Tennessee Titans safeties Kevin Byard and Amani Hooker were one of the best duos at the position in the NFL last season, and as a result they are getting some love from Pro Football Focus.
Byard finished as the highest-graded player at his position in 2021 (90.4), per PFF, while Hooker came in at No. 3 (85.9).
PFF’s Sam Monson recently ranked the best safeties in the NFL using tiers, and Byard and Hooker landed in one each. Byard was ranked No. 1 in the “coverage free safety” tier, while Hooker landed at No. 6 in the “all-around” tier.
Here’s what Monson had to say about Byard:
Kevin Byard has been a prototypical free safety since he was a draft prospect. He is coming off a season with a career-high 90.4 overall PFF grade and a 90.9 coverage grade. That marked his third career 80.0-plus coverage grade, and it was also the third time he was aligned at free safety for more than 600 snaps over a season.
While the 2021 campaign was a career year for Hooker, it was a bounce-back campaign for Byard, who re-established himself as one of the elite safeties in the NFL following a down season in 2020.
As great as this duo is, this might be the final season we see Byard and Hooker playing together, as the latter will be a free agent in 2023.
