The Buffalo Bills have questions at cornerback with the uncertainty around Tre’Davious White and his availability. The discussion has been mostly centered around Kaiir Elam and Christian Benford. While the rookie cornerbacks have gotten most of the attention, Dane Jackson has largely been forgotten.
In the first preseason game against the Indianapolis Colts, the Bills elected to have Kaiir Elam and Christian Benford get the start while giving Jackson the day off. On Wednesday, defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier met with the media and said they know what they have in Jackson and wanted to give the rookies more playing time to evaluate.
In addition, according to Jon Scott, Leslie Frazier also said that Dane Jackson is ahead of both Elam and Benford currently.
Leslie Frazier says Dane Jackson is ahead of rookie CBs Kaiir Elam and Christian Benford.#Bills know what they have in Jackson, hence why he didn’t play in preseason opener.
— Jon Scott (@JonScottTV) August 17, 2022
Team needs to see more of Elam/Benford to best evaluate.
Dane Jackson appears to have the inside track to a starting job with the Buffalo Bills
The biggest question for the Bills’ secondary is when will Tre’Davious White be back from his ACL injury. The coaching staff needs to have a plan if he is not ready to start the season and they appear set to pick two of the three cornerbacks previously mentioned.
However, once White is able to return, they will then need to determine who remains in the starting lineup. The hope would be that it would be Elam considering he was a first round pick and has a very high ceiling in terms of potential and long-term he should be a starter.
This season though, the answer may be Dane Jackson as the other starter. He was a seventh round pick by the Bills in 2020 and after a few spot starts as a rookie, he became a full-time starter in the second half of the season after Tre’Davious White’s injury.
In his eight starts to close the season, including two playoff games, he had 37 total tackles and six pass breakups.
There was no question that the Bills’ pass defense wasn’t at the same level as earlier in the season without Tre’Davious White. However, that wasn’t necessarily due to Jackson playing poorly and it was just a matter of the Bills not having a player of White’s caliber to step in.
This season, Dane Jackson certainly is capable of playing at the same level Levi Wallace has the past few seasons. If he is capable of that then the Bills once again should be a top defense against the pass and it wouldn’t be surprising that Jackson is the starter for the entire season.
53-man roster projections for Buffalo Bills after first preseason game
The Buffalo Bills have played one preseason game and after their win over the Colts, this is what the 53-man roster could look like this season.