Buffalo Bills Safety Competition

Oct 9, 2011; Orchard Park, NY, USA; Buffalo Bills defensive back Jarius Byrd (31) reacts after a play against the Philadelphia Eagles in the first quarter at Ralph Wilson Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Richard Mackson-USA TODAY Sports

With us just finishing looking at the CB/DB competition for the Bills in the upcoming training camp, I think that it should be good to look at the safety competition.

We have already covered a couple of the safeties for this competition within the CB/DB breakdown as they were listed as DBs.  To add to the three we covered, we will look at Aaron Williams, Duke Williams, Da’Norris Searcy and Jarius Byrd.

Jarius Byrd has been in the league for 5 years.  The last two season he has played in and started all 32 games.  Over his last 5 seasons he has amassed 223 tackles and 18 interceptions 9 of which came in 2009.  Jarius Byrd is arguably our best defensive back and the leader in the back seven.  As of right now, he is not under contract and unless he is looking for a 1 year deal he needs to sign before mid-July or he will be stuck with a 1 year contract, and this is if he even signs.

Aaron Williams is going into his 3rd season with the Bills.  He has started 16 games over two years and amassed 62 tackles and 1 interception.  He was suppose to be the complement to Gilmore going into last year and coming into this year.  With the departure of George Wilson, Williams is making the transition to Safety and if Byrd comes back, the back two will be a great combination.

Da’Norris Searcy has been with the Buffalo Bills for 3 years.  He has been Wilson’s backup for the past 3 years as well.  He has only started 3 games in 2011 and has produced 73 tackles and 1 interception.  Searcy has the talent to play Strong Safety.  It will be interesting to see if Williams moves back to CB and if Searcy can handle himself in back with Byrd, in the assumption he signs.

Duke Williams was selected by  the Bills at the 105th spot in the NFL draft.  He is out of Nevada.  “The Reno native has become a hometown favorite for the Wolf Pack, earning second-team All-WAC honors as a junior, and second-team All-Mountain West honors as a senior. Williams is able to use his sprinter’s speed and nice agility to negate receivers downfield. He also has experience in man assignments versus slot players. While Williams’ doesn’t possess a large build, he is more than willing to throw his body around with impunity.” (Information taken from NFL.com).

With 7 listed as Safeties, and a total of probably only 4 being kept on the team, there is a possibility the the four kept will be both Williams’, Searcy and if Byrd signs, him as well.