2026 NFL Draft defensive back rankings: Best player any position might be in this group, which is pretty deep
Here are the top 10 defensive back prospects of this draft class according to Nate Tice and Charles McDonald, including the brother of a current NFL star and a guy who answered injury questions at his pro day.
As the 2026 NFL Draft approaches, we’re breaking down position rankings individually based on the big boards of Yahoo Sports NFL Draft experts Nate Tice and Charles McDonald . More position rankings: QB | WR | DL | Edge 1. Caleb Downs, Ohio State Downs has been arguably the best defensive back in college football since his freshman year at Alabama.
He won’t be the first pick in the draft because safeties tend to slide on draft day, but he has all the skills and smarts to immediately be one of the better safeties in the league from Day 1 with real deal upside to be an elite, premier defensive player in the league. — Charles McDonald 2. Mansoor Delane, LSU A smart player who’s quick to read and react in coverage, Delane has had strong moments as both a zone and man coverage defender this season.
He has the twitchiness to stay sticky in man coverage and his high football awareness showed up in zone coverage, where he has a knack for reading quarterbacks and making plays on the football. Delane doesn’t have top-end length and his athleticism might be more good than great , but he just has a feel for playing in zone coverage and timing up his breaks on the football, and that’s going to translate right away at the next level. — Nate Tice 3.
Jermod McCoy, Tennessee McCoy is a quick-twitch athlete who constantly makes plays on the football. He has good size and already shows the footwork and patience to stay sticky with receivers and be consistent in man coverage. McCoy suffered an ACL injury in January of 2025, but he shined at his pro day recently.
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