2025 Fantasy Football DB rankings for IDP leagues: Budda Baker reigns supreme

The 2025 fantasy football season is right around the corner as drafts will begin taking place in the coming weeks. Managers should start their preparations for this year, including analyzing positional rankings across all positions. This includes the defensive players in all leagues that are using IDP formats.

The biggest difference in IDP leagues as compared to standard formats is that managers get the opportunity to start individual defenders, as opposed to an entire NFL team's defense. This allows them to be approached in the same way as offensive players during the course of fantasy football drafts.

The best IDP options often provide consistent tackles while also having the upside of contributing to other statistical areas. This concept makes safeties valuable assets and makes them much better options than cornerbacks when filling out defensive back spots on a fantasy roster.

Budda Baker is an excellent example of this philosophy and why he is a top-ranked defensive back in the IDP rankings for the 2025 fantasy football season. He has finished six of the past seven seasons as the DB10 or better and has also been the highest-scoring overall defender three times during this impressive stretch. Last season was one of them, so it makes sense why he takes the top spot in this year's rankings.

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Other dynamic safeties locked into clear spots inside the top ten include Kyle Hamilton and Derwin James Jr. Like Baker, they are capable of filling up the stat sheet in various categories, which both improves their upside and also gives them a safer floor than most other options.

Two rookies are featured in the DB rankings for the 2025 fantasy football season, with Nick Emmanwori and Malaki Starks being two players to keep an eye on. Rookies are always a gamble, but they can also pay off in a big way. Here's where they and the rest of the defensive backs land in the 2025 rankings.

DB rankings for IDP leagues in 2025 fantasy football

Budda Baker
Kyle Hamilton
Brian Branch
Derwin James Jr.
Jessie Bates III
Xavier Mckinney
Antoine Winfield Jr.
Cam Bynum
Julian Love
Kyle Dugger
Kevin Byard III
Grant Delpit
Nick Cross
Jaquan Brisker
Joshua Metellus
Jeremy Chinn
Talanoa Hufanga
Tyler Nubin
Minkah Fitzpatrick
CJ Gardner-Johnson
Brandon Jones
Reed Blankenship
Jevon Holland
DeShon Elliott
Donovan Wilson
Jalen Pitre
Justin Reid
Kam Curl
Taylor Rapp
Jalen Thompson
Tre'von Moehrig
Harrison Smith
Paulson Adebo
Kerby Joseph
Devon Witherspoon
Tyrann Mathieu
Malaki Starks
Amani Hooker
Nick Emmanwori
Jordan Battle

About the author

Adam Hulse is an NFL journalist at Sportskeeda with 4 years of experience. He is also the host of the podcast "Sports Talk with Adam Hulse."

Adam studied Communications at Villanova University and played American football at Pop Warner and as a high school Freshman. His favorite team are the Dallas Cowboys, and if Adam could lay his hands on a time machine, he would love to witness their glory years from the 1990s. The Cowboys' 27-17 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers in Super Bowl XXX is his favorite Super Bowl of all time.

Given his affinity for 'America's Team,' Adam's favorite players of all time include Emmitt Smith. Michael Irvin, Tony Romo and Dak Prescott.

Adam takes a lot of pride in his work, which naturally culminates into insightful content for his readers, performance analysis being his forte. When not writing about football, Adam spends a time on his podcast.

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Edited by Adam Hulse