3. Kevin Byard, Tennessee Titans
A few seasons ago Kevin Byard was a darling of #DraftTwitter, but was left on the outside looking in when invitations to the Scouting Combine were sent out.
Now he is one of the league’s premier safeties.
Byard had another great season in 2019 as he and the Tennessee Titans made a run to the AFC Championship Game. While Derrick Henry and the offense grabbed the lion’s share of the headlines, Byard and the Titans’ defense is not to be overlooked. Byard spent the bulk of his season in a deep safety role, logging 691 snaps in that alignment. A scant majority of those, 397 to be exact, were in some kind of two-high coverage. On this interception of Baker Mayfield, he begins in a two-high alignment before buzzing down underneath, and reads the quarterback perfectly:
Kevin Byard plays Baker like an absolute fiddle here. Filters down, but reads through his eyes the whole time in the drop zone, and then makes a great interception. pic.twitter.com/ODQsARqEAo
— Nick Farabaugh (@FarabaughFB) September 12, 2019
Byard has been one of the league’s most dangerous secondary players the past few seasons, tallying 18 interceptions and 17 passes defended since he entered the NFL. His coverage skills and ball-hawking ability keep him near the top of any list of the league’s best safeties.