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

By Daniel Bruce

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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ORCHARD PARK, NY – DECEMBER 29: Jaquan Johnson #46 of the Buffalo Bills makes an interception that was overturned due to penalty during the second quarter against the New York Jets at New Era Field on December 29, 2019 in Orchard Park, New York. New York defeats Buffalo 13-6. (Photo by Brett Carlsen/Getty Images) /

Recapping Johnson’s 2019 season

Despite not having many opportunities during the season, Johnson made the most of his scarce defensive snaps.

First off, Johnson didn’t look out of place in preseason, when he excelled and was one of the most noticeable players on the field most of the time. Playing all four preseason games, Johnson had 18 tackles, but showed very well and was steady in his play. Especially in Week 3 of the preseason versus the Detroit Lions:

He out graded each Bills defender by at least 20, and even though it was against primarily backups, the feat remains impressive.

Appearing in 13 games for the Bills in his rookie season however he only had defensive snaps in Week 17 versus the Jets for the first time. Johnson was a regular contributor on special teams for most of the season, playing 53.4% of the special teams snaps for Buffalo, Johnson was reliable for Heath Farwell‘s unit.

The only snaps on defense the rookie safety got was the last game of the season versus the Jets when the Bills rested a majority of their starters. Johnson finished the game with 3 tackles, but did have an interception robbed of him when Kurt Coleman took an unnecessary roughness penalty negating the play:

Bills fans were raving about the performance they witnessed from Johnson against the Jets, he caught the eye of many social media influencers as well. He provoked Joe Buscaglia to write an article citing “Why the Bills might have a steal in Jaquan Johnson”.

The sophomore safety impressed despite only minimal playing time, he may be the primary backup next season and see more snaps on defense.

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