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2022 NFL Draft: Is Alabama’s Jordan Battle Among Top Safeties?

By Jacob Schyvinck

Oct 16, 2021; Starkville, Mississippi, USA; Alabama Crimson Tide defensive back Jordan Battle (9) reacts after an interception against the Mississippi State Bulldogs during the fourth quarter at Davis Wade Stadium at Scott Field. Mandatory Credit: Matt Bush-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 16, 2021; Starkville, Mississippi, USA; Alabama Crimson Tide defensive back Jordan Battle (9) reacts after an interception against the Mississippi State Bulldogs during the fourth quarter at Davis Wade Stadium at Scott Field. Mandatory Credit: Matt Bush-USA TODAY Sports /
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Is Alabama Crimson Tide safety Jordan Battle among the top at his position in the 2022 NFL Draft?

The 2022 NFL Draft class has told us many things over the past couple of months now. Obviously the quarterback class is a wild, wild west with no sure fire thing. The edge class looks fantastic. So does the safety position, which starts with Kyle Hamilton, but has so much more talent beyond him. There are so many versatile talents in this class, one of which comes from a place that continues to churn out top picks. Alabama safety Jordan Battle is an intriguing player.

Battle was a four start recruit out of the state of Florida, and participated in both the Under Armour All-America Game and Nike’s “The Opening” Finals. He played in all 13 games as a freshman with four starts, and made a big impact early with 30 total tackles, two tackles for loss, a sack, an interception, and a pass defensed. Battle moved into the starting spot in 2020, where he put up better numbers, including a pick six and four passes defensed.

He’s off to a phenomenal start in 2021, most notably this past weekend against Mississippi State. Battle had two interceptions in the game, returning one for a score that he read really well from deep and closed quickly to make the play.

So where does Jordan Battle sit among the top safety prospects in the 2022 NFL Draft? Right now, Battle looks the part of a true strong safety at the next level. He can use his size and speed to be a force defending the run and the quick passing game, using his instincts and the aforementioned closing speed to wreak havoc at or near the line of scrimmage. He can roam and limit yards after the catch on quick concepts and be a factor when teams want to blitz.

The good news is that Saturday showed there’s potential to build on Battle’s ability to be versatile in a defense. He shows off the ball skills to attack and secure in the air, and has flashes of reading the quarterback’s eyes very well. Once that builds into more consistency, especially with route recognition, then the talk can begin about him being one of the top safeties in the class.

At this point, Jordan Battle is in that second or third tier with guys like Lewis Cine, Brandon Joseph, Jalen Catalon, and Jaquan Brisker. Most of these guys are alignment-versatile, as are Hamilton and Daxton Hill, who might be in the second tier by himself. Battle’s prominence in the 2022 NFL Draft within a deep safety group might be predicated on his development towards alignment versatility. The results looked promising Saturday, and the opportunity is there for more reps to get comfortable roaming deeper. It’s now up to Battle to gain that consistency to move up the safety ranks for next spring’s draft.

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