Buffalo Bills: Why the Bills think so highly of safety Jaquan Johnson

ORCHARD PARK, NEW YORK - DECEMBER 29: Jaquan Johnson #46 of the Buffalo Bills is introduced before an NFL game between the Buffalo Bills and the New York Jets at New Era Field on December 29, 2019 in Orchard Park, New York. (Photo by Bryan M. Bennett/Getty Images)
ORCHARD PARK, NEW YORK - DECEMBER 29: Jaquan Johnson #46 of the Buffalo Bills is introduced before an NFL game between the Buffalo Bills and the New York Jets at New Era Field on December 29, 2019 in Orchard Park, New York. (Photo by Bryan M. Bennett/Getty Images) /
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Buffalo Bills
ORCHARD PARK, NEW YORK – DECEMBER 29: Jaquan Johnson #46 of the Buffalo Bills is introduced before an NFL game between the Buffalo Bills and the New York Jets at New Era Field on December 29, 2019 in Orchard Park, New York. (Photo by Bryan M. Bennett/Getty Images) /

Being a sixth-round selection in 2019 by the Buffalo Bills, Jaquan Johnson wasn’t going to make an impact with one of the best safety tandems in the NFL in front of him as a rookie and that likely doesn’t change in 2020.

The safety out of the University of Miami was an extremely productive player in college, despite not having the opportunity to play any meaningful defensive snaps in his rookie season, the Buffalo Bills staff has to like what they have in the safety.

Jaquan Johnson had the college production to warrant a higher selection in the draft than the sixth round but due to his physical limitations he slipped. At just 5’10” and 191 pounds, he is not as big as most teams would hope for, and he also ran a poor 4.69 40-yard dash.

Buffalo shows a proficiency to select not based on combine results and just defer to selecting “good football players” which Johnson is. When Johnson has been on the field in the pros he hasn’t looked out of place.

The Bills will most likely hold onto Johnson to potentially takeover the safety spot when Hyde expires in 2022 or when Poyer’s contract expires in 2023. If not Johnson should be able to carve out a role as the primary backup at safety as early as this season.