Top 10 DB Units in the NFL

[Ozzy]

Top 10 DB units in the NFL potentially, a ton depends on who stays healthy and who plays.  I tried to combine depth and level of talent to get the best groups.  

 

 

1 Buffalo Bills:  If they can stay healthy they could really be something, last year at times were missing three if not four starters at DB.  It will help them a ton if Elam can lock down that starting outside corner opposite White which would allow Johnson to play the slot and he is great at that.  Improved safety depth of Rapp will help if Poyer or Hyde go down.  Really solid group when all out there though no question.  

CB: Tre'Davious White/ Siran Neal
SS: Jordan Poyer/ Taylor Rapp
FS: Micah Hyde/ Damar Hamlin/ Dean Marlowe
CB: Kaiir Elam/ Dane Jackson
Slot: Taron Johnson

 

 

2 New England Patriots:  Super versatile group, the safeties can all do so many different things and be moved around.  Phillips can play the slot and so can Peppers or Mills.  I think Gonzalez is going to be a great pro and Jones is already a rock solid cover man.  Curious who their slot will be, have a variety of guys that can do it, Jack Jones has some off the field stuff but is very solid and Marcus Jones could handle it quite well also Bryant.  

CB: Jonathan Jones/ Jack Jones
SS: Kyle Dugger/ Adrian Phillips
FS: Jabrill Peppers/ Jalen Mills/ Shaun Wade
CB: Christian Gonzalez/ Myles Bryant
Slot: Marcus Jones

 

 

3 New York Jets:  The addition of Amos at safety makes them really solid.  DJ Reed's emergence greatly helps Gardner on the opposite side.  The depth at CB is not great behind the starters outside of Hall but Carter/Moreland give much needed slot help and another backup corner.  Their safety depth is good as well with Davis and Adams, then even Dean who could be a slot defender or a safety.

CB: Sauce Gardner/ Brandin Echols
SS: Jordan Whitehead/ Ashtyn Davis/ Trey Dean
FS: Adrian Amos/ Tony Adams
CB: DJ Reed/ Bryce Hall
Slot: Michael Carter II/ Jimmy Moreland

 

4 Philadelphia Eagles:  Sure have them higher but I think they will really miss Gardner-Johnson and Epps no question about it.  Not sold on their replacements Blankenship or Edmunds and they need Sydney Brown to be a stud and that is very possible he will be which will help and I think he will start so I put him in there.  The corners are standout though and they will have to cut a few good ones most likely.  Got two great starters in Slay and Bradberry and fine backups and a solid slot in Maddox.  Even with Zech being hurt for the year and cutting Greedy Williams they are still super deep at CB.

CB: James Bradberry/ Josh Jobe
SS: Sydney Brown/ Terrell Edmunds
FS: Reed Blankenship/ K'Von Wallace
CB: Darius Slay/ Eli Ricks/ Goodrich
Slot: Avonte Maddox/ Josiah Scott

 

 

 

5 Seattle Seahawks:  A lot depends on Witherspoon but most likely that kid is a stud.  Also will matter greatly if Adams can stay healthy but if not at least they have Love who is tough and versatile.  Woolen should be even better this year and Bryant is a stud in the slot, great group with big time upside if they can all stay on the field, do need some CB depth though outside of just Bryant.  

CB: Devon Witherspoon/ Michael Jackson
SS: Jamal Adams/ Joey Blount
FS: Quandre Diggs/ Julivan Love
CB: Riq Woolen/ Tre Brown
Slot: Coby Bryant

 

 

 

6 Denver Broncos:  Will be interesting how they use everyone and they need some young guys to step up but is a very deep and talented DB group.  Surtain is a stud and so is Simmons, I think Sterns is poised to take over Jackson's other safety spot and Skinner could be a interesting developmental guy as a huge safety prospect.  I like their slot potential with Williams and possibly Bassey and Moss is another who could play outside or could be a safety and a real good one also.

CB: Pat Surtain II/ Riley Moss
SS: Justin Simmons/ JL Skinner/ PJ Locke
FS: Kareem Jackson/ Caden Sterns/ Delarrin Turner-Yell
CB: Damarri Mathis/ Fabian Moreau
Slot: K'Waun Williams/ Essang Bassey

 

 

 

7 Chicago Bears:  With the addition of Stevenson who is a great tackler that could really improve this secondary.  The safeties are both extremely solid if they can stay healthy because they do not have great depth there.  But at CB they are really sound especially if Gordon can play the slot and Stevenson outside but arguably they could switch it around also.  If those top five stay in it will be one of the best DB units in the NFL.

CB: Jaylon Johnson/ Kindle Vildor
SS: Jaquan Brisker/ AJ Thomas
FS: Eddie Jackson/ Elijah Hicks
CB: Tyrique Stevenson/ Michael Ojemudia
Slot: Kyler Gordon

 

 

 

8 Detroit Lions:  Will be interesting what they do and where they put Branch who could be a SS or slot defender type.  Also where they put Gardner-Johnson who is best at safety but might be the 2nd best boundary corner on the team outside of Sutton.  And to me Jacobs and Moseley are better in the slot but both can play outside also.  Having Walker back will help and Joseph who was a solid rookie gives good versatility.  Interesting group that is very talented just have to figure out how to get the best 4/5 on the field at all times.

CB: Cameron Sutton/ Will Harris
SS: Kerby Joseph/ Brian Branch
FS: Tracy Walker/ Ifeatu Melifonwu/ Brady Breeze
CB: CJ Gardner-Johnson/ Jerry Jacobs
Slot: Emmanuel Moseley

 

 

 

9 LA Chargers:  Would be much higher but who knows if Jackson and James will play the entire season or not.  And their depth is a big of a question behind the starters but the starters potentially the first four are all very good especially Jackson, James and Samuel.  I imagine Mullen could win the slot spot because they do not really have a good slot corner unless they plan to move Samuel inside or Jackson on nickel situations.  

CB: JC Jackson/ Michael Davis
SS: Derwin James/ JT Woods/ AJ Finley
FS: Alohi Gilman/ AJ Finley
CB: Asante Samuel Jr/ Ja'Sir Taylor
Slot: Tiawan Mullen

 

 

 

10 Dallas Cowboys:  Really depends on how Gilmore looks at that other CB spot, because if he is healthy and solid they could really move up this list.  Have sound safeties in Kearse and Wilson with good backups behind them.  Lewis could be a good slot for them potentially but they need another CB to emerge as the backup boundary guy and not sure who that is.  Diggs makes plays and it should be a solid group again no doubt.

CB:  Trevon Diggs/ Nahshon Wright
SS: Kayron Kearse/ Israel Mukuamu/ Markquese Bell
FS: Donovan Wilson/ Malik Hooker
CB: Stephon Gilmore/ Kelvin Joseph
Slot: Jourdan Lewis

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Honorable mention

 

New Orleans Saints:  Could be in the top 10 but really depends on the development of their younger guys and they need Howden, Abram, Gray or Monday to show out because Maye is the weak link in that D potentially.  Taylor has a lot of ability as the backup CB and Roby is a good slot and Lattimore/Adebo are two of the better starting corners in the league.  Then Mathieu is great obviously and is hard to deal with.  

CB: Marshon Lattimore/ L. Johnson/ Isaac Yiadom
SS: Marcus Maye/ Johnathan Abram/ Smoke Monday
FS: Tyrann Mathieu/ Jordan Howden/ JT Gray
CB: Paulson Adebo/ Alontae Taylor
Slot: Bradley Roby

 

 

Jacksonville Jaguars:  Could be top 10 but really depends on how Antonio Johnson plays.  If he becomes a great safety or slot player they could be an improved DB unit.  Solid starting corners already with a decent slot in Herndon.  Cisco and Jenkins played great last year and were a big part of the Defenses success, we will see if they can do that again.

CB: Tyson Campbell
SS: Rayshawn Jenkins/ Andrew Wingard
FS: Andre Cisco/ Daniel Thomas
CB: Darious Williams/ Erick Hallett
Slot: Antonio Johnson/ Tre Herndon

 

 

 

Miami Dolphins:  Big question with the Ramsey injury and just how much he will play if at all.  If healthy could have arguably the best two outside corners on any one team.  Holland is a stud at safety but the other safety is a big of a question.  Cam Smith should help a ton in the slot and help with Ramsey out, Apple can as well but he does get beat a ton also.  Will be interesting how it plays out and how they look if Ramsey can come back strong.

CB: Xavien Howard/ Kader Kohou
SS Jevon Holland/ Verone McKinley
FS DeShon Elliott/ Brandon Jones
CB Jalen Ramsey/ Eli Apple
Slot: Cam Smith/ Nik Needham

 

 

 

Cleveland Browns:  They have a lot of solid corners are a stud one in Ward.  Thornhill is a good safety that will help solidify things on the back end.  If they can keep Newsome healthy and AJ Green or Emerson standout they could be pretty solid.  Also will help greatly if Graham or Mitchell can take over that slot position potentially but maybe they just move Ward inside on those situations and have Emerson outside.

CB: Denzel Ward/ Martin Emerson
SS: Grant Delpit/ Rodney McLeod
FS: Juan Thornhill/ Ronnie Hickman
CB: Greg Newsome II/ AJ Green
Slot: Thomas Graham/ Cam Mitchell

 

 

 

Baltimore Ravens: Could be higher but they need some guys to step up as backups and really depends on how good Maulet or Williams are in the slot.  I do love the potential of Kelly and they need him to be a star long term to provide some much needed depth to the group.  Kyle Hamilton is going to be a super star safety if healthy, he had a great rookie year and Humphrey is one of the best clearly.  Not totally sold on Ya-Sin just yet but he should be ok until another guy develops and maybe that will be Kelly.

CB: Marlon Humphrey/ Ronald Darby/ Kyu Kelly
SS: Kyle Hamilton/ Geno Stone
FS: Marcus Williams/ Brandon Stephens
CB: Rock Ya-Sin/ Jalyn Armour-Davis
Slot: Arthur Maulet/ Damarion Williams

 

 

 

Houston Texans: Super versatile group, not a ton of depth and who knows if Griffin can stay healthy or who that other corner is opposite Stingley.  But they have super safety versatility, Ward at times can play the slot and is very good in coverage.  Pitre is a monster out there and a tackling machine and King is super versatile as well.  If they can find another corner to give them three solid ones they could be a surprisingly good DB unit.

CB: Derek Stingley Jr/ Darius Phillips
SS: Jalen Pitre/ Eric Murray
FS: Jimmie Ward/ MJ Stewart
CB: Steven Nelson/ Shaquill Griffin/
Slot: Desmond King/ D'Angelo Ross

 

 

 

Atlanta Falcons:  Could be way higher but depends on how the other corner opposite Terrell turns out.  Maybe it is Hughes but he is so good in the slot, or Flowers but he might be too old and Okudah seems to get hurt all the time.  Phillips is the key I think, he could be a stud corner inside or out, and if he plays well that could make the unit pretty good.  The safeties are solid, Grant is good and Bates is a super star, great pickup and he is one of the best coverage safeties in the NFL.

CB: AJ Terrell
SS: Richie Grant/ Jaylinn Hawkins
FS: Jessie Bates: Micah Abernathy
CB: Jeff Okudah/ Tre Flowers
Slot: Mike Hughes/ Clark Phillips

 

 

 

Carolina Panthers:  Interesting group just where do certain guys play, Chinn is a stud but how does he fit in this defense, I do not know.  Bell is a star safety who is great, they have super depth at CB but who is the slot, maybe Jackson or Henderson.  Robinson could be a stud safety who is super versatile and he will help a lot I think.  They just need some consistency though and for a few guys to take that next step.

CB: Jaycee Horn
SS: Vonn Bell/ Jeremy Chinn
FS: Xavier Woods/ Eric Rowe
CB: Donte Jackson/ Keith Taylor
Slot: CJ Henderson/ Jammie Robinson

 

 

Edited August 20, 2023 by Ozzy
Editing

[SmittyBacall]

Complete disrespect to exclude Cincinnati.

[renndawg37]

The Titans have one the best safety duos in the league and a bunch of solid young depth at corner. Also added Sean Murphy-Bunting...they deserve at least an honorable mention.

[Trojan]

Shout out the Chiefs who didn't get HM or Top 10, but got a pretty great group. McDuffie + Sneed with Reid + Cook. I think Bryan Cook steps up and makes them ~10th best group if healthy. I think the Eagles is #1 personally if Reed Blankenship and Sydney Brown are the Safeties with Bradberry and Slay at corner. Dolphins if you count whenever Jalen Ramsey returns, but I wouldn't put them that high now given his knee. Maybe late in the year Miami would be top few. Saints as HM is weird to me, I'd think they are kinda top 5 lock.

[Ozzy]

9 hours ago, SmittyBacall said:

Complete disrespect to exclude Cincinnati.

Maybe but I feel they will miss Bell and Bates an absolute ton.  Awuzie is very good but seems to get hurt a ton.  They need DJ Turner to be a star and that would help, he could be.  Taylor-Britt I like as well but needs to prove himself.  Hilton is one of the best slot corners in the NFL, you take him off that group they would really miss him so that would bump them up.  Dax Hill I think is a super star but has to prove himself and Nick Scott I am not a huge fan of his, Battle could take his place potentially but even he was so so last year on Bama and did not make the plays I thought he would.  DJ Ivey is a nice steal in the later rounds and could be something. 

 

Could they big honorable mention?  Sure but there has to be a limit somewhere, or half the NFL would be on the list which they are currently with the honorable mentions.

 

 

9 hours ago, renndawg37 said:

The Titans have one the best safety duos in the league and a bunch of solid young depth at corner. Also added Sean Murphy-Bunting...they deserve at least an honorable mention.

They first need to get that CB situation fixed which at times is a mess with guys in and out of the lineup.  Murphy-Bunting could help that he is legit but he has been hurt the past two years on and off, and I do like McCreary just need to show a big more consistency.  Fulton I am still on the fence about as a starting CB that is elite but we will see.  Farley I like but he also gets hurt a ton along with Molden who I like a ton but is also hurt a lot.  They are very good but need more guys to get to Byard's level of play and become an elite player, not sure any have done that.  Also of course can they stay healthy, if all can sure they could be up there potentially.

 

9 hours ago, Trojan said:

Shout out the Chiefs who didn't get HM or Top 10, but got a pretty great group. McDuffie + Sneed with Reid + Cook. I think Bryan Cook steps up and makes them ~10th best group if healthy. I think the Eagles is #1 personally if Reed Blankenship and Sydney Brown are the Safeties with Bradberry and Slay at corner. Dolphins if you count whenever Jalen Ramsey returns, but I wouldn't put them that high now given his knee. Maybe late in the year Miami would be top few. Saints as HM is weird to me, I'd think they are kinda top 5 lock.

I had the Chiefs on the list, but had to cut off at some point for the honorable mention.  The safeties I feel might not be all that great, not a huge fan of Cook as of yet and losing Thornhill I think will hurt them.  Getting Edwards helps but even he is kind of inconsistent.  The corners Watson and Williams will be huge for them, and if McDuffie can slide to the slot and one of them be the other boundary corner would help a ton as well.  Nic Jones could be very good also.  Sure they could develop into a solid group potentially just a few question marks I would say and those rookies from last year will not take people by surprise like they did potentially.

 

To me no way are the Eagles #1, only if Sydney Brown is a super star safety and not sure he has shown that, he could be and they need him badly.  I am not sold on Blankenship either so those are two huge question marks.  Corner they are as solid as can be and like I said will be cutting some very good corners pretty soon.

 

The Dolphins being honorable mention is not out of the question, and of course I have to include Ramsey but sure that is a big question mark if he can play or not at a high level.  Still on paper they have to be on there just because of those two awesome corners and Holland for example is better than any safety on the Eagles currently.  

 

Saints to me are no lock, with Lattimore coming off injury and Roby getting up there in age.  And like I said Maye is a weak spot at safety and they need Howden or someone else to become a star and take his place.  They are very good just have a few weaknesses that need to be improved.

 

 

 

 

[SmittyBacall]

5 minutes ago, Ozzy said:

Maybe but I feel they will miss Bell and Bates an absolute ton.

Perhaps, but I think Dax Hill is a potential Pro Bowler in waiting. Battle, Scott, hell even Tycen Anderson provide solid options at the other spot. It's strong depth and there's a good chance one of them rises to the top of a very good pool of options.

6 minutes ago, Ozzy said:

Awuzie is very good but seems to get hurt a ton.

Only one injury, which happened to be serious, in stripes for Awuzie. Looks healthy at the moment. We'll see.

7 minutes ago, Ozzy said:

They need DJ Turner to be a star and that would help, he could be.

Not really, he just needs to be competent depth in his first year. Can play inside and out.

8 minutes ago, Ozzy said:

Taylor-Britt I like as well but needs to prove himself.

Was one of the better rookie corners last year and only progressed as the season/playoffs went on. I think we see a jump this year.

9 minutes ago, Ozzy said:

Hilton is one of the best slot corners in the NFL, you take him off that group they would really miss him so that would bump them up.

Agreed.

[BetterCallSaul]

13 hours ago, Ozzy said:

Cleveland Browns:  They have a lot of solid corners are a stud one in Ward.  Thornhill is a good safety that will help solidify things on the back end.  If they can keep Newsome healthy and AJ Green or Emerson standout they could be pretty solid.  Also will help greatly if Graham or Mitchell can take over that slot position potentially but maybe they just move Ward inside on those situations and have Emerson outside.

CB: Denzel Ward/ Martin Emerson
SS: Grant Delpit/ Rodney McLeod
FS: Juan Thornhill/ Ronnie Hickman
CB: Greg Newsome II/ AJ Green
Slot: Thomas Graham/ Cam Mitchell

The Browns are elite at DB. Emerson already did break out—he was excellent. Ward and Newsome are both awesome starters on the outside & give us a nasty combination of speed/size matchup possibilities.

Delpit is good and has been rapidly getting better every year. Thornhill is rock solid. McLeod was one of the league’s highest rated safeties last year.

This unit not being in the top 10 is pretty insane in my opinion. They absolutely are. 

[BetterCallSaul]

Overall, I think this is a bad list, ozzy. A lot of head-scratching rankings here. 

[Ozzy]

19 minutes ago, SmittyBacall said:

Perhaps, but I think Dax Hill is a potential Pro Bowler in waiting. Battle, Scott, hell even Tycen Anderson provide solid options at the other spot. It's strong depth and there's a good chance one of them rises to the top of a very good pool of options.

Only one injury, which happened to be serious, in stripes for Awuzie. Looks healthy at the moment. We'll see.

Not really, he just needs to be competent depth in his first year. Can play inside and out.

Was one of the better rookie corners last year and only progressed as the season/playoffs went on. I think we see a jump this year.

Agreed.

Awuzie was hurt in college on and off and missed some big games there also if I remember correctly.

 

Just to me it is hard ranking them highly when they basically lost the best duo of safeties in the NFL.  Not sure how they can be equally good after losing those two super star safeties.  There is going to be a drop because they were not replaced with equally elite safeties at this time.  

 

Dax Hill I think could be a Pro bowler no question, loved him coming out of Michigan but he needs to shown that.  He needs at least one full season and clearly has never had that yet.  

 

Taylor-Britt was good and yes he could take a step up but there were at least 10 rookie corners last year better and more productive than he was.  And DJ Turner has to be good because he would be the forth corner and provide much needed depth there, especially if another starting corner goes down.  

 

[Ozzy]

4 minutes ago, BetterCallSaul said:

The Browns are elite at DB. Emerson already did break out—he was excellent. Ward and Newsome are both awesome starters on the outside & give us a nasty combination of speed/size matchup possibilities.

Delpit is good and has been rapidly getting better every year. Thornhill is rock solid. McLeod was one of the league’s highest rated safeties last year.

This unit not being in the top 10 is pretty insane in my opinion. They absolutely are. 

Possibly I might underrate them, their lack of an elite slot guy does hurt unless they take Ward and just move him to the slot and Emerson outside.  They are sold just not totally sold on any outside of Ward being elite level players.  Also not sure anyone outside of Emerson is a very promising or elite backup.  Maybe guys like Graham or Mitchell will show out and be that slot guy for them but we will see.  I might underrate Delpit a bit, I do need to watch him some more.

 

Still they need some of those other guys to become elite level players because you take Ward out of that group and it totally changes because of overall depth and talent level.  And Ward does seem to get hurt basically every year, he has never played a full NFL season in his five year NFL career correct?  That is also an issue especially if he is the main and only real slot guy.

 

 

But yeah the honorable mention list, a few guys step up or stay healthy and many groups on that list could jump up depending on those few things.  

 

[DawgX]

Fair place for the Browns. They have a lot of talent at CB, but they have trouble staying healthy. Hopefully Schwartz utilizes them better, unlike Joe Woods who had them play a bunch of soft zone when guys like Ward and Newsome excel in man coverage.

Safeties are a question mark. Thornhill should be solid but this is a big year for Delpit. He's shown flashes but has also had plenty of moments of bad play. Definitely some potential at safety, but they also have the potential to struggle there.

[-Hope-]

12 hours ago, renndawg37 said:

The Titans have one the best safety duos in the league and a bunch of solid young depth at corner. Also added Sean Murphy-Bunting...they deserve at least an honorable mention.

our CB situation is way, way too unsettled for us to sniff a top 10 list. there's a lot of potential there- fulton, SMB, and mccreary balling out this year is certainly a possibility and if that happens we will likely have a really, really good secondary- but it's not a given at all. 

[NYJets4716]

I am confused with the the depth is not great at CB for us? For one, what team has amazing 4th and 5th CBs? Most 4th and 5th string CBs are 4th and 5th string for a reason. 

Also, our top backup is Brandin Echols not Bryce Hall. Echols has stepped up whenever he is asked to come in, he is fine as depth.  Our CB trio is as good as there is in football.  

Amos isn't our starting FS. Tony Adams is, the Jets coaching staff love him. He has had a great summer and has good range. Amos is going to be the 3rd safety.

[BetterCallSaul]

3 hours ago, Ozzy said:

their lack of an elite slot guy

Greg Newsome plays in the slot. Emerson and Ward play outside. All 3 of those guys were excellent last year.

[Trojan]

3 hours ago, Ozzy said:

Saints to me are no lock, with Lattimore coming off injury and Roby getting up there in age.  And like I said Maye is a weak spot at safety and they need Howden or someone else to become a star and take his place.  They are very good just have a few weaknesses that need to be improved.

Saints are really deep. Like you mentioned Roby, I think Roby is safely CB4 after Lattimore, Paulson Adebo/Alontae Taylor after the two broke out with opportunity. CBs 5/6/7 are obvious depth but guys with upside as well. Like Troy Pride is one of CB5/6/7 and he was a mid rounder out of Notre Dame, I haven't followed his pro career but if he's the 7th best on the Saints that's a deep group. Yiadom is a former 3rd rounder, and Lonnie Johnson a former 2nd. Like you don't want those guys starting, but that's the end of roster guys. Honey Badger and Maye is a top safety group as well.