Silver and Black Pride is wrapping up the preseason AFC West position ranking series with a pretty strong position group for the division: safety.
The Denver Broncos and Los Angeles Chargers each had a safety earn second-team All-Pro honors last season, while the Kansas City Chiefs and Las Vegas Raiders each have a quality starter on the backend of their defenses, too. So, let’s see how the Raiders’ roster—and, more specifically, Jeremy Chinn—stack up to the rest of the division.
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All stats referenced below are from the regular season unless otherwise noted.
1. Derwin James Jr., Chargers
2025 Stats: 94 tackles, 3 INTs, 7 PDs, 2.0 sacks, 6 TFLs (16 games)
In the five seasons since he missed the entire 2020 campaign with a knee injury, James has made four Pro Bowls and three second-team All-Pro squads, establishing himself as one of the best safeties in the entire league. He’s one of the most versatile defenders in the NFL and can impact every phase of the game. In addition to the numbers above, the statsheet-stuffer allowed a 68.4 passer rating when targeted, recorded 13 pressures on just 71 pass-rushes, and he ranked tied for 14th among safeties with 14 defensive stops against the run last season, per Pro Football Focus.
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2. Talanoa Hufanga, Broncos
2025 Stats: 106 tackles, 0 INTs, 11 PDs, 2.0 sacks, 6 TFLs (17 games)
Hufanga signed with the Broncos last offseason and the early returns on investment have been high, with the safety earning a second-team All-Pro bid during his first year in Denver. The five-year veteran is at his best in the box and against the run, finishing the 2025 campaign with 18 stops at a 5.1 percent rate, which ranked tied for fifth and 10th among safeties, per PFF. In coverage, the former 49er hasn’t had a pick since 2023, but he has plenty of ball production with the PDs above. Also, PFF credited Hufanga with eight forced incompletions at a 22 percent rate, tied for the third-most and fifth-highest at his position.
3. Brandon Jones, Broncos
2025 Stats: 78 tackles, 1 INT, 7 PDs, 0.5 sack, 0 TFLs (14 games)
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While Jones was better in 2024 than 2025, he was still a quality starter in the Broncos’ secondary last season. His 56.3 completion percentage when targeted ranked fourth among NFL safeties who were targeted at least 10 times, and he only gave up 222 yards and a 75.3 passer rating in coverage, per PFF. It’s just that the six-year veteran’s ball production slipped, going from 10 PDs to seven and three interceptions to one. Jones did post a career-high 75.7 PFF run defense grade last year, though.
4. Jeremy Chinn, Raiders
2025 Stats: 114 tackles, 0 INTs, 2 PDs, 1.0 sack, 3 TFLs (15 games)
Tackling is the root of Chinn’s game. He has below-average ball production/skills, but he did finish last season tied for 20th among safeties with 10 defensive stops in coverage, per PFF. The Raiders really got their money’s worth with the free-agent signing’s run defense, finishing tied for the second-most stops (21) in that department. Chinn was also a top 25 safety in missed tackle rate, coming in at just 9.9 percent.
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5. Alohi Gilman, Chiefs
2025 Stats: 90 tackles, 0 INTs, 9 PDs, 0 sacks, 1 TFL (17 games)
After getting traded from the Chargers to the Baltimore Ravens five games into last season, Gilman returns to the AFC West by signing with the Chiefs during free agency. The six-year pro is a quality free safety who possesses good ball skills despite only having five career interceptions. For example, PFF had him with the most forced incompletions (nine) at the fifth-highest rate (22%) among safeties last season. If Gilman can start converting those into picks, he’ll move up the list.
Honorable mention: Tony Jefferson (LAC)
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2025 Stats: 57 tackles, 4 INTs, 7 PDs, 0 sacks, 1 TFL (13 games)
Jefferson has had an interesting career where it looked like his NFL tenure was over in 2020, sitting out the entire season while recovering from a knee injury. Additionally, he retired in 2023 and was in the Ravens’ scouting department before making a comeback with the Chargers in 2024. Despite all of that, the well-tenured veteran was a pretty good player in Los Angeles last year, finishing tied for 29th among safeties with a 70.3 PFF grade. The 34-year-old may not be the player he once was and hasn’t played 500 or more snaps since 2018, but Jefferson deserves some recognition for how he performed a year ago.
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