Predicting the starters for the Buffalo Bills defense after the 2023 NFL Draft

Buffalo Bills Safeties

Starters: Micah Hyde, Jordan Poyer
Bench: Taylor Rapp, Damar Hamlin, Zayne Anderson, Jared Mayden

The safety position is similar to cornerback in terms of it being in a better spot at this point of the year compared to last year. The reason is that this time last year the big question was how good the depth was after not really being able to play much due to how durable Micah Hyde and Jordan Poyer had been during their career with the Buffalo Bills.

The Bills unfortunately had to find out that answer last season with both Micah Hyde and Jordan Poyer missing a number of games as Hyde would miss almost the entire season after suffering a neck injury in Week 2 and Poyer missed four games over the course of the season.

The absence of Micah Hyde did create an opportunity for Damar Hamlin, who played very well in his place during the course of the season. Unfortunately, he did suffer that scary injury against the Cincinnati Bengals but the news since has been positive and he has been cleared to return to football activities.

In addition, the Bills added Taylor Rapp this offseason, who is an experienced safety and has 448 career starts over the past four years with the Los Angeles Rams. The hope is that Micah Hyde and Jordan Poyer are able to remain the starters the entire season but if they do miss time, the Bills have more established depth behind them that they should be confident in if the need were to arise.