2023 NFL Draft Preview – Safety

March 6, 2023

By Noonefromtampa

The safety position is not one of great need for the Commanders, so don’t expect as early pick to be used on this position. Overall, there are about 8-10 players thought to have starter potential right out of the box in this draft.

Top Prospects

Day 1 Picks

The two top safeties are seen as very close in potential. Brian Branch has the skill set to play cornerback on the outside and slot corner, so he could be drafted at either position. His versatility may lead him to be drafted before Antonio Johnson. Johnson played in 25 games in three years. He has the coverage ability to matchup against slot receivers while having enough speed to come down to force or stop running plays. Branch is a two-year starter who played in 35 games at Alabama. In 2022, he had 14 tackles for loss, two interceptions and seven passes defended.

Day 2 Picks

Jordan Battle, J. L. Skinner and Jammie Robinson are players at the top of the day 2 draft. Battle is natural strong safety at the next level who can cover but doesn’t have the range for the free safety position. He was a three-year starter at Alabama and is a heady player. Skinner projects as strong safety with the natural size and quickness you look for in that position, especially to match-up against tight ends. He had a good year in 2022 where he allowed only 17 catches on 32 targets and had four interceptions plus three pass breakups. Robinson has been a four-year starter between South Carolina and Florida State. He racked up some good statistics with 318 total tackles with 15.5 for a loss, seven interceptions, 16 passes defensed, three forced fumbles and one sack. He can play both safety positions at the next level.

The next group of Day 2 picks includes Sydney Brown, Christopher Smith II, Ji’Ayir Brown, and Brandon Joseph. Sydney Brown, a three-year starter, has good speed and is around the ball a lot. He had three defensive touchdowns in his career at Illinois (2 interceptions and 1 fumble recovery) along with 320 tackles and 0 interceptions. Smith, a multi-year starter at Georgia, is also primarily a free safety. He has good range, is able to cover sideline to sideline, and has a vision of where the ball is going. The knock on him is that he misses tackles by not wrapping up. Ji’Ayir Brown is able to cover from the deep spot and play over the slot increasing his versatility. He had 10 interceptions and scored two defensive touchdowns. The knock on him is that sometimes he doesn’t play within the scheme, which in turn causes coverage breaks. Joseph started his career at Northwestern before transferring to Notre Dame for one year. He is primarily a two-high safety scheme player. He had 10 interceptions in his career and has returned punts which in bonus for a lot of teams.

Day 3 Picks

Three names to watch for on day 3 of the draft (if you make it that far) are Ronnie Hickman, Rashad Torrence II and Jartavius Martin. These three guys are in-the-box type or over-the-slot safeties. Their main traits are that they are aggressive on run plays, can cover the tight end in the slot and are sure tacklers. Martin also played a lot of snaps at cornerback his first two years, and versatility is a bonus at draft time.