I wrote about three areas of needs for the Bills heading into the 2023 off-season, one of those positions being the safeties. The Buffalo Bills have some questions in the defensive backfield that need to be answered sooner than later. Jordan Poyer is a free agent and according to spotrac.com, is currently valued at $11 million per year. Will the Bills be able to retain him for the 2023 season?
The team can certainly make room under the cap, but the question remains, will Poyer want to return and will the Bills be willing to pay what other teams might pay. What about Damar Hamlin? It seems he plans to return but we have no idea if this will be the case.
Oh, by the way, Dean Marlowe and Jaquan Johnson are both free agents as well. What about Micah Hyde, we know he’s returning but he missed an entire season now, coming off the injury and has only one year left on his deal. The Bills currently only have four safeties under contract and only Hyde is a proven starter, while the other three are essentially career backups.
We are hearing Christian Benford could be an option and may very well move to safety for the 2023 season. This does make sense, given the Bills will have Tre’Davious White, Kaiir Elam and Taron Johnson to fill out the boundary corner spots and in the slot. But even still, will he successfully transition to the role?
As a result of these question marks, the Buffalo Bills will need to have answers to fill those positions, potentially for 2023 and definitely beyond. So, I’ve listed a safety that could be available for the Bills in each of the first three rounds, depending on when or even if, they decide to draft one.
Buffalo Bills safety options in 2023 NFL Draft: Antonio Johnson, Texas A&M
Antonio Johnson has great size at 6’3” and weighing 195 pounds. Couple that with a 4.48 speed and he’s got all the physical gifts to be a solid day one starter.
In a previous article, I wrote about the versatility of offensive lineman, Cody Mauch, and the love the Bills have for players that possess this skill. Well, Johnson is another one of those players that possess great versatility, where he can play both safety and corner positions, including the slot. At Texas A&M, the Aggies even had him lined up as a linebacker on occasion.
There are two things that have stood out to me when reviewing multiple scouting reports on Johnson. One is his willingness to hit in run support. He shows a desire to come down into the box and deliver a hit, knows how to tackle and is a reliable in that area as well.
The second point I’ve read a great deal about, is his football smarts. NFLDraftBuzz.com referred to him as a “coach on the field”. Between his intelligence and versatility, I can see McDermott and Beane making Johnson their first-round selection. He possesses the smarts, versatility and willingness to tackle, all traits that the Bills organization covets in their players, particularly the safeties.
Buffalo Bills safety options in 2023 NFL Draft: Sydney Brown, Illinois
Sydney Brown is 6’0” and 213 pounds and is projected as a second rounder. There are some that think Brown could go earlier in the second that what Buffalo will be drafting. Should that happen, I do have an honorable mention, but I’ll come back to that later.
Brown is another of those versatile safeties that isn’t afraid to get down inside the box and make a tackle; however, has been beaten by backs when he meets them in the hole. He brings some speed to the position as well, with a 4.45 40-yard dash.
Brown has solid football instincts and is quick in his diagnosis of plays and reaction. He recorded six interceptions this past season with Illinois, showing off some ball skills and an ability to make plays in the secondary.
He also made Bruce Feldman’s Freaks list of 2022, coming in at number 34. Feldman had this to say about Brown, “…made All-Big Ten honorable mention in 2021, led Illinois with 81 tackles, and also forced two fumbles. He added almost 6 pounds of lean muscle mass this summer while losing 1 pound of fat. He has also hit 22.4 mph on the GPS in-game. ”
My honorable mention here is JL Skinner, safety from Boise State. I live in in the Boise area and have watched Skinner’s career, start to finish. I love the way he plays and the aggressiveness in which brings when tackling and playing the ball. Skinner is a taller safety than most, at 6’4” and weighs 211 pounds. He’s an honorable mention here only because I don’t believe he’ll be available for Buffalo late in the second and Brown is more likely to be around at that point in the draft.
Buffalo Bills safety options in 2023 NFL Draft: Christopher Smith, Georgia
Can you go wrong with a defensive player from Georgia? Seems all these guys can flat out play. Smith is the smallest of these three guys, coming in at 5’11” and weighing in at 188 pounds. He, like the other two, bring a sub-4.5, 40 to the field, clocked at 4.46.
Smith is very much as versatile a player as any safety in the draft, where the Bulldogs would line him up as the free safety, in the box or as the nickel corner in the slot. His football IQ has received high praise from many scouting reports and was named a team captain by his Georgia teammates.
He is more than capable of providing solid run support; however, can sometimes be hesitant in reaction, which shows up more in his tackling skills and at times struggles to get off blocks.
Christopher Smith could be a very solid option for the Bills in round three, given most draft experts project Smith as a one year project, so he could spend a year learning from Hyde, before being ready to assume the full time job but in his rookie year with his versatility of playing in the nickel, could prove to have some value in his rookie year to spell players in the secondary from time to time, as he grows into a full-time starter in 2024