Byard Tops Ranking of NFL's Best Safeties
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Kevin Byard is as good as it gets when it comes to active NFL safeties.
Playing alongside Amani Hooker last season made him even better. That is the opinion of Pro Football Network, which released its ranking of the league’s top 32 safeties on Wednesday.
Byard topped that list while Hooker, a first-time starter in 2021, checked in at No. 20. The only other teams with two of the top 20 were Buffalo (No. 8 Micah Hyde and No. 11 Jordan Poyer), Seattle (No. 12 Quandre Diggs and No. 15 Jamal Adams) and New Orleans (No. 7 Tyrann Mathieu and No. 17 Marcus Maye).
From Pro Football Network:
Byard is most certainly in the free safety mold, but his consistency as a tackler throughout his career makes him a complete player. He hasn’t missed more than six tackles in a season since 2017 and has kept his missed tackle percentage under 10% in that period.
But last season, the symbiotic relationship between him and Amani Hooker made for arguably the best safety duo in the NFL, battling the tandem from Buffalo that has done it together since 2017. Byard’s athleticism and explosiveness at 210 pounds make him a formidable defender. His coverage prowess makes him the best safety in the NFL.
A third-round pick by Tennessee in 2016, Byard is a three-time Pro Bowler (2019, 2020 and 2021) and a two-time All-Pro (2017, 2021). He tied for the league lead with eight interceptions in 2017, and his 23 career interceptions lead all NFL safeties over that time.
He has averaged 89.3 tackles per season for his career and has had 87 or more in each of the last five. He set a career-high with 111 stops in 2020.
Last season, he forced a career-high two fumbles, which was one more than in his first five seasons combined.
“I’m still learning,” Byard said last month during organized team activities (OTAs). “I don’t think there’s ever going to be a time as I play in this league that I’m not going to learn, (get) better, (do) little, small things, add things to my game.
“I’m always trying to learn, always trying to get better.”
As far as Pro Football Network is concerned, he is as good as it gets right now.
