Coach Day's College Football Top Players: Safeties

The itch for the "ber" months is here. I know, at least for me, being back in Arizona, I need them badly, this summer heat is no joke. It isn't just the weather, though; we are stuck in sports calendar hell, otherwise known as August. But with fall comes football, and then the calendar opens up. Well, to get us ready for the season, I have crunched the numbers, overloaded on highlights, and created some of the best top 10 lists out there. That's right, Phil Steele, move over, 'cause I know ball.

Though I didn't blog about it, I did begin the series with the release of the trench rankings by team this past weekend. In case you missed that, check it out before we get into the individual players. All I have to say is, with the AP poll coming out today, you can clearly see the correlation between dominant trenches and top rankings.

For the first blog of the series, we are focusing on the safeties: the hard hitters, the ball hawks, and the undercover blitzers of football. Trimming this down to just 10 players was not easy, but here we go.

Looking at the lower half of the list, this is where casual fans might need some background knowledge. TCU's Jamel Johnson is a stud. He continues Fort Worth's long history of outstanding safety play, hitting like a Mack truck, though his best attribute might be his ball skills (he logged 5 picks last year). Right after him is a trio of players competing for teams with huge expectations this season...though I guess almost every team moving forward shares those high expectations.  

A few players worth highlighting start with Koi Perich(82 tackles in 2025, also a touchdown return). A guy who looked like Minnesota's safety version of Cooper DeJean now holds major buzz with the title-contending Ducks. Will he be able to anchor their defense this year? The title for best safety tandem has to go to Alabama with Bray Hubbard(79 tackles & 4 interceptions) and Keon Sabb(54 tackles), though Notre Dame makes a strong case with Brauntae Johnson(48 tackles & 4 interceptions) sitting around #3 on this list alongside another borderline top-12 safety.  

The safety position often feels underrated, but a team's best athletes frequently find themselves lining up here. Just think of legends like Ed Reed, Harrison Smith, Tyrann Mathieu, and Budda Baker. We know game-changers can emerge from this spot every single year, and this season is no different, these ten guys could easily be the difference-makers behind their teams' national championship hopes.