PFF: One fancy stat for Bills free agents Tremaine Edmunds, Jordan Poyer
The Buffalo Bills have several starters who are free agents this offseason, and the players and team alike face important decisions on their future at their positions.
Two of those starters on defense, LB Tremaine Edmunds and S Jordan Poyer, are ranked among Pro Football Focus’s top 25 free agents in 2023.
PFF shared One key stat to know for PFF’s top 25 free agents in 2023 this past week, and the list features Edmunds at 17 and Poyer at 19 among top FAs.
In addition to the stat note, PFF recently predicted that Edmunds will be among the highest-paid linebackers in free agency during the 2023 off-season. The analytical football outlet also categorized Poyer as a player the Bills can’t afford to lose.
Bills GM Brandon Beane and the front office will have their work cut out for them in terms of evaluating the cost of retaining the two defensive starters or whether one or both players’ productivity can be replaced or improved upon by way of the draft, trade, or free agency.
Although it will take some economic ingenuity and maneuvering with the team’s cap situation, PFF makes a strong case for why the Bills to retain their defensive starters. With another starter on offense also a free agent in RB Devin Singletary, it remains to be seen if all three players will again suit up for Buffalo.
Here are the key PFF stats about each player:
17. LB Tremaine Edmunds
Credit: Gregory Fisher-USA TODAY Sports
Via PFF:
Stat to know: Edmunds’ 88.9 coverage grade in 2022 ranked first among all linebackers.
PFF top 25 notes: Edmunds made huge strides in coverage in 2022, a major weakness in his game through his first four seasons. He is a truly freakish athlete and will be 25 years old throughout his entire sixth NFL season in 2023 after being selected No. 16 overall in the 2019 NFL Draft as the second-youngest player in the overall class. Edmunds’ 86.9 coverage grade in 2022 was the third-best mark among off-ball linebackers, and he forced an incompletion on 10.3% of targets into his coverage while allowing just four explosive receptions the entire season (0.9% of targets into his coverage, ninth among linebackers). Edmunds also missed just 6.5% of potential tackles, the lowest rate of his career and another huge sign of continued growth from a football intelligence and play recognition standpoint.
19. S Jordan Poyer
Credit: Mark Konezny-USA TODAY Sports
Via PFF:
Stat to know: Since joining the Buffalo Bills in 2017, Poyer has an elite 91.9 coverage grade.
PFF top 25 notes: Poyer was seeking an extension before the 2022 season, and his performance this year goes a long way in proving why he was worthy of a new deal, but various injuries have also illustrated perhaps why Buffalo was wary of committing to the 31-year-old beyond 2022. That said, Poyer logged 950-plus snaps in every season from 2017-21, so his toughness and willingness to play through ailments cannot be questioned. The 2022 campaign marked Poyer’s fourth consecutive regular season earning coverage grades and overall grades above 70.0, with a lot of turnover in the Bills’ secondary throughout the season, most notably with his safety partner Micah Hyde lost for the year. Poyer’s 92.1 coverage grade since 2020 is the best among safeties. He still has good football left to be played.
