There were only three teams with at least 20 interceptions last season and the Bills were not one of them.
They are aiming to change that this time around. Cornerback Tre’Davious White said that the addition of cornerback Vontae Davis to a group that also includes safeties Jordan Poyer and Micah Hyde has the defensive backfield shooting for a lot of takeaways this season.
“We’ve talked about goals and stuff, man,” White said, via Matthew Fairburn of The Athletic. “We want to have 20 picks between us. If each of us can get five, they’re not going to be able to hold us back. If we get 20 picks on the back end, we’ve got those dogs up front and those linebackers, we can easily get 30 takeaways. If you get 30 takeaways in this league, you have a chance of winning a lot of games.”
White, Poyer and Hyde combined for 14 of Buffalo’s 18 interceptions last season while Davis has 22 career interceptions. None came during his truncated 2017 season and he’s never had more than four in a single season.
Two factors that will help determine how the Bills fare in their pursuit are related to other areas of the team. The Bills allowed over 124 rushing yards per game last year and similar results will make it easier for opponents to avoid throwing the ball. Buffalo also had a -57 point differential and they’ll have more chances of getting picks if they can spend more time playing from ahead against teams trying to throw their way back into games.