A Byrd Takes Flight
The Buffalo Bills took Jairus Byrd in the second round with the hopes that he would turn into a playmaker at safety.
In just half a season Byrd proved the Bills thinking as he is contending for Defensive Player of the year with seven interceptions on the year, which are all in his last four games.
Most likely Byrd will not break the record for most interceptions in a season, which is 14 by Dick “Night Train” Lane in 1952 for the Los Angeles Rams as a rookie.
Most likely Byrd will not break the record as teams will now inform their quarterbacks to be aware of where Byrd is at all times.
Yes, you could argue that a lot of those interceptions were luck as quite a few of them were ricochets of wide receivers.
However, that is what good free safeties do as they get themselves in a position to make a play after a mistake is made.
I base that on what I saw as I looked at every interception for both Byrd and New Orleans Saints safety Darren Sharper.
Both caught interceptions on ricochets and deep passes overthrown, or off target.
The only difference between the two is the fact that Sharper made a couple interceptions on plays where quarterbacks took a long time to throw the ball or locked on a wide receiver.
In the end Byrd will be a superstar in the National Football League.