Underrated Bills CB dubbed a potential Pro Bowl candidate in 2024 NFL season

For a team that’s oft-featured in primetime contests and is frequently brought up in national discourse, the Buffalo Bills employ a disproportionate number of criminally underrated players, with perhaps no individual better fitting the description than cornerback Christian Benford.

This is perhaps due to the expectations—or, rather, lack thereof—that the defender entered the NFL with. A sixth-round pick out of Division 1 FCS School Villanova in the 2022 NFL Draft, few expected anything of note from the 6-foot-1 cornerback, with Buffalo’s brass even openly discussing the idea of transitioning him to safety. This lack of anticipation may have been to Benford’s benefit, as he quietly constructed a solid summer and preseason en route to usurping Kaiir Elam—who was selected 162 picks ahead of him in the 2022 draft—to start for the team at cornerback in Week 1 of the 2022 season.

Benford has maintained a hold on a starting spot throughout the majority of his professional career, starting 19 games over the past two seasons. He’s notched 78 total tackles, 15 pass deflections, and three interceptions while serving as the epitome of a Sean McDermott defensive back—he’s nothing particularly flashy, but he simply does what’s asked of him and seldom makes mistakes.

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The 23-year-old’s play has led many around Western New York to view the defender as a potential cornerstone piece, especially given Buffalo’s offseason decision to move on from Tre’Davious White, the age of fellow starter Rasul Douglas (soon to be 30), and the question marks that still surround Elam. Benford is the team’s closest thing to a long-term asset at cornerback, and thus, fans regard him as a potentially crucial player both in the interim and moving forward.

And the national media—though long neglectful of Benford’s impact and potential—are starting to take notice. Sports Illustrated writer Connor Orr has identified the former day-three pick as a potential breakout candidate in the 2024 NFL season, featuring Benford in a recent article titled ”10 possible first-time NFL Pro Bowlers in 2024.” 

“Benford blossomed last season, with almost triple the number of starts he had during his rookie year, which led to double-digit pass breakups and a pair of forced fumbles,” Orr wrote. “As Buffalo undergoes the challenge of turning over a secondary somewhat static during Sean McDermott’s tenure, Benford’s development becomes critical in maintaining a safety net against the pass.

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“The AFC East, assuming Aaron Rodgers’s health, is going to put up some vintage Big 12 numbers this year, between Rodgers and Tua Tagovailoa. Benford has a chance to play against a handful of elite wide receivers and cement his bona fides.”

Benford, as Orr writes, will be tasked with holding his own against some stout receiving corps throughout the upcoming campaign, as he’ll (with the help of Buffalo’s secondary) have to compete against the likes of Tyreek Hill, Jaylen Waddle, and Garrett Wilson. That said, he’s been an ascending player throughout his two professional seasons and was arguably playing his best football yet at the end of the 2023 campaign (notching two interceptions in the final four weeks of the regular season); if the upward trajectory continues, a Pro Bowl nod is well within the realm of possibilities.

Benford has a rather secure hold on a starting job, but it will be interesting to see how he handles pressure applied by a seemingly surging Elam; the defensive back was one of the standouts at the team’s recent mandatory minicamp and looks well-positioned to stage a run at a starting role at next month’s training camp.