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2026 player position rankings: Wide receivers| Cornerbacks| Offensive line| Defensive line| Tight ends| WR2s| Linebackers
Welcome back to Sports Illustrated’s 2026 NFL position rankings, where we’ll stack up the top 10 players across the league at each spot on the field over the coming weeks leading into training camp. We continue with safeties.
Versatility is paramount at the safety position in today’s NFL. Many of the league’s best safeties are used at nickel, as dynamic blitzers and chess pieces in complex defenses designed to fool even the NFL’s top quarterbacks. They require a blend of intelligence, hard-hitting and stellar instincts both in coverage and the run game. While safeties are often among the league’s most undervalued positions, great safeties give their teams a unique advantage every game day.
But which safeties do it best? We’ve ranked the top 10 at the position in the NFL heading into the 2026 season. Rankings were determined by a vote between Eva Geitheim, Mike Kadlick and Karl Rasmussen.
10. Calen Bullock, Houston Texans
Bullock has taken the league by storm in his first two seasons as a pro, racking up nine interceptions and 21 pass defenses in 34 games. Bullock is elite in coverage. In his career, opposing quarterbacks haven’t had much success when throwing to his side of the field. Passers have completed just 47.9% of their passes, averaging 6.9 yards per target and have a 52.4 passer rating when Bullock is in coverage.
A former third-round pick, Bullock has quickly developed into one of the league’s top safeties. He’s at his best in coverage, but he’s also steadily improved as a tackler, bringing his missed tackle rate down from 11.5% as a rookie to 8.6% in Year 2. There’s still work to be done, but he more than makes up for it with his talents as a ball hawk.– Karl Rasmussen
9. Budda Baker, Arizona Cardinals
Baker burst onto the scene as a second-round pick for the Cardinals in 2017, earning both first-team All-Pro honors and a Pro Bowl nod as a rookie despite not making his first start until early November.
Since then, the former Washington Husky has remained one of the best safeties in the NFL. Baker has tallied 1,021 total tackles (including a league-leading 104 solo tackles in 2019), 44 passes defensed, 10 sacks, eight interceptions and seven forced fumbles over the course of his career, and has been named a first-team All-Pro twice, a second-team All-Pro twice and has eight Pro Bowl nods under his belt.
“He’s impossible to block in the run game,” an NFL coordinator told ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler of Baker. “And he’s a great blitzer. So for what he does, he still does it at a high level.”
Needless to say, even as he enters his age-30 season, Baker continues to make his presence known across the league. – Mike Kadlick
8. Antoine Winfield Jr., Tampa Bay Buccaneers
After a series of injuries limited Winfield to just nine games in 2024, he bounced back with a big season in ’25. Winfield earned his second trip to the Pro Bowl after recording two interceptions, eight pass defenses and 93 tackles. An excellent pass rusher from the secondary, Winfield was fourth among all safeties with 15 pressures last season. He leads all strong safeties with 18 sacks since he was drafted in ’20, and he’s also a capable tackler, missing just 4.1% of his tackles last season, the second-best mark of his career.
Run defense isn’t his strong suit, but Winfield makes up for it with his coverage skills. Opposing quarterbacks targeting Winfield completed just 56.9% of their passes in 2025, lower than any other season of his career. – K.R.
7. Kevin Byard III, New England Patriots
At 32, Byard remains one of the best safeties in the game, earning first-team All-Pro honors for the third time in his career in 2025. Playing for a Bears defense that forced more turnovers than any other team, Byard was a catalyst as he led the league in interceptions, picking off seven passes. He has been one of the premier ball hawks throughout his career, leading the league in interceptions in two different seasons. Only one active player, Harrison Smith, has more career picks than Byard.
After spending the past two seasons in Chicago, Byard signed with the Patriots this offseason, where he’ll reunite with Mike Vrabel. – Eva Geitheim
6. Brian Branch, Detroit Lions
Branch was part of a loaded Lions draft haul in 2023 that included the likes of Jahmyr Gibbs, Jack Campbell and Sam LaPorta, among others. He fell to the second round despite being widely viewed as the No. 1 safety prospect in the class, which allowed Detroit to snag him the No. 45 pick.
The 24-year-old has started 37 games since joining the Lions’ secondary, tallying 258 total tackles, 38 passes defensed, seven interceptions and 4.5 sacks. In 2024, he earned his first career Pro Bowl nod.
Branch enters 2026 coming off quite the rollercoaster ’25 campaign. After a postgame altercation with Chiefs wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster landed him a one-game suspension in mid-October, the safety then tore his Achilles tendon during a Week 14 win over the Cowboys. The injury caused him to miss Detroit’s final five games of the season, and puts his start to the 2026 season in jeopardy.
Still, Branch’s track record and long-term potential at the position land him just outside our top five. – M.K.
5. Talanoa Hufanga, Denver Broncos
A fifth-round pick of the 49ers in 2021, Hufanga spent his first four NFL seasons in San Francisco, earning first-team All-Pro honors in ’22 before signing a three-year, $45 million contract with the Broncos last offseason. He followed the payday up with arguably his best season to date in ’25.
While notching career highs in tackles (106), passes defensed (11), tackles for loss (6) and sacks (2), Hufanga anchored the back end of a Denver defense that allowed just 18.3 points per game—the third-fewest in the NFL—and a league-best 14–3 record on its way to a spot in the AFC championship game.
“He is the ultimate eraser of anything in the run game or pass game,” Broncos defensive coordinator Vance Joseph said of Hufanga last season. That’s the mark of a good safety.”
The 26-year-old was named a second-team All-Pro in 2025 for his efforts, and now enters ’26 with increased expectations. – M.K.
4. Xavier McKinney, Green Bay Packerws
The Giants’ decision not to re-sign McKinney continues to haunt them, as he’s developed into one of the league’s best safeties in Green Bay. Across two seasons with the Packers, McKinney has recorded 10 interceptions (including eight in 2024), 21 pass defenses, 195 tackles and two sacks. A ball hawk in coverage, McKinney was a first-team All-Pro selectee in ’24 and made the All-Pro second team in ’25.
Last season, opposing quarterbacks completed just 57.5% of passes thrown in McKinney’s direction. He’s one of the NFL’s best safeties in coverage, but the 27-year-old also made big strides as a run defender in 2025. One of the league’s best tacklers at his position, McKinney recorded missed tackle rates of 3.3% and 5.3% in ’24 and ’25, respectively. – K.R.
3. Jessie Bates III, Atlanta Falcons
Bates excels at defending against the pass, evidenced by his three interceptions in 2025. It was his fourth consecutive season with multiple interceptions, and opposing quarterbacks had just a 56.3% completion rating when he was in coverage. Since joining the Falcons in ’23, Bates’s 13 interceptions are the most among all safeties in the NFL. Bates is also a strong tackler, registering his third consecutive season with a missed tackle percentage below 8%.
Although Bates surrendered 12.8 yards per completion in 2025––his highest since he was with the Bengals, quarterbacks averaged just 7.2 yards per target when throwing his direction, which was the third-best mark of his career. – K.R.
2. Derwin James Jr., Los Angeles Chargers
James was revitalized over the past two seasons in Jesse Minter’s defense, earning second-team All-Pro honors in consecutive seasons.
James was recently made the NFL’s highest-paid safety this offseason, perhaps an unsurprising feat given that coach Jim Harbaugh called him the best safety in the history of the National Football League. Last September, Harbaugh gave a near three-minute speech about James’s greatness—comparing him to Willie Mays and Superman in the process.
“When he tackles, he gets them down, but he can cover, he can play any position in the secondary,” Harbaugh said. “I guess what jumps out the most is he can play nickel, he can play dimebacker, he can play corner, he can play in the deep half, he can play in the deep middle, he can blitz.”
The numbers line up with what Harbaugh said. Per Next Gen Stats, James was one of five players to align on the line of scrimmage, at linebacker and at safety on at least 100 snaps during the 2025 season. He ranks third among defensive backs in blitz rate and second in pressures, and also was effective as a run defender. He is slated to maintain a similar role as Chris O’Leary takes over as defensive coordinator. – E.G.
1. Kyle Hamilton, Baltimore Ravens
Hamilton defines what it means to play safety in the current age of football. His versatility shines through every game, as he lined up at linebacker, in the slot, at safety and at edge over 100 times during the 2025 season. He tallied 105 total tackles, one sack, two forced fumbles and nine pass breakups while earning first-team All-Pro honors for the second time in his career last season.
Hamilton’s importance in the Ravens defense cannot be understated. It’s no coincidence that after he exited the Ravens’ Week 18 loss to the Steelers last season, Pittsburgh scored 23 of its 26 points in the game to come back and win.
Look for the Ravens to continue using Hamilton’s versatile skill set in Jesse Minter’s defense, similar to what he just did with Derwin James in Los Angeles. – E.G.
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EVA GEITHEIM
Eva Geitheim is an NFL writer at Sports Illustrated. Prior to joining SI in December 2024, she wrote for Newsweek, Gymnastics Now and Dodgers Nation. A Bay Area native, she has a bachelor’s in communications from UCLA. When not writing, she can be found baking or rewatching Gilmore Girls.
KARL RASMUSSEN
Karl Rasmussen is a staff writer for Sports Illustrated. A University of Oregon alum who joined SI in February 2023, his work has appeared on 12up and ClutchPoints. Rasmussen is a loyal Tottenham, Jets, Yankees and Ducks fan.
MIKE KADLICK
Mike Kadlick is an NFL writer for Sports Illustrated. He’s also a New England Patriots reporter for CLNS Media, where he hosts the Patriots Daily podcast and covers the beat from Gillette Stadium. Before joining SI, Kadlick worked at WEEI sports radio in Boston. He holds a master’s degree in public relations from Boston University. When Kadlick’s not covering football, he can be found running, spending time with his wife and dog, and enjoying all things pizza.
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