The Buffalo Bills were dealt an unfortunate hand early in the 2023 NFL season, as former All-Pro cornerback Tre’Davious White tore his Achilles tendon midway through the team’s Week 4 contest with the Miami Dolphins. The injury—which was White’s second significant lower-body injury in three years—caused the defender to miss the remainder of the campaign, leaving Buffalo with a significant hole in its secondary.
The Bills soon supplemented his absence by acquiring another lockdown-caliber cornerback, trading for Green Bay Packers defender Rasul Douglas at the 2023 trade deadline. The veteran, who has experienced a mid-career breakout in recent seasons, slotted in admirably for the team, starting eight games and notching 29 tackles, eight pass deflections, and four interceptions. He allowed Buffalo’s perennially strong secondary to continue without missing a beat, serving as a significant contributor on a defense that finished sixth in the NFL against the pass.
Douglas’ excellence has been recognized by CBS Sports writer Jared Dubin, who recently circled the 29-year-old as one of the best defensive backs in the league. In a recent article ranking the top 20 cornerbacks in the NFL, Dubin placed the Buffalo defender at No. 19.
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“Douglas was a fairly innocuous contributor through the first few years of his career, but over the last three seasons has been dynamite in coverage,” Dubin wrote. “He has 22 pass breakups and 10 interceptions against 10 touchdowns allowed during that time, allowing passer ratings of 43.7, 84.0, and 70.5 in that span. He has shown the ability to play both outside and in the slot, which is a nice bonus.”
Douglas’ stellar play gave the Bills’ brass the confidence to move on from White in the offseason, as they released the stalwart starter in March with a post-June 1 designation. The move saved Buffalo a fair bit of salary cap space, something that it may soon attribute to Douglas; the defender is entering the final year of his contract and could soon be in line for an extension.
The former third-round draft pick is the only Bills player to appear on Dubin’s list; Christian Benford, who has started 19 games throughout his professional career and has generally looked quite solid, did not earn a spot. This may change in future renditions, however, as the former Villanova Wildcat has been a steadily ascending player throughout the past two seasons; he tallied four pass deflections and two interceptions over the final four games of the 2023 campaign, perhaps suggesting that he—like Douglas—is evolving into more of a play-maker.
Douglas and Benford will look to again expertly man Buffalo’s cornerback posts this season as part of a reworked secondary that figures to boast two new starters at safety.
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