2015-16 NFL Pre-Season Position Rankings: Safeties (AFC)

We are about halfway through the NFL's off-season. OTA's have already started. Players are already getting injured. And the 2015-16 NFL season is getting so close, we can hear the footsteps coming up to the door and someone's just about ready to knock. With that said, it's time to look ahead at next season.

Now that NFL rosters are pretty much finalized (besides numerous upcoming cuts of course), it's time to start giving you guys an idea of how your team is shaping up for next season. What better way to do that than to start power ranking the starters at every position on each roster? It only makes sense.

Up next? The last line of defense on a football field. The all-important safeties in the AFC.....

Ultimate Football Blog's

2015-16 Pre-Season Position Rankings

Safeties (AFC)

KEY NOTE: This is a POWER RANKINGS. That means it's a "what have you done for me lately?" list. This is not an ALL-TIME greatest list. If the NFL commissioner came up to me tomorrow and said:

"Hey, you can have any starting safety in the AFC.....who do you want?"


It would (most likely) go in this order.......


(PS: PFF grade means "Pro Football Focus Grade". For those of you who don't know, ProFootballFocus.com is an football analytics website that grades players based on a certain criteria and it's a criteria that I've come to love. It's a pretty simple grading formula to figure out as well. The more negative score the player has, the least effective he was on-the-field last season. For example a "-24.8" grade would be absolutely awful, but a "24.8" grade means the player was outstanding. See, I told you it was easy to figure out)

*Please note that I'm also ranking guys as if I was building a franchise for the future. Therefore, I tend to favor age a lot in these rankings. It's why the Indianapolis Colts traded Peyton Manning when they drafted Andrew Luck. In the NFL, age is KING!

32. Michael Griffin (Tennessee Titans)

Age: 30

Interceptions Last Season: 2

Tackles Last Season: 89

2014-15 PFF Pass Coverage Grade: -6.3

2014-15 PFF Run Defense Grade: -6.2

2014-15 PFF Overall Grade: -15.7

31. Will Allen (Pittsburgh Steelers)

Age: 32

Interceptions Last Season: 0

Tackles Last Season: 22

2014-15 PFF Pass Coverage Grade: -4.0

2014-15 PFF Run Defense Grade: -0.3

2014-15 PFF Overall Grade: -4.4

30. Charles Woodson (Oakland Raiders)

Age: 38

Interceptions Last Season: 4

Tackles Last Season: 85

2014-15 PFF Pass Coverage Grade: -3.1

2014-15 PFF Run Defense Grade: -2.6

2014-15 PFF Overall Grade: -3.9

29. Mike Mitchell (Pittsburgh Steelers)

Age: 28

Interceptions Last Season: 0

Tackles Last Season: 61

2014-15 PFF Pass Coverage Grade: -5.9

2014-15 PFF Run Defense Grade: 1.4

2014-15 PFF Overall Grade: -6.9

28. Marcus Gilchrist (New York Jets)

Age: 26

Interceptions Last Season: 1

Tackles Last Season: 64

2014-15 PFF Pass Coverage Grade: -7.6

2014-15 PFF Run Defense Grade: 0.7

2014-15 PFF Overall Grade: -5.5 

27. Eddie Pleasant (Houston Texans)

Age: 26

Interceptions Last Season: 0

Tackles Last Season: 2

2014-15 PFF Pass Coverage Grade: 1.2

2014-15 PFF Run Defense Grade: -0.4

2014-15 PFF Overall Grade: 0.9

26. Johnathan Cyprien (Jacksonville Jaguars)

Age: 24

Interceptions Last Season: 0

Tackles Last Season: 92

2014-15 PFF Pass Coverage Grade: -5.1

2014-15 PFF Run Defense Grade: 0.6

2014-15 PFF Overall Grade: -3.7

25. Dwight Lowery (Indianapolis Colts)

Age: 29

Interceptions Last Season: 2

Tackles Last Season: 79

2014-15 PFF Pass Coverage Grade: -3.6

2014-15 PFF Run Defense Grade: 2.3

2014-15 PFF Overall Grade: 1.1

24. Kendrick Lewis (Baltimore Ravens)

Age: 26

Interceptions Last Season: 2

Tackles Last Season: 61

2014-15 PFF Pass Coverage Grade: -2.6

2014-15 PFF Run Defense Grade: 3.8

2014-15 PFF Overall Grade: 1.6

23. Aaron Williams (Buffalo Bills)

Age: 25

Interceptions Last Season: 1

Tackles Last Season: 53

2014-15 PFF Pass Coverage Grade: -0.2

2014-15 PFF Run Defense Grade: -2.8

2014-15 PFF Overall Grade: -4.4

22. Jahleel Addae (San Diego Chargers)

Age: 25

Interceptions Last Season: 0

Tackles Last Season: 32

2014-15 PFF Pass Coverage Grade: -2.1

2014-15 PFF Run Defense Grade: -1.4

2014-15 PFF Overall Grade: -3.0

21. Louis Delmas (Miami Dolphins)

Age: 28

Interceptions Last Season: 1

Tackles Last Season: 54

2014-15 PFF Pass Coverage Grade: 0.7

2014-15 PFF Run Defense Grade: -0.8

2014-15 PFF Overall Grade: -0.2 

20. Ron Parker (Kansas City Chiefs)

Age: 27

Interceptions Last Season: 1

Tackles Last Season: 82

2014-15 PFF Pass Coverage Grade: 1.0

2014-15 PFF Run Defense Grade: -8.9

2014-15 PFF Overall Grade: -7.4

19. Sergio Brown (Jacksonville Jaguars)

Age: 27

Interceptions Last Season: 0

Tackles Last Season: 26

2014-15 PFF Pass Coverage Grade: 3.4

2014-15 PFF Run Defense Grade: 1.3

2014-15 PFF Overall Grade: 4.7 

18. Husain Abdullah (Kansas City Chiefs)

Age: 29

Interceptions Last Season: 1

Tackles Last Season: 68

2014-15 PFF Pass Coverage Grade: 7.4

2014-15 PFF Run Defense Grade: -5.7

2014-15 PFF Overall Grade: 1.7

17. Duke WIlliams (Buffalo Bills)

Age: 24

Interceptions Last Season: 1

Tackles Last Season: 37

2014-15 PFF Pass Coverage Grade: -1.5

2014-15 PFF Run Defense Grade: 2.8

2014-15 PFF Overall Grade: 2.7

16. T.J. Ward (Denver Broncos)

Age: 28

Interceptions Last Season: 2

Tackles Last Season: 69

2014-15 PFF Pass Coverage Grade: -5.5

2014-15 PFF Run Defense Grade: 2.9

2014-15 PFF Overall Grade: 3.1

15. Nate Allen (Oakland Raiders)

Age: 27

Interceptions Last Season: 4

Tackles Last Season: 54

2014-15 PFF Pass Coverage Grade: 1.9

2014-15 PFF Run Defense Grade: 2.3

2014-15 PFF Overall Grade: 3.9

14. Mike Adams (Indianapolis Colts)

Age: 34

Interceptions Last Season: 5

Tackles Last Season: 88

2014-15 PFF Pass Coverage Grade: 9.7

2014-15 PFF Run Defense Grade: -2.4

2014-15 PFF Overall Grade: 9.0

13. Reggie Nelson (Cincinnati Bengals)

Age: 31

Interceptions Last Season: 4

Tackles Last Season: 86

2014-15 PFF Pass Coverage Grade: 6.0

2014-15 PFF Run Defense Grade: 0.9

2014-15 PFF Overall Grade: 4.4

12. Rahim Moore (Houston Texans)

Age: 25

Interceptions Last Season: 4

Tackles Last Season: 45

2014-15 PFF Pass Coverage Grade: 4.2

2014-15 PFF Run Defense Grade: -3.3

2014-15 PFF Overall Grade: 2.4

11. Calvin Pryor (New York Jets)

Age: 22

Interceptions Last Season: 0

Tackles Last Season: 40

2014-15 PFF Pass Coverage Grade: -0.1

2014-15 PFF Run Defense Grade: 2.6

2014-15 PFF Overall Grade: 3.3

10. Darian Stewart (Denver Broncos)

Age: 26

Interceptions Last Season: 1

Tackles Last Season: 48

2014-15 PFF Pass Coverage Grade: 2.8

2014-15 PFF Run Defense Grade: 3.5

2014-15 PFF Overall Grade: 7.0

9. Da'Norris Searcy (Tennessee Titans)

Age: 26

Interceptions Last Season: 3

Tackles Last Season: 49

2014-15 PFF Pass Coverage Grade: 2.7

2014-15 PFF Run Defense Grade: 5.6

2014-15 PFF Overall Grade: 8.6

8. Patrick Chung (New England Patriots)

Age: 27

Interceptions Last Season: 1

Tackles Last Season: 73

2014-15 PFF Pass Coverage Grade: 2.3

2014-15 PFF Run Defense Grade: 9.0

2014-15 PFF Overall Grade: 11.0

7. Reshad Jones (Miami Dolphins)

Age: 27

Interceptions Last Season: 3

Tackles Last Season: 79

2014-15 PFF Pass Coverage Grade: 1.4

2014-15 PFF Run Defense Grade: 6.0

2014-15 PFF Overall Grade: 14.4

6. Tashaun Gipson (Cleveland Browns)

Age: 24

Interceptions Last Season: 6

Tackles Last Season: 35

2014-15 PFF Pass Coverage Grade: 8.5

2014-15 PFF Run Defense Grade: 2.7

2014-15 PFF Overall Grade: 10.3

5. George Iloka (Cincinnati Bengals)

Age: 25

Interceptions Last Season: 3

Tackles Last Season: 58

2014-15 PFF Pass Coverage Grade: 2.6

2014-15 PFF Run Defense Grade: 3.9

2014-15 PFF Overall Grade: 8.3

4. Donte Whitner (Cleveland Browns)

Age: 29

Interceptions Last Season: 1

Tackles Last Season: 76

2014-15 PFF Pass Coverage Grade: 3.4

2014-15 PFF Run Defense Grade: 5.5

2014-15 PFF Overall Grade: 9.6

3. Will Hill (Baltimore Ravens)

Age: 25

Interceptions Last Season: 1

Tackles Last Season: 36

2014-15 PFF Pass Coverage Grade: 10.0

2014-15 PFF Run Defense Grade: 3.8

2014-15 PFF Overall Grade: 13.6

2. Eric Weddle (San Diego Chargers)

Age: 30

Interceptions Last Season: 1

Tackles Last Season: 82

2014-15 PFF Pass Coverage Grade: 12.9

2014-15 PFF Run Defense Grade: 6.4

2014-15 PFF Overall Grade: 18.9

1. Devin McCourty (New England Patriots)

Age: 27

Interceptions Last Season: 2

Tackles Last Season: 64

2014-15 PFF Pass Coverage Grade: 11.2

2014-15 PFF Run Defense Grade: 4.7

2014-15 PFF Overall Grade: 16.9