This is one of the toughest evaluations in this process, with Kerby Joseph's status unknown after suffering a season-ending knee injury in Week 6 last season. The 2024 season wasn't just All-Pro worthy; it was one of the best seasons we've seen from a free safety in a long time. He started 2025 with three interceptions in six games and was on his way to another incredible season. Quarterbacks didn't want to test him, as he had only 11 targets before sustaining the injury. Joseph is one of the most instinctive players in the league, and we're all hoping to see him on the field in 2026.

What a difference a few seasons and a change in defensive coordinator made for Kevin Byard. The addition of Dennis Allen gave the veteran safety a DC who knew how to unlock Byard's football IQ and instinctual nature. While he was more involved at the line of scrimmage in 2024, Allen put Byard on top of the defense, where he played 870 of his snaps last season, allowing him to patrol like RoboCop. After having only two interceptions total in 2023 and 2024, Byard came down with seven picks and eight passes defensed, helping to lead him to his third First-Team All-Pro nomination. Byard was fantastic last season and showed everyone that the "old man" still has it.

Budda Baker might be a Cardinal, but he converges on throws and routes over the middle of the field like an Osprey diving full speed into the water to catch a fish. He reads route concepts at high speed and flies downhill to break up the throw, impact the catch point, or make the tackle short of the line to gain. Baker is one of the most active safeties against the run with his instinctual nature, and while his aggressiveness will catch him out of position and lead to missing tackles, he's right far more than he's wrong. Even after his ninth season in the NFL, Baker is one of the best at his position and incredibly fun to watch.

While he tends to find penalty flags, Brian Branch is a premier player at his position in the NFL. He's a do-it-all defender who will play at the line of scrimmage, in the box, and deep down the field. He's there to chew bubble gum and kick some ass, but he's all out of bubble gum. With the processing speed Branch displays, he can trigger from deep and fill the run, and execute a wide array of rotations with excellent depth. You could play him at corner, and he'd still be a high-level impact player. The possibilities are endless for Branch, and even though it was a "down" statistical year for him that included a suspension and injury, he's not a player teams want to test consistently. He makes them all pay eventually.