Buffalo Bills: Micah Hyde earns national respect in NFL Top 100

Micah Hyde had a great debut season for the Buffalo Bills in 2017 and has earned some national respect from his fellow players.

The Buffalo Bills had a special group on defense in 2017.

An anchor of the group was Micah Hyde, who showed up and earned a Pro Bowl selection in his first year of a five-year deal with the Bills. Not a bad way to make a name for himself in a town that rallies around hard workers.

Hyde did so well that he was ranked No. 62 overall on this year’s NFL Top 100 list, which is voted on by NFL players. This comes after not even being on the list a year ago.

Football fans love interceptions and five for Hyde in his first season in Buffalo made his play a memorable part of the playoff run in 2017.

He made himself a constant fixture on the field by starting all 16 games for the first time in his career, recording 82 tackles in the process. He also emerged as a leader on a defense that will hopefully get even better in 2018 with the introduction of Tremaine Edmunds at linebacker.

As with other offseason rankings, the NFL Top 100 list doesn’t exactly serve as an exact projection of who will be great during the upcoming season. Instead, it essentially highlights players who stood out in the previous season and gives them some recognition for a job well done. Hyde certainly earned that recognition.

Hyde is the first member of the Bills to appear on this year’s list, but there are still 60 more spots to be revealed. I’d expect at least one or two more Bills to show up before we reach the final spot on the list.

Next: 2018 projections for the top Bills players in fantasy football

If Shady isn’t chosen, we riot.