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Not long ago, the loss of Tremaine Edmunds was side-by-side with the pending loss of Jordan Poyer this offseason.
Instead, the safety pulled a 180 and headed back to the Buffalo Bills instead of departing like the linebacker.
It’s a huge addition by retainment. While the Bills defense still played well overall in 2022, Poyer himself was banged up all season. Meanwhile, his longtime safety partner Micah Hyde missed most of the season due to his own injury.
CBS Sports shows exactly how important keeping Poyer could end up being. The outlet ranked the 10 best safeties in the NFL and Poyer’s name appears at No. 7. While Hyde does not crack the 10, he is noted as an honorable mention, which is understandable considering his recent injury issue.
Here’s how CBS Sports broke down Poyer’s game:
7. Jordan Poyer
Not many safeties provide more value to their team’s defense than Jordan Poyer. The Buffalo Bills went a perfect 12-0 in the regular season games he was able to suit up in during the 2022 season. The shining element of his game is keeping everything in front of him in coverage: Poyer allowed either a first down or touchdown on 22.7% of his targets as the primary defender last season, the second-lowest rate among qualified safeties in the NFL, according to Pro Football Focus.
Bills head coach Sean McDermott relies heavily on Poyer’s ability to both cover and blitz, so even as he struggled with injuries at age 31, missing five games, his impact when available cannot be denied.
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