If the Bills look to draft a safety, don't be surprised if it's this aggressive tackler
There was a brief period during the offseason where the Buffalo Bills were staring at a potential crisis at the safety position.
The chances of Jordan Poyer re-signing with the team seemed slim at best, the future of Damar Hamlin was very much in doubt, and JaQuan Johnson, Dean Marlowe and Cam Lewis were heading into free agency. And Micah Hyde would be returning, albeit after missing almost all of 2022 with a serious neck injury that required surgery, and on the final year of his contract.
Things were so murky, there was speculation that the Bills would look to convert 2022 rookie cornerback Christian Benford to safety.
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A month ago it was not crazy to think the Bills might actually consider picking a safety in the first round of the NFL Draft - something they haven’t done since choosing Donte Whitner in 2006 - if the right player was available at No. 27 overall.
However, now 10 days from the start of the draft, the picture - at least for 2023 - is much clearer and certainly more favorable. Poyer did indeed come back, as did Lewis; Hamlin continues his recovery from cardiac arrest and thinks he can return to action; and the Bills signed veteran Taylor Rapp to a one-year free agent contract which gives them an outstanding top three along with Poyer and Hyde.
So yes, 2023 will be fine, but the Bills will need to start planning for the future because it’s entirely possible that Hyde, Rapp (expiring contracts) and Poyer ($5.5 million cap savings if he is released after 2023) won’t be on the team in 2024.
Buffalo Bills draft picks 2023: Potential safeties
The only consensus projected first-round safety is Alabama’s Brian Branch, and he’ll probably be gone before Buffalo picks. But in the second round, when the Bills come up at No. 59, Penn State’s versatile Ja’Ayir Brown may be a player to seriously consider.
“He is my top safety in the entire draft,” NFL Network draft analyst Daniel Jeremiah said just before the Scouting combine. “He has corner skill, he can play in the middle of the field, he has ball production. You can drop him down low if you want, he’s tough, he’s physical.
“You can see the (2022) Auburn game, what he does as a rusher there with a sack and the forced fumble. He can cover tight ends. He can do everything. He is one of my favorite guys to watch in this draft, and everything I've heard about him character-wise is off the charts. So I'm a big fan of his.”
The 5-foot-11, 203-pound Brown was a stud for Penn State, and the versatility Jeremiah lauded makes him exactly the type of player Sean McDermott likes in the back end of the defense. In essence, he’s a nine years younger version of Poyer, someone who can play deep or in the box, and blitz if called upon.
Brown was asked at the combine if he has watched Poyer and whether he believes his playing style is similar. “No, end of the day I’m my own player, but I definitely do respect Jordan Poyer’s game, though,” Brown said.
Brown, who played two seasons of junior college ball at Lackawanna (Pa.) College before transferring to Penn State, didn’t have a great combine. He ran a 4.65 in the 40-yard dash which was 17th out of the 19 safeties who ran, and his vertical leap of 32.5 inches was 15th out of 19 safeties who jumped.
Those numbers brought down his Next Gen Stats athletic score (13th among safeties), but it did not change his NGS production score which was No. 1 among the safeties. That’s because while Brown doesn’t wow you with speed and agility, the game tape does not lie: He makes plays and in the end, that’s what matters.
As a two-year starter for the Nittany Lions he made 10 interceptions, 153 tackles, nine for loss including 4.5 sacks, and forced three fumbles because his ball instincts are outstanding, and his willingness to tackle with aggression is off the charts.
“I think the film speaks a lot for itself,” Brown said at the combine, adding that the way he wants NFL teams to see him during the pre-draft process is that he’s “a great kid and I love the game of football. And you don’t have to watch me any other way besides on a football field. I’m a low maintenance, high production guy. And that’s what I love to do.”
All of Brown’s career sacks came in 2022 and interestingly, when Brown was asked how he tried to improve his pass rushing techniques knowing he’d be called on to blitz more often, it wasn’t necessarily other safeties he studied, it was Bills edge rusher Von Miller.
“I started watching a lot of Von Miller highlights,” he said. “I felt all along I liked to pass rush, it’s something that was new but I was able to adjust and able to do it well. And it’s been a great part of my game and I really enjoy that. It might be just as good as getting exceptions.”
Brown confirmed that the Bills met with him at the combine, but as of yet have not had a top 30 visit to One Bills Drive. They did use one of those on Alabama safety Jordan Battle who is rated very close to Brown by most draft experts.
“At the end of the day, I’m myself,” he said. “I feel like I’m an original player in this sport. I don’t like to compare myself to anybody or try to be anybody. I’m Ji-Ayir Brown.”
Sal Maiorana can be reached at maiorana@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @salmaiorana.To subscribe to Sal's newsletter, Bills Blast, which will come out every Friday during the offseason, please follow this link: https://profile.democratandchronicle.com/newsletters/bills-blast
This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Buffalo Bills may look to take Ja’Ayir Brown in the NFL Draft 2023
