The Buffalo Bills have had the same starting safeties since Sean McDermott took over as head coach by signing Jordan Poyer and Micah Hyde as free agents that first offseason. The past two years the team has ensured these two will stay together for the next few seasons after agreeing to contract extensions with Poyer last offseason and Hyde this offseason.
The move to bring both players to the Bills has certainly paid off and the defense has one of the best safety duos in the NFL. These are two players that compliment each other very well and their versatility has been a benefit for this defense.
Pro Football Focus recently ranked their Top 32 safeties and had both players right next to each other with Hyde ranked as the 14th best safety in the NFL and Poyer one spot behind him at 15th.
Sam Monson of Pro Football Focus wrote about Hyde:
"The Buffalo Bills have an incredibly reliable pair of safeties, and the first on the list is Micah Hyde, who now has four straight seasons with an overall PFF grade of at least 70.0 — and three of the four are significantly better than 70.0. Hyde is often put in a good position by the defensive scheme in Buffalo, but he responds by making the plays he is given the opportunity to make."
In four seasons with the Bills, Hyde has made one Pro Bowl and has 282 total tackles, nine interceptions, and 25 passes defended.
As for Hyde’s teammate, Monson wrote this about Poyer:
"Just behind his teammate is Poyer, a similarly versatile safety who allows the Bills to run any kind of coverage shell they want to. Poyer allowed just 8.7 yards per reception from 55 targets last season. He also forced two fumbles, making five in total over the last two seasons."
In four seasons with the Bills, Poyer has 426 total tackles, 13 interceptions, 27 passes defended and seven sacks. However, he has yet to be named to a Pro Bowl.
The secondary has been a strength of this defense for a few seasons now with these two safeties, along with cornerback Tre’Davious White, but they did struggle a bit last year. They finished the year 13th in passing yards allowed after finishing fourth in 2019.
The Buffalo Bills hope that the investment they have made to their pass rush this offseason with the selections of Gregory Rousseau and Carlos Basham Jr. in the first and second round of the 2021 NFL Draft should help improve the secondary as quarterbacks will have less time in the pocket to make throws down the field.