Buffalo Bills: 5 bold predictions entering training camp

Dane Jackson replaces Taron Johnson as starting nickel cornerback

Taron Johnson was very steady for the Bills defense in his rookie season in 2018, and despite struggling with injuries he was a welcomed presence even in his rookie season.

The incumbent nickel cornerback struggled in his second season though, playing in 12 games he allowed a completions at a 67.3% rate, for 368 yards and 1 touchdown. The most staggering development was his tackling, Johnson missed 20.6% of his attempted tackles, the worst mark among Bills defensive backs by close to 7%. Johnson’s yard per completion against his coverage went up from 6.2 to 11.2, a concerning 5 yards, the second year corner was far worse in 2019 than 2018.

Johnson struggled tackling against the run, where he made the most glaring mistakes in regard to his tackling.

While for Jackson, he plays similar to Johnson in the fact that he is ferocious on ball carriers and despite his smaller frame is a very competitive tackler. While playing the majority of the time outside at Pitt, Jackson has the ideal size to play nickel in the NFL at 5’11” and 180 pounds.

He showed no hesitancy when pursuing running backs in the open field as evidence by this great play he made in college:

While it would be a surprise to see Johnson get dethroned buy a seventh-round rookie, Jackson has as great a chance as anyone to do so.