Budda Baker

Budda Baker

28-Year-Old SafetyS
Arizona Cardinals
2024 Defense Stats
TCKL
100
SACKS
1.0
INT
0
FF
0
TD
0
Rest-of-Season Projections
TCKL
SACKS
INT
FF
TD
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2024 Fantasy Outlook
The biggest knock on Baker in recent seasons has been his inability to stay on the field, as he suffered a shoulder fracture that ended his 2022 season in Week 15 and a hamstring strain cost him five games last year and sent him to injured reserve. When he was on the field in 2023, Baker maintained his role as a mainstay in the defensive unit, which is notable given the overhaul of the coaching staff and the subsequent shift in roles for some of the team's key defensive players. The results on the field were mixed, as Baker delivered an impressive 7.25 tackles per game. On the other hand, he lost a significant amount of playmaking ability, failing to deliver a pass breakup in a season for the first time in his career and going an entire season without an interception for the first time since 2019 - potentially caused by the aforementioned hamstring issue he suffered in Week 2. Assuming there are no health issues in training camp, it's reasonable to project that Baker returns to his familiar playmaking form in 2024. Read Past Outlooks
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RANKS
#250
ADP
#Subscriber-Only
IDP
Bye Week 11
Height 5'10"
Weight 195
DOB 1/10/1996
College Washington
Drafted 2nd Rd 2017 #36 Overall
$Signed a four-year, $59 million contract with the Cardinals in August of 2020.
Continues dominating in Week 10
SArizona Cardinals
November 11, 2024
Baker recorded nine total tackles (six solo), including 1.0 sacks and an additional two tackles for loss, and defended one pass in Sunday's 31-6 win over the Jets.
ANALYSIS
Baker stuffed the stat sheet in Sunday's blowout win, continuing to add to one of the most productive seasons of his career. The All-Pro safety has now accumulated 100 total tackles (the second most in the NFL), including 1.0 sacks, and three passes defended through the Cardinals' first 10 games this season. Arizona has a Week 11 bye, and Baker is expected to keep building on his incredible 2024 campaign when the Cardinals take on the Seahawks in Week 12.
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Snap Distribution / Depth Chart
Snap Counts
Snap %
Arizona CardinalsCardinals 2024 S Snap Distribution See more data like this | See last season's snap counts
#% of Team Snaps
61597%
18395%
56088%
12766%
10717%
7137%
142%
63%
71%
74%
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#1 FS
Arizona CardinalsCardinals
  1. Budda Baker
  2. Joey Blount
2024 Budda Baker Split Stats
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Measurables Review
How do Budda Baker's measurables compare to other safeties?
This section compares his draft workout metrics with players at the same position. The bar represents the player's percentile rank. For example, if the bar is halfway across, then the player falls into the 50th percentile for that metric and it would be considered average.
Height
5' 10"
 
Weight
195 lbs
 
40-Yard Dash
4.45 sec
 
Shuttle Time
4.08 sec
 
Cone Drill
6.76 sec
 
Vertical Jump
32.5 in
 
Broad Jump
115 in
 
Bench Press
15 reps
 
Hand Length
9.00 in
 
Arm Length
30.75 in
 
Recent RotoWire Articles Featuring Budda Baker See More
RotoWire NFL Steak League Salary Cap Draft Review
RotoWire NFL Steak League Salary Cap Draft Review
99 days ago
99 days ago
Joe Bartel analyzes the draft results of the famed RotoWire Steak League and reveals what occurred when wideouts like Chris Olave went for less than expected.
NFL Game Previews: Raiders-Lions Matchup
NFL Game Previews: Raiders-Lions Matchup
October 26, 2023
October 26, 2023
Erik Siegrist analyzes the Monday night matchup as the Lions look to bounce back at home against the Raiders.
Gameday Injuries: Week 7
Gameday Injuries: Week 7
October 22, 2023
October 22, 2023
Juan Carlos Blanco reviews a star-packed Week 7 injury report and has the latest on potential comings and goings as of early Sunday.
Exploiting the Matchups: Week 7 Start/Sit and Fantasy Streamers
Exploiting the Matchups: Week 7 Start/Sit and Fantasy Streamers
October 19, 2023
October 19, 2023
Jerry Donabedian anticipates a big game from Geno Smith and thinks rookie WR Jaxon Smith-Njigba will benefit as well.
NFL Game Previews: Packers-Raiders Matchup
NFL Game Previews: Packers-Raiders Matchup
October 5, 2023
October 5, 2023
Erik Siegrist previews the Monday night game as Jordan Love and the Packers travel to Las Vegas to face the Raiders.
Past Fantasy Outlooks
2023
2022
2021
2020
2019
2018
2017
Baker has racked up triple-digit tackles four times in the last five years, and the 27-year-old went looking for a contract extension this offseason, or a trade to a team that would give him one. New Cardinals head coach Jonathan Gannon appears to be preparing for the safety's departure by shifting Isaiah Simmons to the secondary, and the fight for snaps between Simmons, Baker and Jalen Thompson could end up hurting the fantasy value of all three. Until a reduced role actually materializes, though, Baker's speed and nose for the football make him an elite option.
Baker was the clear DB1 from 2018 to 2020, producing at a 1,000-snap pace of 119 tackles, which made his 98 tackles on 982 snaps last year unexpected and disappointing. The question is whether 2021 was a fluke or the start of a new era. The Cardinals do have two young LBs who are more toolsy than refined (Isaiah Simmons and Zaven Collins), so Baker might need to clean up more tackles this year.
Baker is probably in his own class as a defensive back IDP thanks to his tackle production alone. Baker's 118 tackles on 1,007 snaps last year was actually the second-lowest tackle rate of his four NFL seasons. His 147-tackle outburst from 2019 is surprisingly close to his baseline — he might have more than one 140-tackle season in his career, and that was true even before the league took up a 17-game schedule. If Baker could produce a few more sacks or interceptions, he would be untouchable as the top DB in most IDP formats.
Linebacker Darius Leonard probably needs to be the first IDP off the board, but there might be a case for Baker to be the second IDP selection. As much as Baker's tackle production will likely decline, if only because 1,146 snaps may be an unsustainably high number, his per-snap tackle rate was so outrageously high last year that anything less than 120 stops per 16 games would be a disappointment. With that said, if Baker fails to secure the top spot among defensive back IDPs this year, then it might have something to do with his poor playmaking production. Baker has yet to intercept his first NFL pass, and he otherwise has just 3.5 sacks on 2,601 career snaps. Still, Baker makes tackles at a uniquely high rate, and the uptempo, pass-happy Arizona offense ensures that opponents will keep throwing often against the Cardinals, preserving ample tackle opportunity for Baker.
Baker might not be as big a name as some defensive backs, but that will change in 2019. His per-snap tackle rate through two years is exceptional - even his 74-tackle rookie season is remarkable considering he played only 517 defensive snaps - and he only turned 23 in January. Furthermore, his playing context could not be better this season. Whether the Kliff Kingsbury offense succeeds is immaterial to Baker - the offense will either score quickly, or turn the ball over quickly, and Baker will be incredibly busy in either case. His listed tackle projection is conservative.
Despite earning no more than eight defensive snaps in a given game until Week 10, the 2017 second-round pick concluded his rookie season with an eye-popping 74 tackles on 48.7 percent of those reps. The impetus for Baker's increased workload was two-fold. First and foremost, the Cardinals lost safety Tyvon Branch for the season in the aforementioned week, but Baker's performance on special teams to that point in the campaign likely gave the coaching staff confidence in his ability to transfer that success to the defensive side of the ball. With the starting strong safety spot secure and Tyrann Mathieu out of the picture, Baker seems to be a near-lock for 100-plus tackles in 2018.
Hardly the playmaker Tyrann Mathieu was coming out of college, Baker was nonetheless plucked in the second round of this year's draft to work as his understudy. Barring an injury to Mathieu, Antoine Bethea or Tyvon Branch, Baker won't earn many defensive snaps in 2017, leaving special teams as the platform in which he's most likely to do work.
More Fantasy News
Another big performance in win
SArizona Cardinals
November 4, 2024
Baker finished with 12 tackles (10 solo) in Sunday's 29-9 win over the Bears.
ANALYSIS
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Monster outing in win
SArizona Cardinals
October 28, 2024
Baker recorded 12 total tackles (six solo), including one tackle for loss, and defended one pass in Sunday's 28-27 win over the Dolphins.
ANALYSIS
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Makes eight tackles
SArizona Cardinals
October 22, 2024
Baker recorded eight tackles (four solo) in Monday's 17-15 win over the Chargers.
ANALYSIS
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Active in loss
SArizona Cardinals
October 14, 2024
Baker recorded eight tackles (four solo) in Sunday's 34-13 loss to the Packers.
ANALYSIS
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Logs 12 tackles vs. Niners
SArizona Cardinals
October 8, 2024
Baker tallied 12 tackles (eight solo) in Sunday's 24-23 win over the 49ers.
ANALYSIS
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Latest Fantasy Rumors
Might be headed for new team
SArizona Cardinals
October 22, 2024
The Cardinals should trade Baker prior to the trade deadline, Doug Haller of The Athletic reports.
ANALYSIS
Baker remains the centerpiece of the Arizona defense, tallying 67 stops across seven games, but he'll be a free agent at the close of the season. He and the team have tried to work out a contract extension in the past, but Baker also requested a trade as recently as the 2023 offseason. Haller suggests the Cardinals aren't in a position to make a playoff run even in a relatively weak NFC West, so dealing Baker for draft picks is the logical move.
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