Budda Baker

Baker is probably in his own class as a defensive back IDP thanks to his tackle production alone. Baker's 118 tackles on 1,007 snaps last year was actually the second-lowest tackle rate of his four NFL seasons. His 147-tackle outburst from 2019 is surprisingly close to his baseline — he might have more than one 140-tackle season in his career, and that was true even before the league took up a 17-game schedule. If Baker could produce a few more sacks or interceptions, he would be untouchable as the top DB in most IDP formats.

Linebacker Darius Leonard probably needs to be the first IDP off the board, but there might be a case for Baker to be the second IDP selection. As much as Baker's tackle production will likely decline, if only because 1,146 snaps may be an unsustainably high number, his per-snap tackle rate was so outrageously high last year that anything less than 120 stops per 16 games would be a disappointment. With that said, if Baker fails to secure the top spot among defensive back IDPs this year, then it might have something to do with his poor playmaking production. Baker has yet to intercept his first NFL pass, and he otherwise has just 3.5 sacks on 2,601 career snaps. Still, Baker makes tackles at a uniquely high rate, and the uptempo, pass-happy Arizona offense ensures that opponents will keep throwing often against the Cardinals, preserving ample tackle opportunity for Baker.

Baker might not be as big a name as some defensive backs, but that will change in 2019. His per-snap tackle rate through two years is exceptional - even his 74-tackle rookie season is remarkable considering he played only 517 defensive snaps - and he only turned 23 in January. Furthermore, his playing context could not be better this season. Whether the Kliff Kingsbury offense succeeds is immaterial to Baker - the offense will either score quickly, or turn the ball over quickly, and Baker will be incredibly busy in either case. His listed tackle projection is conservative.

Despite earning no more than eight defensive snaps in a given game until Week 10, the 2017 second-round pick concluded his rookie season with an eye-popping 74 tackles on 48.7 percent of those reps. The impetus for Baker's increased workload was two-fold. First and foremost, the Cardinals lost safety Tyvon Branch for the season in the aforementioned week, but Baker's performance on special teams to that point in the campaign likely gave the coaching staff confidence in his ability to transfer that success to the defensive side of the ball. With the starting strong safety spot secure and Tyrann Mathieu out of the picture, Baker seems to be a near-lock for 100-plus tackles in 2018.

Hardly the playmaker Tyrann Mathieu was coming out of college, Baker was nonetheless plucked in the second round of this year's draft to work as his understudy. Barring an injury to Mathieu, Antoine Bethea or Tyvon Branch, Baker won't earn many defensive snaps in 2017, leaving special teams as the platform in which he's most likely to do work.