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Buffalo Bills safety Taylor Rapp has largely flown under the radar in his six years in the NFL. He’s shown quality play on good teams (won Super Bowl with LA Rams) but has never been viewed as one of the better players at his position.
ESPN’s Aaron Schatz went through the entire NFL, identifying a single player whom he believes is the most underrated at each position, and he deemed Rapp to be the league’s most underrated safety.
Here is what Schatz had to say:
We’re going back to the Bills’ defensive backfield here — but in a different way. As I noted earlier, there are different ways to be an underrated NFL player. Benford, for instance, is considered good but is actually one of the best in the league at his position. Rapp, meanwhile, is considered a hole on the Buffalo roster — but he’s actually reasonably productive.
Although many have described the Bills’ safeties as underwhelming, they were an important part of a defense that finished 11th in DVOA last season. They ranked seventh in defensive DVOA on deep passes (16 or more air yards), and Rapp was most frequently in the role of deep safety.
Like Schatz said, Rapp hasn’t gotten the respect that he deserves around the league. Still, he is a key cog in the Bills secondary and acts as a coach on the field for that group. He knows the ins and outs of the Bills scheme which allows him to fly around the field and play freely.
He has 66 starts over his six years in the NFL and has 12 interceptions and 462 tackles.
Rapp has come through and made big plays lurking in the Bills secondary, most notably a game-sealing interception on the Miami Dolphins’ Tua Tagovailoa in Week 18 of 2023 to capture the division title, and he also intercepted Lamar Jackson in last year’s divisional round win vs. the Baltimore Ravens.
Rapp has held down a safety spot in Buffalo since the departures of All-Pros Jordan Poyer and Micah Hyde. There has been uncertainty at the other safety position, but Rapp has been a stalwart on the back end for the Bills the last two seasons. He is under contract through 2026 and will most likely continue to be a solid piece in the defense of head coach Sean McDermott and defensive coordinator Bobby Babich.
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