If there was one position group that never failed to deliver in the early years of the Sean McDermott-era for the Buffalo Bills, it their safety group on the backend of the defense. From 2017 until about 2021/2022, the Bills had the best safety dup with Jordan Poyer and Micah Hyde. They were leaders on and off the field, and played an important role in the turnaround of the organization.
However, all good things eventually come to an end and the Bills have been trying to establish their safety room over the last couple of years. Luckily last season, the Bills saw Cole Bishop take a nice leap forward in the second half of the season. Now he enters a crucial third year with a new defensive coordinator in Jim Leonhard.
With Bishop being the clear best safety on the team, the Bills needed to establish a duo with him and they delivered big time this offseason in free agency and the draft.
Bills receive praise for improvement of safety group
NFL Nation writers from ESPN gave a tidbit of the most improved position for each team in a power rankings list. The Bills were ranked at No. 4 only behind the Denver Broncos, Los Angeles Rams, and Seattle Seahawks. For Buffalo, their most improved position listed was safety, per Alaina Getzenberg..
"The Bills got younger at the safety position after dealing with injuries last season. They signed C.J. Gardner-Johnson and Geno Stone before drafting Jalon Kilgore in the fifth round. The starters are likely to be third-year player Cole Bishop and Gardner-Johnson, but this room has some of the toughest competition for the final roster. Sam Franklin Jr.'s special teams abilities and Jordan Hancock's potential to play nickel and safety should land them spots." said Getzenberg
Buffalo went heavy at safety with bringing in two solid veterans in Gardner-Johnson and Stone. Gardner-Johnson should more than likely be the penciled-in starter next to Bishop. The Bills put a temporary bandaid on the safety group with the one-year signings, but then to draft Jalon Kilgore in the 5th round should bring long-term stability to the backend of the defense.
What makes this even better is that Jim Leonhard was a safety himself in the NFL, so all of these guys should heavily benefit from Leonhard’s presence. There is going to be physicality from this group, and I would make the argument that it’s the most exciting unit going into the season.
Now, will all of them make it onto the roster? Most likely not because the Bills have to bring balance to the overall roster. It’s going to be a fun summer and seeing how beats who out for a roster spot, and even a starting position.
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