Pro Football Focus has continued singing the praises of the Bills’ safety tandem this week.
The football analytics outlet named Bills safety Micah Hyde the team’s “most underrated player” on their roster currently. This comes after PFF named another interesting player the team’s most…that’s right… their “most underrated player” halfway through last season.
But first, here’s why Hyde was the pick:
Hyde drew some accolades (second-team All-Pro and a Pro Bowl appearance) in his first season with Buffalo back in 2017, but his body of work since joining the Bills suggests that we’re still underrating him when discussing the league’s best safeties. Over the last three seasons in Buffalo, Hyde ranks tied for fifth among all players at the safety position in overall grade (90.7). The move to free safety has pulled the best from Hyde after a solid, albeit unspectacular, start to his career with the Green Bay Packers in more of a slot/box role. He now serves as half of one of the better safety tandems in the NFL with teammate Jordan Poyer.
Speaking of Poyer… again, that’s right. Who was PFF’s most underrated player on the Bills prior to Hyde last season? It was Poyer.
Clearly the analytics folks don’t underestimate the power of Buffalo’s secondary. But PFF isn’t alone. Analytical research from NFL.com dug into their numbers and previously concluded that Hyde and Poyer are a pairing that feed off each other and are better suited playing next to each other as opposed to being apart.
The fancy stats certainly love the Bills’ duo, making club’s decision to give Poyer an extension recently a good one.
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