Bills All-Pro Safety Gives Praise to Kenny Pickett

Bills All-Pro safety Jordan Poyer likes what he sees from Steelers rookie quarterback Kenny Pickett.

And it turns out, Poyer might know a thing or two about football.

Poyer, 31, was drafted in the seventh round of the 2013 NFL Draft and has steadily improved throughout his career.

Last season, Poyer enjoyed his best season to date, earning first-team All-Pro honors with three sacks and five interceptions from his safety position.

That wasn’t good enough for him, apparently.

Poyer already snagged four interceptions through four weeks in the 2022 NFL season –– and he missed the Bills’ Week 3 showdown against the Dolphins with an injury. So, yeah, he’s on pace for 17 interceptions this season while missing at least one game due to injury.

That’s insane.

Unfortunately for Pickett, he will need to face Poyer and a stout Bills defense all around during his first career start when the Steelers travel north to Buffalo for their Week 5 encounter.

While that may be a daunting task, Poyer tossed some praise Pickett’s way when speaking with Pat McAfee on a recent episode of The Pat McAfee Show.

“Obviously, they [the Steelers] got a rookie quarterback coming in here,” Poyer said. “A top, first-round pick, a guy who’s got all the potential in the world.”

Whether that’s simply lip service or Poyer really believes Pickett has “all the potential in the world,” it’s a cool thing to say coming from one of the best safeties in the league.

Beyond the change to Pickett, though, Poyer says the Bills are preparing for roughly the same Steelers offense they’ve seen all season.

“Obviously you get the second half of the Jets and Steelers game from over the weekend to kind of see how he [Pickett] operates within that system,” Poyer said. “Then, obviously, you go back to the Browns game throughout the season and you watch their offense as a whole.

“They didn’t really change much in the second half of that Jets game with the way they were running the ball, with the plays that they were calling. So I’m sure they’re going to come out with [some] little wrinkles for us on Sunday, but you really just kind of watch their offense as a whole, get some tips, get some reminders throughout the week.

“It’s a totally different style of offense than we played the week before, so we’re going to have to have a really good week of preparation.”

On the other side of the ball, Poyer likes what he sees from the Steelers’ defense.

“Obviously [it’s] a really good defense over there,” Poyer said. “So it’s going to be a good football game. We got another home game. We’re excited for our crowd to come and show their support, but we gotta prepare well.”

Poyer, who played for the Browns from 2013-2016, is no stranger to facing the Steelers, either. And he knows that a game against Pittsburgh –– regardless of their current record –– is never easy.

“Obviously, they probably wish they had some plays back last week, but, you know, they’re going to be hungry coming in here to Buffalo,” Poyer said. “I played in that division before, and it’s always a tough game when you’re playing Pittsburgh.”

Watch Poyer’s full appearance on the Pat McAfee Show here: