Here’s a look at the defensive backs as you start to plan your IDP drafts.
DB Primer
Defensive Backs should be the last IDP position that you draft. There are SO MANY DBs that will score points that it makes DBs harder to predict on a week-to-week basis and cheap to buy in drafts. Passing increases every year and with that so do defensive backs making plays on the ball and stacking tackles. I have no issue taking my first DB all the way down to tier 3 and that’s not something I’m willing to do at the other positions. Even splitting the DBs into Safeties and Corners in bigger leagues doesn’t change my thought process for DBs because the position is so deep.
Drafting CBs
In leagues that mix S and CB (most leagues) Corners are so unbelievably inconsistent that I have my first CB (Kenny Moore) all the way down at 37 amond DBs and 134 overall. Diggs had a historic year with 11 INTS (most since 1981) and still only finished 19th in tackle-heavy formats in PPG. There is a ‘rookie CB rule’ that most rookies tend to get picked on in their first season and get more tackles. It’s more of a matchup play but it didn’t really pan out last year, Surtain was the #1 scoring CB from the 1st round and didn’t crack the top 50 in PPG.
Take Risks
This is the position you are most likely to find a solid replacement for on the wire so why not buy a lottery ticket? I’ll be rostering rookies like Hamilton, Brisker, Pitre and Cine on most of my rosters and if they don’t work out someone will show up on the wire to add.
Tier 1
Jamal Adams, Budda Baker, Jeremy Chinn, Minkah Fitzpatrick, Derwin James, Jordan Poyer, Antoine Winfield
The top 7 guys are the most consistent producers from this inconsistent position. Derwin James finally made it all come together and had his best season in 2021 and looks to build on that. Everyone else from Tier 1 combines the ability to make a play on the ball, get to the QB, and will hover around 100 tackles.
Tier 1 target – Antoine Winfield, Winfield seems to be the cheapest option of this group and Derwin James is the only one who averaged more PPG last year.
Riskiest Tier 1 investment – Minkah Fitzpatrick, Over the last two seasons Fitz has proven to me that he can stack tackles or pull-down INTs to earn his points but he’s currently waiting for a contract and the Steelers are historically stingy.
Tier 2
Johnathan Abram, Jessie Bates, Kevin Byard, Jordan Fuller, Kyle Hamilton, Taylor Rapp, Harrison Smith, Jalen Thompson
Everyone in Tier 2, outside of the rookie Kyle Hamilton, has finished as Top 12 DB in PPG at some point in their career. Thompson, Abram, Fuller Smith and Byard all did so in 2021.
Tier 2 target – Kyle Hamilton, the answer is ‘the cheapest’ but in most leagues that should probably be Hamilton. It’s tough for rookies to get on the field but the Ravens are desperate for help in the secondary after giving up the most passing yards in the league last year and Hamilton will be a big part of correcting that issue.
Riskiest Tier 2 investment – Jessie Bates, Bates is coming off a down year (DB 63 overall 6.1 PPG) but has finished at least as DB 18 and was a top 5 DB twice. The riskiest part about Bates to me is that he doesn’t plan to play on the Franchise Tag and this situation could get ugly.
Tier 3
Von Bell, Jaquan Brisker, Landon Collins, Kamren Curl, Jevon Holland, Tyrann Mathieu, Marcus Maye, Xavier McKinney, Logan Ryan, Justin Simmons, Tracy Walker
This tier has some guts with way more upside that are moving locations like Mathieu, Collins, Maye and Ryan. Those four could easily outplay this tier but become a little harder to project moving to a new home. McKinney, Simmons and Bell were all on the field for over 90% of their teams snaps so, upside could be limited. Holland, Curl and the rookie Brisker are upside plays here.
Tier 3 target – Jevon Holland, once again the answer is ‘cheapest’ in your draft/auction but Holland had at least 6 points every game the last 8 weeks of the season and averaged 8.12 PPG which would have had him as DB 14 over the course of the season.
Riskiest Tier 2 investment – Landon Collins, Collins has a track record of missing games. He missed 4 last season and 7 the year before that. Collins was also a June 1st cut and has yet to sign with a team so he is obviously harder to project. Collins has finished as a DB1 in PPG every season since 2016, which was also the last time he didn’t miss at least one game in a season.
Tier 4
Lewis Cine, Quandre Diggs, Kyle Dugger, Brandon Jones, Jayron Kearse, Kenny Moore, Jalen Pitre, Justin Reid, Jordan Whitehead, Khari Willis, Xavier Woods
This tier offers a lot of upside but also has some players with a high floor to pair with upside plays from the previous tiers. Woods, Diggs, Kearse, and Moore all played in over 88% of the snaps last season and are the high-floor options. Rookies Pitre and Cine are most likely to be my most rostered players from this tier because of the upside they offer. Dugger, Jones, Reid and Whitehead are all projected to be on the field more than they were last season and they all already averaged at least 6 PPG.
Tier 4 target – Jalen Pitre, Pitre played the ‘star’ position at Baylor and lined up all over the field and I expect him to do a lot of the same in Houston. Pitre will have the same pitfalls any normal rookie has but the Texans will probably be on the field a lot and he’ll have tons of chances to earn points
Riskiest Tier 4 investment – Xavier Woods, Woods saw a career year in his one season in Dallas where he played 100% of the snaps and that had him as DB 14 overall in PPG. There’s not a ton of room for growth when he played every snap last season so I would expect some regression and it’s likely someone will see what he did last year and overpay for him.
Tier 5
Nasir Adderly, Anthony Brown, Trevon Diggs, Terrell Edmunds, Kaiir Elam, Anthony Harris, Dax Hill, Micah Hyde, J.C. Jackson, Kareem Jackson, Adrian Phillips, Jalen Ramsey, A.J. Terrell, Jimmie Ward
This is where we start to see the high-end CBs join the lower-end Safties to form a tier. Diggs, Terrell, Ramsey and J.C. Jackson are going to be covering teams best WR for the most part and therefore are going to see opportunities to make a play on the ball and stack tackles. Brown and rookie Elam are what I would call ‘pick-on’ corners, they have an elite CB on the other side (Diggs and Tre White) so they could see more action than a typical number 2 CB. The only safety to average more than 7.5 points was Adrian Phillips and he’s probably the least safe of all the options in this tier.
Tier 5 target – Terrell Edmunds, If you’ve heard me on podcasts you probably know that I’m not the biggest fan of Edmunds. I do have to admit that he will be on the field a lot (98% of the snaps in 2021) and since the Steelers didn’t pick up his 5th-year option he’ll be playing for a contract.
Riskiest Tier 5 investment – Adrian Phillips, The Pats have been seemingly trying to replace Phillips for a while but he keeps earning the spot. Every spot for the Patriots is a rotational spot except Devin McCourty who played over 95% of the snaps and wears the green dot for the Pats to lineup the defense every play. The Pats still have Phillips and Dugger for the other spot and signed Jabrill Peppers. Phillips has to go in this tier for his track record but I’ll probably let someone else take a shot.
Deep Targets to take a shot on
Eddie Jackson – The arrival of Jaquan Brisker in Chicago should allow Jackson to spend most of his time at FS where he is known for making a play on the ball. He’s a boom-or-bust play from week to week but should offer a higher floor this season with the Bears defense projected to be on the field a lot.
D.J. Reed – If Sauce Gardner establishes himself as quickly as I think he will Reed could see a lot of targets quickly. If the Jets offense starts putting points on the board Reed could see even more action, there’s a lot of upside here.
L’Jarius Sneed – Sneed looks to shift to an outside CB role this year in KC and that comes with a lot of responsibility. Even with Tyreek Hill gone the Chiefs are still going to sling the rock a lot and the rest of this division has bolstered their offenses which could provide a decent amount of shootouts.
Andrew Booth Jr. – This is a dart throw on the rookie CB rule. The Vikings have been trying to solve the problem at CB for a long time now so Booth should be on the field and getting thrown at quickly.
Ashtyn Davis – This one is a bit of a gut feeling but I like the opportunity in his 3rd year to potentially earn the job over Lamarcus Joyner. In the games Davis had over 60 snaps he averaged 9 PPG which would have been good for the 5th best DB over the course of the full 2021 season. I probably wouldn’t take a shot on him unless we get word that he’s having a good training camp but if he falls in early deep league drafts you can do much worse than taking a shot on Davis.
2022 IDP Defensive Back Rankings
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