2024 Draft Preview: Safety

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March 26, 2024

By Noonefromtampa

Overview

The Washington Commanders let Kamren Curl leave in free agency and signed Jeremy Chinn to fill his role. The team drafted Quan Martin in the second round last year, and he flashed during the last third of the season when he got on the field. Washington has two other young safeties on the roster in Darrick Forrest and Percy Butler. With Chinn on a one year contract, there is a good chance that the Commanders add another safety through the draft.

Who are the top safety prospects in the draft this year? Looking at how three different sites grade the players, taking each site’s top 10 ranked players and putting them in a comparative list, you see there are twelve players, some with widely varying positioning.

Prospect NFL NextGen Stats Pro Football Focus NFL Draft Buzz
Tyler Nubin 1 1 1
Dadrion Taylor-Demerson 2 6 6
Javon Bullard 3 2 2
Cole Bishop 4 8 7
Kitan Oladapo 5 N/A 10
Calen Bullock 6 5 4
Jaden Hicks 7 3 5
Kamren Kinchens 8 4 3
James Williams 9 N/A 8
Beau Brade 10 9 9
Malik Mustapha N/A 10 N/A
Tykee Smith N/A 7 N/A

Details

Player School Height Weight 40-Time Day Drafted
Tyler Nubin Minnesota 6’2″ 210 4.60 1-2
Prospect Grade: 6.33 For his five year career, Nubin had 207 combined tackles, 13 interceptions and 11 passes defended. Nubin is a big, physical player who tackles well. His speed at the NFL level probably makes him more of box safety player.
Player School Height Weight 40-Time Day Drafted
Dadrion Taylor-Demerson Texas Tech 5’11” 195 4.41 2
Prospect Grade: 6.28 Taylor-Demerson had 147 total tackles, 7 interceptions and 13 passes defended in college. He has the speed for the free safety position but need to improve his read and react time to better anticipate where the throw is going.
Player School Height Weight 40-Time Day Drafted
Javon Bullard Georgia 5’11” 180 4.48 2
Prospect Grade: 6.25 Bullard was an elite player on an elite defense at Georgia. He had 114 combined tackles, 4 interceptions and 8 passes defended. He will likely become a deep safety at the next level and is known as a leader and a high football IQ player.
Player School Height Weight 40-Time Day Drafted
Cole Bishop Utah 6’2″ 209 4.45 2
Prospect Grade: 6.20 Bishop is an interesting prospect and will probably be a versatile safety at the next level given his size and speed. In three years, he had 197 combined tackles, 7.5 sacks and 21.5 tackles for a loss with three interceptions and 12 passes defensed.
Player School Height Weight 40-Time Day Drafted
Kitan Oladapo Oregon State 6’2″ 219 4.58 3
Prospect Grade: 6.17 Oladapo had 249 combined tackles in his 4 years in college with 15 tackles for a loss and 6.5 sacks. In coverage he had 3 interceptions and 23 passes defensed.
Player School Height Weight 40-Time Day Drafted
Calen Bullock USC 6’2″ 190 4.48 3
Prospect Grade: 6.16 Bullock had 151 combined tackles, 9 interceptions and 15 passes defensed. He played both in zone and man coverages at USC and also is also a skilled special teams player.
Player School Height Weight 40-Time Day Drafted
Jaden Hicks Washington State 6’3″ 212 4.59 3
Prospect Grade: 6.15 In three years, Hicks had 155 combined tackles, 8 tackles for loss, 3.5 sacks, 3 interceptions and 10 passes defensed. He’ll need to develop better man coverage skills at the next level.
Player School Height Weight 40-Time Day Drafted
Kamren Kinchens Miami (FL) 5’11” 206 4.65 3
Prospect Grade: 6.14 Kinchens had 162 combined tackles, 11 interceptions and 15 passes defended. His Combine workout left a lot to be desired and probably dropped him from a day 2 pick to day 3. His best asset is ball-hawking ability with all 11 interceptions coming in his two years as a starter.
Player School Height Weight 40-Time Day Drafted
James Williams Miami (FL) 6’4″ 230 4.65 3
Prospect Grade: 6.14 Williams had 162 combined tackles, 4 interceptions and 13 passes defense. With his size and physicality, Williams projects to be a bx safety at the next level. He is an aggressive downhill tackler, willingly filling gaps on run plays.
Player School Height Weight 40-Time Day Drafted
Beau Brade Maryland 6’0″ 208 4.52 3
Prospect Grade: 6.00 Brade has 177 combined tackles in his four-year career with 9,5 tackles for a loss and one sack. In coverage he had 3 interceptions and 11 passes defended. Brade projects to be a box safety at the next level. He delivers a strong hit and doesn’t miss many tackles.
Player School Height Weight 40-Time Day Drafted
Malik Mustapha Wake Forest 5’11” 207 4.33 3
Prospect Grade: 5.98 Mustapha has 175 combined tackles, including 15 for a loss and four sacks. He had 3 interceptions and 7 passes defended in pass coverage. From the combine, Mustapha is regarded as an ‘athletic freak”, a player who tests out extremely well.  He played a lot of different coverage styles in college and is a versatile player in coverage.
Player School Height Weight 40-Time Day Drafted
Tykee Smith Georgia 5’10” 198 4.46 3
Prospect Grade: 5.84 In his five-year career, Smith had 212 combined tackles with 21.5 for a loss and 5 sacks. In pass coverage, he had 8 interceptions and 12 passes defended. He had a big senior season, which propelled him up many draft boards. While not as physical as other players in the draft, Smith plays well in zone coverages and bring a lot of energy to a defense.