Buffalo Bills add safety in first round of PFF early 2022 mock draft

Even though the 2021 NFL Draft is not a week old, the mocks for next year’s draft have already begun. One mock in particular, Michael Renner’s on Pro Football Focus, had an interesting selection for the Buffalo Bills in his first round 2022 mock draft.

In this mock draft, Renner has the Bills picking 29th overall, which is one spot earlier than where they picked this recent NFL Draft, with the order being determined by Super Bowl 56 odds. The selection Renner had for the Buffalo Bills was safety Jordan Battle from the University of Alabama.

"Battle made a few spot starts as a true freshman back in 2019 before taking over full-time in 2020. He is a solid all-around safety with ideal size at 6-foot-1, 210 pounds. Battle earned a run-defense grade of 79.1 and a coverage grade of 81.5 last year."

The selection is interesting as safety isn’t really thought of as a need for the Buffalo Bills as Jordan Poyer is under contract through 2022 and Micah Hyde is under contract through 2023, according to Spotrac. However, both players have potential outs in their contracts that could make them cut candidates before the end of their contract. For Poyer, that out is after 2021 and Hyde’s is after 2022.

This means safety could become more of a priority if the Bills believe they could release either player before the end of their contract.

While the Bills have drafted Jaquan Johnson and Damar Hamlin in 2019 and 2021 respectively, these were selections near the end of the draft with both players being sixth round picks. A player like Jordan Battle though would then make sense for the Buffalo Bills as they value safeties who can play both in the box and deep in coverage which is something Renner notes in his writeup on the Bills pick.

This past season, Battle had 66 total tackles, one interception (which was returned for a touchdown) and four passes defended. If he continues to develop as a safety, it wouldn’t be too surprising to see the Buffalo Bills consider him if they are picking in the back half of the first round.