Ranking the Big Ten: Safety

As the 2024 college football season quickly approaches, it is time to look at the top players in the Big Ten Conference.

We continue our Ranking the Big Ten series with the league’s best-returning safeties. The No. 1 player in On3’s Transfer Portal Rankings tops this year’s list.

Ranking the Big Ten: QB | RB | WR | TE | OT | C | DT | OLB/EDGE | ILB | CB

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1. Caleb Downs, Ohio State

Perhaps no other team in college football made a bigger offseason splash than Ohio State with Caleb Downs.

The Hoschton, Georgia, native had no shortage of postseason accolades following his freshman campaign in 2023. Downs was named the Shaun Alexander national freshman of the year at Alabama, earned first-team All-American honors from Pro Football Focus (PFF) and was the SEC Freshman of the Year.

Downs is the first freshman ever to lead the Crimson Tide in tackles (107) and tallied 3.5 tackles for a loss, two interceptions and a forced fumble. Alabama first began playing football in 1892.

The 6-foot-0, 205-pounder hails from a football family. His father, Gary, spent three years in the NFL and his uncle, Dre Bly, was a two-time Pro Bowl selection and won Super Bowl XXXIV with the St. Louis Rams.

Now as a sophomore, the new kid on the Big Ten block is ready to turn some heads.

2. Dillon Thieneman, Purdue

Dillon Thieneman is another freshman defensive back who had a standout season last year. The Westfield, Indiana, native was relatively unheralded entering his first season with Purdue and carried a three-star rating out of high school.

His first impression was nothing short of outstanding. In the Boilermakers’ season opener against Fresno State, Thieneman made 10 solo tackles and logged one of his six interceptions on in 2023. He went on to post three more double-digit tackle efforts becoming the first Purdue freshman to do so since Ja’Whaun Bentley.

Thieneman finished as a third-team All-American according to the Associated Press, collected the second-team All-Big Ten honors from the same outlet as well as the Thompson-Randle El Big Ten Freshman of the Year award. The Football Writers Association of America named him its Defensive Freshman of the Year.

He led the Boilermakers in tackles in eight different games en route to a 106-tackle season (one shy of Downs). Thieneman ranked third nationally in both interceptions (six) and solo tackles (74) and paced all other freshman in those categories while setting new Purdue records.

3. Hunter Wohler, Wisconsin

Only one Badger defensive back since 1991 (Reggie Holt, 144) made more tackles in a single season than Hunter Wohler did last year.

The senior who calls Muskego, Wisconsin, home made 120 tackles during his junior campaign to go along with 5.5 tackles for a loss, a sack, one forced fumble and two interceptions. Those tackling numbers represented a team high for Wisconsin and the most of any Big Ten defensive back.

Wohler’s efforts resulted in first-team All-Big Ten accolades from the AP and second-team honors from the media at large.

No other secondary athlete in the country recorded more than 110 tackles and multiple interceptions. The Big Ten has not seen a player reach those high watermarks since 2010 and aside from Holt no Badger had accomplished the feat since 1966.

4. Quinn Schulte, Iowa

Quinn Schulte will be one of the best safeties in the Big Ten this season by virtue of experience alone.

The Cedar Rapids, Iowa, native has been with the Hawkeyes since 2019 and is entering his sixth year in Iowa City. Over the course of his career, he’s made 141 tackles with 136 of those coming in the last two seasons.

Schulte started all 14 games for Iowa last year while recording 65 tackles, 2.5 tackles for a loss, five pass breakups and an interception. That was good enough for honorable mention All-Big Ten honors from the conference’s coaches and media. According to PFF, Schulte posted a 83.3 coverage grade (a career high) last year while allowing 17 catches for 161 yards and no touchdowns.

5. Isaac Gifford, Nebraska

Isaac Gifford’s return announcement was one of the most critical moments of Nebraska’s offseason. The Lincoln Southeast product burst onto the scene in 2023 and led the Huskers with a career-high 86 tackles. That marked the first NU defensive back to surpass 80 tackles in a single season since Nate Gerry in 2014.

Gifford earned honorable mention All-Big Ten recognition from both the coaches and media last year.

The 6-foot-1, 205-pounder also tallied 6.5 tackles for a loss (career high), nine pass breakups (second on the team) and an interception. He posted double-digit tackle efforts against Purdue and Iowa and totaled less than seven stops in just three of 12 games. In 2023, Gifford allowed 204 yards in coverage and one touchdown while posting a 67.6 coverage grade according to PFF.

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