield Jr, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Winfield makes utilizing the general “value, bust, sleeper” tags frustrating. He might be the best safety in football, but will he repeat elite statistical production? 6 sacks boosted his great tackle total, but sacks from a DB are not repeatable from year to year. The tackle production was elite, with the fifth (tied) most amongst all DBs, but that repeatability is also questionable. Unlike the other tier-1 players, Winfield had 60% of snaps as a deep safety, which may increase this season. Jordan Whitehead is a 60% box player traditionally and has returned to Tampa Bay. Winfield clearly has S1 ability, but there is more risk with him than the rest of the group.
Sleeper: Jaquan Brisker, Chicago Bears
With Derwin James’ on-field regression and Kyle Hamilton’s statistical inconsistencies, there is room for another safety to jump into the top overall role. The most intriguing candidate for this is the Bears’ Jaquan Brisker. He has dealt with injuries thus far (missed 4 games and off-season work in two seasons) which has capped production. However, he still has topped 100 tackles in both seasons while having 65-70% box usage. He is primed for a third-year breakout – typically the third or fourth year is typically needed for Penn State players because Penn State… anyway…– and could easily be the next true S1 in fantasy.
The 2024 season is almost here! I hope our Redraft Tier Rankings – Safeties article helps you blitz your competition. Pull up a chair and join myself, Jameson Hutchison (@Jamesonrulez), and host JJ Wenner (@JJWenner) every Thursday evening (7EST) LIVE for the Rod Pod (@RideorDynasty)! You can find my other work on the IDP Guys Author Page, and feel free to reach out to me directly @JoeLow63 on X, where you can also find and follow @IDP_Plus!
