The Buffalo Bills safety duo of Jordan Poyer and Micah Hyde were ranked third best recently by Pro Football Focus.
The Buffalo Bills starting safeties, Jordan Poyer and Micah Hyde, joined the franchise in 2017 and outside of a Pro Bowl selection for Hyde in 2017 they are often forgotten when discussing the top safeties in the league.
However, the results are undeniable and these two players are a big reason the Bills have had one of the best secondaries in the league the past few years. The franchise recognizes how important they are and even agreed to a contract extension with Jordan Poyer this offseason.
It was certainly nice to see that maybe this duo is starting to get the recognition they deserve when recently they were ranked third best in the NFL by Pro Football Focus.
"3. MICAH HYDE & JORDAN POYER, BUFFALO BILLSWhen head coach Sean McDermott first arrived in Buffalo three years ago, he set out to build his defense around safeties Micah Hyde and Jordan Poyer, who helped turn the Bills secondary into one of the league’s best coverage units.Over the last two seasons, Hyde has earned the fourth-best man-coverage grade (85.0) among qualifying safeties while Jordan Poyer has earned the eighth-best zone-coverage grade (86.1). Their collaboration has helped the Bills’ pass defense allow the fewest yards per reception (9.8) over the last two seasons. McDermott’s formula has worked in Buffalo, and his key ingredients begin with Hyde and Poyer."
One of the reasons that the safety combination of Poyer and Hyde work so well is that they excel in different areas that compliment one another very well. As PFF notes, Hyde was one of the best in man coverage while Poyer performed well in zone.
This type of versatility works well and gives the coaching staff plenty of options in how to attack the opposition and force them into mistakes. The two safeties have combined for 19 interceptions, six forced fumbles and seven fumble recoveries in their three seasons in Buffalo.
The Buffalo Bills are hoping to reach the playoffs in back to back seasons this year, hopefully because of an AFC East division title, and if they do it is likely that Poyer and Hyde will be two big reasons for the team’s success this coming year.