PFF lauds Titans' Pro Bowler in recent column
The summer tends to run long for NFL fans as media outlets do their best to bait the football world into clicks and views with baseless rankings and hierarchy charts. Football fans begrudgingly refer to this annual dry period as List Season. However, it’s not all bad for Titans fans, especially after examining Pro Football […]
The summer tends to run long for NFL fans as media outlets do their best to bait the football world into clicks and views with baseless rankings and hierarchy charts. Football fans begrudgingly refer to this annual dry period as List Season. However, it’s not all bad for Titans fans, especially after examining Pro Football Focus’ latest offseason propaganda.
PFF writer Sam Monson released his list of the top safeties in football. In the article, Monson splits his rankings into two separate tiers – Coverage Free Safeties and Box Strong Safeties.
At the top of the list when it comes to coverage free safeties was none other than the Titans’ own Kevin Byard. Entering his seventh season in the NFL, Byard has established himself as one of the game’s best safeties.
“Kevin Byard has been a prototypical free safety since he was a draft prospect,” Monson writes. “He is coming off a season with a career-high 90.4 overall PFF grade and a 90.9 coverage grade. That marked his third career 80.0-plus coverage grade, and it was also the third time he was aligned at free safety for more than 600 snaps a season.”
Byard’s five interceptions in 2021 were enough to remind the NFL that, even after a down year in 2020, the Mayor of Murfreesboro isn’t going anywhere.
There were a handful of factors that led to Byard’s decline in 2020. He was learning a new defense with Shane Bowen implementing his system as the team’s new defensive coordinator. Byard was also being tasked with slowing down opposing tight ends, which didn’t allow him much freedom in the defensive backfield.
All of that changed in 2021 when Byard received All Pro honors for the second time in his career. Byard had a full season in Bowen’s defense under his belt which showed itself in how comfortable he looked during the year. The emergence of Dane Cruikshank, who was dubbed the tight end eraser, helped in shedding some responsibility and freeing Byard up to play his game.
The two-time Pro Bowler plays his best football when he only has to worry about doing his job. Helping out with tight ends limits Byard’s effectiveness and takes away from what makes him the best free safety in the NFL.
Byard’s knack for getting his hands on the football is not a trait many defensive backs in the NFL possess. His intelligence and anticipation allow him to beat pass catchers to the spot and take advantage of errant throws and bad decisions made down the field.
What isn’t talked about nearly as much is just how durable the 28-year-old has been since being drafted by the Titans in 2016. Byard has yet to miss a game in Tennessee, playing in 97 consecutive games, which ranks second among safeties in the NFL.
Not only is he a valuable piece to the team on the field, but his leadership has earned him the title of captain within the defense for three seasons.
The Titans’ defense carried the team to the No. 1 seed in the AFC last season. With question marks hovering over the offensive side of the ball, it will be up to Byard and the defense in determining just how far this team can go.
Featured image via Kirby Lee – USA TODAY Sports
