Daequan Hardy provides Buffalo Bills positional flexibility and value

As the Buffalo Bills preseason comes to a close today vs the Carolina Panthers, rookie 6th round cornerback Daequan Hardy looks to continue his upward trajectory and lock down a roster spot. The 23 year old has shown well during both training camp and the preseason in a role that many didn’t see him fit for in the NFL.

When Daequan Hardy was drafted, his initial path to making the Bills final roster looked to be on special teams as a returner. While that may still be the case, as he saw reps last week vs the Pittsburgh Steelers as the primary punt returner, most of his flashes over the past month have come from playing outside cornerback.

Despite possessing strong speed and burst, Daequan Hardy’s size and frame measurements are significantly low for an NFL cornerback . Especially for an NFL cornerback looking to play on the outside. Given his stature, if he was going to provide depth at cornerback for the Bills, it was thought to be inside at the slot/apex position.

Per PFF, in 2023 Hardy saw 228 snaps in the slot for Penn State while seeing 125 on the outside. Thus far for the Bills this preseason, his reps have been heavily skewed towards the outside. Through two games he’s seen only 3 snaps in the slot, vs 66 on the outside. And when playing outside, what has stood out the most has been his play in zone coverage.

Hardy has shown good eyes and feet when playing zone coverage outside, along with an ability to process/read route distributions and break on the ball. He’s been sound underneath, in the intermediate, and downfield. And he’s also been comfortable staying in phase with wide receivers when asked to play man coverage. His size has shown up with regard to a couple passes that he may have been able to intercept had he been bigger or had longer arms. But overall his technique and athleticism have mitigated his size concerns.

While Daequan Hardy’s play has been encouraging in a vacuum, his biggest benefit to the Buffalo Bills right now comes in the form of the roster flexibility he provides for them. In Hardy the Bills have a player capable of being the starting punt returner, while also providing depth at outside cornerback and in the slot. Having a player capable of being functional at 3 positions gives the Bills a multitude of options when it comes to finalizing the roster and makes their cut down process a little less stressful.