Buffalo Bills Top 20 Talents in 2018: No. 4 - S Jordan Poyer

At the end of the July, the Buffalo Bills will embark upon something they haven’t gone for in quite some time — as they’ll attempt to make it to the playoffs for the second consecutive season. With head coach Sean McDermott and general manager Brandon Beane at the helm, the team is almost completely different than what it was two years ago.

As the Bills get ready for training camp in late July, 7ABC will take a look at the team on the field — and more specifically, the top talent that exists on the roster that can help the Bills get back to the postseason. You’ll be introduced to the Bills’ ‘Top 20 Talents’ for the upcoming season in 2018.

It's a bit of a different 'most talented' list because it also takes other factors into consideration. The countdown criteria:

• Overall skill-level
• On-the-field performance
• Projection based on film study over the past several years
• Age, and improving/declining ability

With that written, on to the countdown:

No. 4 - S Jordan Poyer

Age: 27 (DOB: 4/25/1991)

Height: 6’0”

Weight: 191

Why he’s here:
- No one, outside of perhaps the Bills themselves, could have predicted this time last year that Jordan Poyer would turn into one of the best starters on the Bills roster. When they signed Poyer in free agency, they were looking for a dependable starter — which is precisely what his contract indicates. However, not only did they get that, they saw Poyer have the best season of his career, and his success was a big reason as to why the Bills had as much team success as they did in 2017. Poyer brings a blend of speed, playmaking, and instincts that he works hard to gain an edge on his opponents. When you watch Poyer on film, you’ll see him take an educated guess a handful of times when he recognizes a play from his film study, and he’ll jump a route and perhaps even make a game-changing play. Poyer doesn’t take too many risks, but only when he believes he knows what’s coming. He has a tremendous skill-set and took to Sean McDermott’s defensive scheme as well as anyone. Still only 27, Poyer is right in the prime of his career and isn’t going anywhere, any time soon.

2018 outlook:
- Heading into the 2018 season, Poyer will join Micah Hyde as one of the better safety duos in the league. In 2017, Poyer brought in five interceptions, and as a team, all the turnovers they forced helped them to as much early success as they had. That interception total is a pretty significant number so it might be tough for Poyer to duplicate that. However, as long as he continues with his excellent reaction time and the edge he gains from studying his opponent, he should be in line for another hugely productive season. And if he does, with a cap hit of just $3.875 million this season, the Bills will have one of the best bargains going based on his playing level.

Twitter: @JoeBuscaglia