Buffalo’s top corner was a great late-round find
The Buffalo Bills under head coach Sean McDermott have done a good job churning out depth in the defensive backfield. Players who come from other teams seem to improve while they’re with Buffalo, and the players the Bills draft have developed into useful players not only for the Bills, but for other teams upon leaving via free agency, as well.
I’ll stop short of calling the Bills a defensive back factory, but it is clear that the team knows its stuff as it relates to drafting, signing, and developing players in the defensive backfield. Between the coaching and the defensive system, it’s definitely a place where defensive backs can shine.
In today’s installment of our “91 players in 91 days” series, we discuss a sixth-round draft pick who showed himself to be a valuable member of the defense from day one.
Christian Benford
- Number: 47
- Position: CB
- Height/Weight: 6’1”, 205 pounds
- Age: 23 (24 on 9/21/2024)
- Experience/Draft: 3; selected in the sixth round (No. 185 overall) of the 2022 NFL Draft by Buffalo
- College: Villanova
- Acquired: Sixth-round draft choice
Financial situation (per Spotrac): Benford enters the third year of his four-year rookie contract, which is worth $3,854,276 overall. In 2024, Benford carries a cap hit of $1,033,569.
2023 Recap: After beating out fellow rookie cornerback Kaiir Elam for a starting spot in 2022, Benford once again earned the right to start in 2023. He continued his strong play, posting 54 tackles, 10 pass breakups, two interceptions, two forced fumbles, and one fumble recovery in 15 games.
Of those 15 games, Benford started 14 of them. He missed Buffalo’s Week 5 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars in London thanks to a shoulder injury, then he missed the team’s excruciating home loss to the Denver Broncos with a hamstring injury. While he returned against the New York Jets the following week, he didn’t start; however, he did play in 77% of Buffalo’s snaps in the win.
Benford injured his knee against the Pittsburgh Steelers in the Bills’ Wild Card victory. He was unable to play the following week against the Kansas City Chiefs, a game which the Bills lost.
Positional outlook: Benford is likely to start once again this year, but Elam is much improved and making a push to unseat either Benford or Rasul Douglas. Taron Johnson, Ja’Marcus Ingram, Brandon Codrington, and Cam Lewis are the other corners on the roster.
2024 Offseason: Benford has been healthy this offseason, and he’s ready to roll for the opener against the Arizona Cardinals.
2024 Season outlook: Benford’s biggest bugaboo as a pro has been his health, as he’s missed far too much time over the course of his two pro seasons. Including playoff games, Benford has missed 12 games in two seasons. Granted, some of those injuries have just been plain bad luck, but the fact remains that Benford hasn’t been able to suit up consistently for a team that expects him to start each week.
If he’s going to take the next step towards earning a big second contract from One Bills Drive, he needs to improve on one particular ability — his availability — in 2024. A strong push from Elam, himself a former first-round pick, could incentivize Benford to play even better than he has thus far in his career. However, with Douglas turning 30, it would be best for the Bills if Elam and Benford proved that they could become the team’s one-two punch at corner moving forward.
Benford is a rarity for the team in that, while he is better suited as a zone corner, he isn’t so limited athletically that it prevents him from playing man coverage successfully. Of the Buffalo Bills’ top three outside corners, he’s definitely the most balanced of the two, as Douglas thrives in zone coverages where he can keep his eyes in the backfield and Elam thrives where he can play press coverage while mugging the receiver off the line. Benford has the ability to do it all, which certainly helps the team in disguising its intentions effectively.
If Benford can remain healthy for all of the Bills’ games this season, it will be a tremendous step in the right direction for both him and the club. If he misses time due to injury again, at least the team is well-positioned to absorb the loss of time given their depth outside. It’s better not to test that depth, though, so here’s hoping that Benford can stay healthy. The defense is clearly better with him on the field.