Fantasy Football: IDP breakout candidates at defensive back for 2024

• Picking a favorite in the Cincinnati Bengals‘ crowded safety room: Jordan Battle’s impressive rookie year solidified his spot as the Bengals' safety of the future.

• Brandon Jones joins a new team and should finally get his shot: Jones has previously struggled to stay healthy or carve out a full-time role, but he appears to be on track for a breakout season as a new member of the Denver Broncos.

• Get a head start on fantasy football: Use PFF's fantasy football mock draft simulator to create real live mock draft simulations to prepare for your live draft!

Estimated reading time: 7 minutes

Each season, players advance their game and significantly improve their fantasy football production.

Much like linebackers, the success of defensive backs in IDP leagues often depends on playing time, which will be a significant factor for this year’s breakout candidates. To make things more interesting, we'll highlight some non-obvious candidates who are still sorting out their roles for 2024. This will help you potentially get a leg up on these potential breakout safeties and corners.

A FEW NOTES

• We expect a significant jump in overall fantasy finish or fantasy points per game from these players — not just an incremental improvement.
• We’re looking for at least double-digit points per game in 2024.
• No rookies.
• For reference, preferred IDP scoring, past season scoring leaders and expected sack/tackle production leaders can be found here.

Jordan Battle, Cincinnati Bengals

The competition at the Bengals' safety position will be worth monitoring this offseason, with capable NFL starters Geno Stone and Vonn Bell added to the mix. However, I’m going out on a limb and expect Battle to emerge with one of the full-time roles.

Early reports indicate that Dax Hill, Battle’s safety counterpart from last season, will be moving to outside corner, alleviating some of the bunch-up at the position. However, Battle still needs to get ahead of at least one more safety on the roster to ensure this breakout season.

Continuing his momentum from last season as one of the highest-graded safeties in the league would go a long way, especially when it comes to leapfrogging Bell, who has never reached that level of performance in his eight-year career and is coming off an underwhelming season in Carolina.

Battle still doesn’t have the NFL experience as someone like Bell, which could be a major factor for the coaching staff in deciding playing time, but based on talent and his potential to be the future of the safety room in Cincinnati, Battle should be given a fair shake at this starting job. Winning it should allow for a big-time IDP season.

DeMarcco Hellams, Atlanta Falcons

Last season, Atlanta rolled out two productive safeties for IDP: Jessie Bates III and Richie Grant. However, Grant's role changed significantly as the season progressed after he did not perform up to the team's standards. Ultimately, the Falcons had no choice but to cut into his playing time in favor of Hellams.

Grant ranked 97th among 101 qualifying safeties in coverage grade (42.4) last season, which may have been one of the reasons he found himself behind Hellams on the depth chart. 

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