Derwin James rises to No. 2 in ESPN’s annual best safety rankings, cementing his status among the league’s top playmakers

Derwin James is back in the national conversation for one of the most coveted roles on defense. In ESPN’s annual ranking of the league’s best safeties, James was listed at No. 2 for the 2026 list, a jump of four spots from the previous year.

The placement is more than a ranking for its own sake. It reflects how consistently James has been viewed as an elite difference-maker at safety, including by having earned back-to-back All-Pro selections, a distinction ESPN’s write-up ties directly to his current evaluation. The Chargers safety is framed as the kind of player who should appear near the top of any discussion about the position.

ESPN’s annual format puts every safety under a different kind of spotlight: it is less about scheme and more about what a player has been able to do across a season. By moving up four spots to second overall, James’s profile continues to match the “top-of-the-position” tier, rather than settling into the “good but not elite” lane that many players eventually fall into as expectations stabilize.

For the Chargers, having their safety recognized in this manner matters because the position is where answers to multiple offensive problems often begin. A top-ranked safety has to handle deep coverage responsibilities, support against the run, and also help defenses adjust as offenses shift their protections and routes. When a player like James is repeatedly graded as one of the best, it tends to change how opposing teams plan their passing attacks and run-game matchups.

The list also serves as a kind of scoreboard for James’s individual development and reputation. Rankings do not replace game film or advanced grading, but they do reflect a league-wide consensus about impact. ESPN’s move suggests that, in the view of the outlet putting the list together, James’s overall body of work remains at or near the upper edge of the safety market.

As the 2026 season approaches, the central question becomes whether James can keep turning the preseason narrative into the kind of weekly execution that produces postseason-level results. With a second-place spot and prior All-Pro recognition already attached to his name, expectations will naturally be higher than they were when he first broke into the elite conversation.

If ESPN’s ranking is any indication, the Chargers will again rely heavily on James to set the tone in the secondary and to do the “hard work” that is often invisible on highlight packages: communicating coverages, reacting quickly to route concepts, and making the type of plays that force offense to second-guess their plans.