On the latest episode of the Billieve Podcast, in the ninth installment of our State of the Buffalo Bills series, hosts John Boccacino and Jamie D’Amico break down and review the contributions the Bills got from their safeties in 2020.
Led by the dynamic duo of Micah Hyde and Jordan Poyer, the Bills have one of the best safety tandems in the league. Since they both arrived in Buffalo in 2017, coinciding with head coach Sean McDermott’s first year in charge, Hyde and Poyer have proven to be incredibly trustworthy cogs at the back of the defense—a pair of safeties who excel in Buffalo’s zone-heavy scheme and are great at limiting the big passing plays.
Hyde and Poyer both also help defensive coordinator/assistant head coach Leslie Frazier disguise his defense’s coverage and both are just as skilled playing up in the box or sitting back and playing centerfield.
We assess Hyde and Poyer’s strengths and weaknesses: Hyde possesses better coverage ability and thrives as the deep safety in zone coverage while Poyer is the more stout run defender and a terrific tackler. We also explore whether Hyde and Poyer deserve consideration for induction onto Buffalo’s Wall of Fame.
However, behind Hyde and Poyer, there isn’t a lot of proven depth among the safeties and the Bills should/could certainly turn to the draft to replace the departed Dean Marlowe, who was a solid contributor to Buffalo’s secondary.
We take a look at what Buffalo has in developmental safety prospect Jaquan Johnson, who has primarily served a special teams role so far though he will have a chance to take on the role Marlowe filled during his Buffalo tenure, and Josh Thomas, who will be fighting for a roster spot in training camp.
Check out the latest Billieve Podcast for our thoughts on Buffalo’s safeties, including whether Hyde and Poyer deserve Wall of Fame consideration, then join the conversation by leaving your thoughts in the comments section below.
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