Jordan Poyer

After a five-year run that saw Poyer average 103.8 tackles, 3.6 interceptions and 2.0 sacks, the 32-year-old began to wear down in 2022, missing four games due to a variety of injuries and playing fewer than 936 snaps for the first time since his Cleveland days. Given his age and career workload, it's an ominous sign, and Buffalo appeared to agree when it signed former Rams starter Taylor Rapp as insurance. Poyer will still start alongside Micah Hyde as long as he's able, but the Bills could begin scaling back the veteran duo's snaps to try and keep them fresh for the postseason.

There’s potential reason to worry about decline in Poyer’s near future – he turned 31 in April and he was no better than an average athlete even coming out of Oregon State – but his on- field results have been emphatically strong all of the last five years. Poyer is an exceptional fit in the Sean McDermott defense, reliably pushing triple-digit tackles while producing 10 sacks and 18 INTs over the last five years.

Poyer is a very good safety in both real-life and IDP terms, posting big tackle numbers and posing a major threat in coverage as a foundational piece in the Bills defense. Poyer was an IDP DB1 in each of his first four seasons with the Bills, reliably hovering around triple-digit tackles while showing a playmaking flair. Even as he heads into his age-30 season Poyer should maintain his lofty standards — teams will need to throw the ball often to keep up with the Bills offense, and Poyer will be waiting for them in the secondary.

Although he's skinny even by cornerback standards at 6-0, 191, Poyer has proved an ideal fit for a Buffalo defense where he's provided reliable returns the past three years, safely qualifying as a DB1 in IDP leagues and making leading contributions to a strong Buffalo pass defense in real-life terms. He's produced at a triple-digit tackle pace in each of his seasons with the Bills, racking up five sacks and 11 interceptions over that span otherwise. Poyer was a ballhawking corner in college before getting moved to safety, so it's reasonable to expect continued coverage production from him going forward.

Formerly a ballhawking cornerback who nearly went undrafted due to poor athleticism, Poyer might have been a Ronde Barber sort of player 20 years ago. But with the Cover-2 cycling out of style, Poyer had to cut it as a safety instead. He's a perfect fit for the Sean McDermott defense, posting superb counting stat production while playing a meaningful role in the strong showing of the unit as a whole. He has 195 tackles, four sacks and nine interceptions in his two years with McDermott, so even in a strong class of defensive back IDPs, it'd be fair to select him first.

For four years Poyer was known as an NFL misfit – a player with the skill set of a ball-hawking cornerback, but the lacking athleticism of a box safety. Coach Sean McDermott figured out how to make the best of the situation, moving Poyer to safety to make plays without the responsibility of endless man coverage. He's always had great ball skills, and after posting 95 stops in 15 games last year it appears that Poyer will be a strong tackle source from now on, too.

Poyer was on the fast track to a career season in 2016, having racked up 39 tackles (43 is his career-high) and two passes defensed through six games. However, his season came to a crashing halt after he suffered a lacerated kidney in Week 6. Poyer decided to jump ship after spending the past three seasons with the Browns, signing a four-year deal with the Bills on the first day of free agency. Now back to full strength, the 26-year-old figures to be an integral part of a secondary that lost Stephon Gilmore and Aaron Williams during the offseason. Poyer is slated to start at free safety alongside Micah Hyde, and if he is able to remain healthy, Poyer could reach the 100-tackle threshold in 2017.

Poyer will back up Tashaun Gipson at free safety in 2015.

Poyer will look to provide the Browns with safety depth in 2014.

Poyer was a very productive college cornerback at Oregon State, but he went undrafted after testing poorly in pre-draft workouts. He looks like a great practice squad prospect for Philadelphia, but there's no reason to think he can't make the final roster with the Eagles.