Since being drafted in the third round of the 2016 NFL Draft, Tennessee Titans safety Kevin Byard has emerged as one of the best players at his position in the NFL.
And it appears he’s finally starting to get more recognition for his top-notch play from different media outlets.
According to Mark Schofield of Touchdown Wire, Byard lands at No. 3 on his list of the top-10 safeties in the NFL.
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:
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.
This isn’t the only top safeties list Byard has appeared on recently. CBS Sports’ Patrik Walker ranked the Titans safety No. 9 on his list.
Tennessee rewarded Byard with a five-year, $70.5 million contract prior to the 2019 campaign, and he proved he was worth every penny after having yet another great season.
But with some key veteran leaders having moved on during the offseason, the Titans will be looking for Byard to also step up as a leader, something he has shown he is capable of in the past.
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