The Bills added plenty of height to a shorter secondary—can an undrafted rookie make the roster?
The Buffalo Bills have boasted one of the NFL’s best secondaries since head coach Sean McDermott and defensive coordinator/assistant head coach Leslie Frazier arrived. Buffalo has consistently placed among the league’s best pass defenses, an accomplishment that stems both from the scheme the team runs and the talent of the players on that side of the ball.
If there’s been one thing that has given Buffalo problems consistently, though, it’s been receivers with any sort of size. If a receiver is big, quarterbacks have been able to throw the ball up above Buffalo’s shorter corners. Last year, Buffalo’s tallest corners were Levi Wallace and Siran Neal, both of whom stood at exactly 6’ tall.
This offseason, Buffalo has prioritized taller, more athletic corners in their additions, adding four players who are all at least 6’1” via the draft or free-agent signings. In today’s installment of “90 players in 90 days,” we profile one of those new additions.
Name: Travon Fuller
Number: 32
Position: CB
Height/Weight: 6’1” 180 lbs
Age: 23 (24 on 6/16/2022)
Experience/Draft: R; signed with Buffalo as UDFA following the 2022 NFL Draft
College: Tulsa
Acquired: Signed as UDFA
Financial situation (per Spotrac): Fuller signed a three-year contract worth a total of $2.567 million. For the 2022 season, he carries a cap hit of $707,333 and a dead-cap hit of $7,000 should he be released.
2021 Recap: Fuller transferred to Tulsa as a graduate student, and he had a productive year in his lone season with the Golden Hurricane. He combined for 42 tackles, 4.5 tackles for loss, one fumble recovery, three interceptions, and ten pass breakups.
Positional outlook: Fuller joins a secondary overflowing with talent, as the Bills remain one of the league’s better secondaries. Tre’Davious White, Siran Neal, and Taron Johnson return, as does Dane Jackson, who played well in extended opportunities last season. Kaiir Elam and Christian Benford were added via the draft. Olaijah Griffin, Tim Harris, Ja’Marcus Ingram, Cam Lewis, and Nick McCloud round out the positional group.
2022 Offseason: Fuller is healthy and he participated in rookie minicamp. He’s ready for training camp.
2022 Season outlook: Fuller is a longshot to make the 53-man roster because Buffalo’s stable of talent at corner is fairly deep. Even with Tre’Davious White working back from an ACL injury, it’s unlikely that Fuller would be the guy to take his place on the roster if he begins the year on the PUP list. With White, Jackson, Elam, Neal, and Johnson all roster locks, that doesn’t leave much room for someone else to break into the positional group. Fuller will likely be competing with Benford for a potential sixth corner spot, but the team has also used Cam Lewis over the last two years when necessary. Fuller is a practice squad candidate.
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