Top 25ish Defensive Back Performances

Why #1

Three picks doesn't jump off the page until you realize quarterbacks stopped throwing his direction sometime around Week 4. 14 passes defended — most in the state — tells you why. And when he's the top returner in the state if you get picked, it's probably getting housed. That's not a stat you accumulate by accident; that's a stat you accumulate by living in passing lanes. 113 INT return yards. 102 tackles at DB is borderline absurd — that's linebacker production from a 162-pound corner. 9 TFL means he's not just patrolling the secondary, he's showing up uninvited in the backfield. The 5A level only makes it more ridiculous. This is the most complete DB season we tracked in the state this year, and it wasn't particularly close.

Why #2

First thing on his defensive highlight: playing single high safety, sniffs out an RPO and jumps into the hook zone for a pick. That's nasty. Five picks and 10 PD in 10 games at Chaparral. That's a takeaway or coverage win on 1.5 plays per game. The 100 INT return yards tell you he's not just catching the ball — he's already running before the quarterback finishes his regret. 15 total coverage plays ranks 2nd in the state. Oh, and he's a junior. Offensive coordinators across 5A should be circling his name on their "do not test" list for 2026. Was already on our top 30 2025 seasons for WR — guess add DB to the list.

Why #3

Not sure we are buying 195lbs for AJ because he looks like a 215lb wall on tape. Six interceptions from the free safety spot at Grand Junction. The zero INT return yards is mildly hilarious because we watched him run over about 8 guys on the two we watched. How many yards? Who knows, but it's not 0. 15 total coverage plays ties for 2nd in the state. 64 tackles with 49 solo tells you he doesn't need help finishing. 4 TFL from the deep safety? That's a guy reading the run and closing with intent. Hey @AjSchlacht41502 — update your hudl, it's showing 2024. One last note: special teams coaches dream. Guy can play WR, DB, and on special teams he absolutely obliterates gunners. Oh he's their punter too. Ridiculous.

Why #4

Eight interceptions in nine games. Read that again. 217 INT return yards leads every DB in Colorado — he's not just picking you off, he's making you watch him score with your football. 16 tackles tells you he's out there to steal. A pure coverage specialist who turns opponents' best-designed plays into his personal highlight reel. 0.89 picks per game — basically one per outing. Still a junior. If Coal Ridge quarterbacks threw to him on offense this much, he'd be their leading receiver too. Oh wait he is. Once he has the ball in his hands he's like a matador. Ability to zone cut is off the charts. If he was 200 lbs he might be top 5 RB in the state. Beast.

Why #5

Dude was already on another top list, talk about a freak. Six picks from a 6'2" free safety at Fairview — that's the kind of frame and production that makes college coaches start returning calls. Oh wait they already did, he signed with TEXAS. 7 PD on top of that. 7 total turnovers created when you add the forced fumble. 56 tackles and 3 TFL show he's not floating around back there waiting for the ball to come to him. He's a willing tackler who happens to have elite ball skills. The 5A production is the cherry on top.

Why #6

Co-leader in the state with 8 interceptions. 2 INT return yards. Two. That's either the most unlucky man in Colorado or he's catching every pick at the sideline with one toe on the chalk. 10 total turnovers created when you add the forced fumble and recovery — the kid is a possession thief. 0.73 picks per game is an elite clip. Eagle Valley doesn't get the spotlight that Front Range programs do, but Barros made sure the film spoke for itself. How fast can this guy make up ground? Go look about 1:32 into his hudl film.

Why #7

The guy has great ball skills and we will get to that in a sec but first things first. He is the hammer, you are the nail. If he made any soft tackles we did not see them. 170 lbs should not punish so hard. Six picks over a full 14-game season at Windsor — that means he was doing this deep into the playoffs when the competition tightens up. 71 INT return yards. 7 PD. 58 tackles. He's tall, he's got good hands, he hits like a truck — just basically a free safety who shows up every Friday and takes something from you. They won state for 3A. No short-season inflation here. No offers (that we could find, except PWO for UNC) is criminal. Criminal.

Why #8

140 pounds is what he's listed at on Maxpreps. It's a lie. 170 might even be a lie. He's throwing guys down every other play. Seth Gregory is out here competing in 4A football at the weight of a strong gust of wind, and instead you get a 6'1" lockdown with 5 picks and 9 PD. 14 total coverage plays across 13 games. 24 of his 29 tackles are solo — he doesn't need help getting guys to the ground. Whether they get the ball or not. There are TEs on his tape getting thrown around like rag dolls. Ball skills are legit. Honestly, whole reason he doesn't have more INTs is because he's on dudes like white on rice. Consistently matched up in the slot and they can't even hit flats against him.

Why #9

(We let Colton write this one since he is an unabashed @FairviewfbBoCo fan. Unedited because, why not:)

First of all my dawg of dawgs. TD and Sabi is the best 1-2 safety duo in the state and its not even like debatable. 12 passes defended, 2nd in the state. He's playing a deep third one game posted about 10 deep and freaking yoinks a flat and houses it. Bro is too fast for your receivers and he's just straight nasty. Watched his trash the field all year now he's gonna go savage on dudes down at the blo. Hes repping 500 lb hack squats at 175. He is HIM.

Why #10

A sophomore. 5'8", 150 pounds, putting up 5 picks, 110 INT return yards, and 51 tackles in 9 games. 5 TFL at corner as a 10th grader is genuinely strange in the best way. 0.56 INTs per game is a top-5 rate. 35 of 51 tackles are solo. He's tiny, productive, and has two full seasons left. If you're a 4A offensive coordinator, you've got two more years of this to look forward to. Good luck. Side note, he probably should have gone in our LBs category because they definitely played him more LB than nickel but whatever. Take a top 10 spot because if you pick off a ball intended for a 6'4 receiver you're playing DB style ball anyway. Not going to lie though, maybe the worst intro to a song for a highlight reel we have ever heard. Colt wanted to stop film and play tetris. But we love you anyway Mason.

Why #11

Debatable if he goes on the LB or DB list but the man is straight up the defensive patron saint of the curl flat. Six picks from the strong safety spot at Resurrection Christian. 0.60 per game is a top-3 rate in the state. 6 TFL from a safety says he's reading the run like a linebacker but covering like a DB. The tackle numbers aren't huge, but when you're picking off 6 passes, you're making your impact in a different column. A junior with this kind of instinct has room to climb. If the PD numbers tick up next year, he's in the conversation for the top 5. Note to QBs probably don't try and throw that flat. Just saying.

Why #12

Six games. That's it. Moise Toure played six games and still cracked the top 5 in PD with 10. Do the per-game math: half a pick, 7.5 tackles, and 1.7 PD per outing. Over a full 12-game season at that rate, you're looking at 6 INTs, 90 tackles, and 20 PD. That's a fantasy stat line. The handle @Built4Lock might be the most honest recruiting account name in the state. 6'2" corner at Denver East with those ball skills and a full senior year ahead? Someone's getting a problem they can't scheme around. If someone teaches this man how to get hands on in press, whole league is screwed.

Why #13

How many guys can make a one handed supinated pick? This guy can. Five picks and 62 tackles at Broomfield. He's your classic do-everything safety — picks off passes, gets downhill in run support, finishes tackles. 39 of 62 are solo. He's not riding cleanup crew; he's the first one there. 12 INT return yards means he's catching picks in traffic, not in open space — which honestly makes 5 of them more impressive. Quiet production at a 4A program that deserves a second look.

Why #14

This one is qualitative as much as quantitative. There's a play where there is motion, he's at the numbers, moves in when #2 motions away, tells everyone else what to look for and then 2 seconds later breaks to the middle and picks the ball off. Insane football IQ. Windsor's second DB on this list — and he's a sophomore. 4 picks and 7 PD across a 13-game playoff run. He's in the same secondary as Andrew Miller (#7), which means opposing QBs had no safe windows. 59 INT return yards says he's making things happen after the catch. Two more years of development in a program that clearly knows how to produce defensive backs. The trajectory here is the story.

Why #15

The other half of Coal Ridge's secondary alongside Munoz (#4). Four picks and 6 PD in only 8 games. At 6'2" with a half-pick-per-game rate, Gamez has the frame and the production. 10 total coverage plays in 8 games is efficient. Imagine being an opposing OC game-planning for Coal Ridge and realizing both outside corners are on this list. At some point you just run the ball and pray.

Why #16

One interception. That's it. He's still #16 because 83 tackles and 10 PD from a strong safety at Heritage is violent production. 51 solo tackles — more than most linebackers in 4A. 10 PD ties for 4th in the state. The 1 INT with 10 PD ratio is fascinating — he's in position to pick off everything but apparently prefers to just slap the ball into the stands. Two fumble recoveries round it out. This is a tone-setter, not a stat-chaser.

Why #17

Denver East's second DB on this list — and like Toure, he's got time left. 10 PD and 62 tackles as a sophomore safety is the kind of production that makes you wonder what Denver East is putting in the water. 1 PD per game and 6.2 tackles per game at 5'8" 150 as a 10th grader. The INT numbers will come — he's clearly in position, he's just not finishing the catch yet. Two more years to figure that part out. The Angels secondary is going to be a headache for 5A opponents for a while.

Why #18

This is a free safety playing like a middle linebacker who got lost on the depth chart. 90 tackles — 3rd among all DBs in the state. 55 solo. 10 TFL — 2nd among all DBs. Those are not safety numbers. Those are "the coaching staff moved me to FS but forgot to tell my legs" numbers. Only 1 INT and 3 PD tells you he's not living in coverage — he's in the box, blowing up runs, and making offensive linemen reconsider their life choices. 2 forced fumbles add to it. Still a junior. Mesa Ridge has a wrecking ball with another year of eligibility.

Why #19

65 tackles with 42 solo and 9 PD from a 6'0" junior at Cherokee Trail. That's a two-way impact player — he's breaking up passes and stuffing runs in the same drive. Only 1 INT with 9 PD is the same story we've seen a few times on this list: always in the right spot, just not hauling it in yet. At Cherokee Trail's level of competition, 6.5 tackles per game is legit. One more year to turn those PDs into picks and this ranking climbs in a hurry.

Why #20

Bell's running mate in the Eaglecrest secondary. 12 PD — 2nd in the state — with only 1 INT. He's the human swat team. Quarterbacks couldn't throw at Bell (14 PD), couldn't throw at Richardson (12 PD) — where exactly were they supposed to put the ball? 22 tackles is low, but when you're breaking up a pass per game, you're not really in the tackling business. The Eaglecrest secondary put up a combined 26 PD between these two. That's not a secondary, that's a no-fly zone.

Why #21

5'7". That's not a typo. Halden Robinson is listed at 5'7" and he has 126 INT return yards — 2nd in the entire state. Three picks and he averaged 42 yards per return. The kid doesn't just intercept passes, he takes them to the house. At Mountain Vista in 5A, against real competition, playing 13 games into the playoffs. The lack of height clearly hasn't stopped quarterbacks from testing him, and it clearly hasn't stopped him from making them regret it. Junior year. Still growing — hopefully in multiple directions.

Why #22

Six interceptions is elite. Full stop. Only 2 PD is the interesting part — when Dodge gets his hands on the ball, it's not getting knocked away. We've seen him in 7s, he does not drop balls. He's catching it. 13 of 16 tackles are solo. 16 total tackles and 6 INTs means roughly one-third of his defensive contributions end with him holding the football. That's either a coverage savant or the luckiest DB in Colorado, and over 11 games, luck runs out. A junior at Strasburg with a 0.55 INT rate has serious upside if he adds to the tackle sheet next year.

Why #23

The coverage numbers won't blow anyone away — 1 INT, 4 PD. But Bonafede gets on this list because he creates chaos in other ways. 2 forced fumbles and a recovery give him 4 total turnovers. 52 tackles at 4.7 per game shows reliable run support. He's the kind of DB who won't make the highlight reel but makes the game plan work — the guy the coaching staff trusts to be in the right gap, make the right play, and occasionally punch the ball out when everyone else forgot to.

Why #24

141 tackles. State leader. At free safety. Let that settle for a second. 10.1 per game. That's not a DB stat line, that's a stat line you see from a Mike linebacker at a Division I program. 73 solo tackles. Zero PD — not a single pass defended all year. This is the most lopsided stat profile on the entire list and we kind of love it. He's not back there to cover anyone. He's back there to hit everyone. Cherry Creek's run defense essentially had a free safety playing as a rover/enforcer for 14 games into the state championship bracket. 5 TFL on top of it. Is he a safety? Is he a linebacker? Does it matter? 141 tackles says he was the best defender on the field more nights than not.

Why #25

Five picks with zero PD is a stat line that makes you look twice. When Johnston gets near the ball, he doesn't swat it — he takes it. Zero PD means every time he disrupted a pass, it was an interception. That's either incredible hands or an incredibly small sample of "almost" plays.

Why #26

We were going to stop at 25 but decided to go to 26 just for Mr Villeneuve. Loveland's corner put up 2 picks and 6 PD in 11 games — solid, not spectacular, but that's 8 coverage plays at a 4A program. 20 of 25 tackles are solo — 80% solo rate is the highest on this list among players with 20+ tackles. He's not getting assisted on anything. Junior year at a program that's been competitive gives him a full senior season to push these numbers up.