The Most Underrated Buffalo Bills Player Needs Way More Credit

The Buffalo Bills are off to a 5-1 start for the 2022 regular season.

The Bills have won games, both in a blowout fashion and tightly fought games, such as the road matches with the Baltimore Ravens and Kansas City Chiefs.

The Bills are the number one offense (yards per game) and the second best defense (yards allowed per game) in the NFL through six weeks, and sit alone at the top of the AFC standings.

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Bills quarterback Josh Allen leads the league in both passing yards and total touchdowns. He has been the number one reason why the Bills are where they are at; with Stefon Diggs, Von Miller and Matt Milano being other major reasons why the Bills are 5-1 through their first six games.

However, there is one Bills player who has been through it all over the last five seasons and is responsible for three of the biggest plays in this franchise's history.

The Bills drafted cornerback Taron Johnson in the 4th round of the 2018 NFL Draft, which happened to be the same draft class the Bills got Josh Allen and Tremaine Edmunds...pretty good job for Brandon Beane's first draft in Buffalo.

Johnson went to Weber State in the FCS level of college football, so he didn't get many chances out of high school. He played well enough to catch the eyes of NFL scouts and the Bills took him with their first pick on day three of the draft.

Johnson has now solidified himself as the Bills nickel cornerback and was awarded with a new three-year contract in 2021, which had Johnson tied to Buffalo through the 2024 season.

The talk of injuries in the Bills secondary has been evident. Tre'Davious White went down with a torn ACL on Thanksgiving last year. Micah Hyde was lost for the season with a neck injury after week 2. Rookie Christian Benford missed time with a broken hand and Jordan Poyer has missed two games this season as well.

Johnson "technically" doesn't start, but he essentially is because defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier runs a base system with three cornerbacks on the field most plays.

Johnson is vital for the defensive success of the Bills, because he is asked to be the lockdown corner in the slot; which is more important in today's NFL than it used to be.

Three of his interceptions have been deciding factors for the Bills winning important games.

The Sunday Night Football game against the Pittsburgh Steelers in December of 2020, when he had a pick-six against Ben Roethlisberger before the end of the half that turned the tide of the game.

The famous pick-six against Lamar Jackson in the AFC Divisional round game in January of 2021. That interception sealed the game for the Bills.

Then this past Sunday, with Johnson's interception of Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, which sealed the Bills victory.

Poyer, Hyde, White, Milano and Edmunds get all the national attention for Bills linebackers and secondary, but Johnson plays just as important of a role on Buffalo's defense.

Taron Johnson is one of the most underrated players in the entire league.