Buffalo Bills’ 2022 sixth-round pick is team’s ‘most underrated player’

The Buffalo Bills welcome back all three starting cornerbacks from the 2023 defense, including Christian Benford, drafted in the 2022 sixth round.

Ready for his third season as a pro, Benford, 23, is the likely starter against Rasul Douglas. The Villanova product, who has started 19 of his 24 career regular-season games, was called the Bills’ “most underrated player” by Pro Football Focus.

Benford, who has three career interceptions and two forced fumbles, suffered a knee injury early in Buffalo’s AFC Wildcard victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers last January. He was unavailable for the Bills’ 27-24 home loss to the eventual Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs.

From PFF Most underrated player on all 32 NFL teams:

After playing just 363 snaps in his rookie season, Benford won one of the starting cornerback positions in 2023 and was on the field for 837 snaps despite dealing with injuries. He was the highest-rated cornerback in the NFL over the last two weeks (92.0 However, he only played 13 snaps in the playoffs, which hurt Buffalo’s chances of progressing).

PFF is doing Benford a disservice by glossing over his rookie season and failing to mention his Week 1 status. After being selected 185th overall, Benford earned an opening day starting assignment as a rookie by defeating first-round pick Kaiir Elam. He broke his hand in Week 2 against the Miami Dolphins and suffered an oblique injury later in the 2022 campaign.

With Benford, Douglas and nickel cornerback Taron Johnson leading the way, Buffalo’s pass defense held opponents to 6.05 yards per pass (6th in the NFL).