• Jordan Battle should finally be in a spot to start for a full season in 2025: Battle has seemingly earned his shot and has performed as one of the better tacklers at the position, making him an enticing IDP prospect.
• Nick Cross is coming off a massive, but likely unrepeatable, season: Cross thrived in Gus Bradley’s defense. But with Bradley gone, it’s hard to believe his production will be sustainable going forward.
• 2025 NFL Draft season is here: Try PFF’s best-in-class Mock Draft Simulator and learn about 2025’s top prospects while trading and drafting for your favorite NFL team.

Estimated Reading Time: 8 minutes

Dynasty players will head into the fantasy football offseason following the Super Bowl, which will open up trades for managers looking to get an early start on improving their rosters for next season.

Here, we’ll address defensive backs for IDP. Before anyone points out the obvious tenet of not overpaying for defensive backs, let alone targeting any in trades, this is for the IDP managers who want a locked-in weekly starter for the foreseeable future to consider targeting. As far as trading away defensive backs goes, a case can be made for any who performed well in 2024, considering how deep and volatile the position tends to be, but only a few will be highlighted here.

The full list of top IDP scorers, scoring settings, and production versus expected numbers can be found here.

DEFENSIVE BACKS TO TARGET VIA TRADE

Jordan Battle, Cincinnati Bengals

• Highest ideal trade price to acquire: 2025 mid-third- and future mid-fourth-round picks

Battle started his first two NFL seasons as a backup and had to earn his spot among the starters while trying to establish himself as a weekly starting IDP option. Heading into Year 3, it should be clear that the 2023 Day 2 pick is currently the Bengals’ best option to start in 2025, and there should (hopefully) be no more attempts to replace him with long-time defensive coordinator Lou Anaroumo now a member of the Colts.