Darrick Forrest Jr. : A Deep Dive on the New Buffalo Bills Safety

The glory days of having a lockdown Bills secondary ended 2 years ago, but the Bills finally let go last season when they parted ways with Micah Hyde, Jordan Poyer, and Tre’Davious White.

Each of those players had their own ascension arc empowered by the sensational coaching job McDermott has always been known for. Micah Hyde had been known as a hybrid player with the Green Bay Packers, sometimes dropping into slot corner, sometimes playing in the box. When he came to Buffalo, they turned him into their quarterback for the defense, the roving free safety who dared quarterbacks to put it anywhere in his direction. He was paired with Jordan Poyer, the hard-hitting box safety with the Cleveland Browns. Together, they were freed up and given the ability by McDermott and long-time coordinator Leslie Frazier, not just to understand the scheme, but to riff on the field, sometimes dropping into the second or first level just to create confusion so the QB couldn’t get a pre-snap read. They had the quickness, but also the communication and feel for each other, where they could cover for each other and know where they would be on the field at all times. Combined with first-round draft pick TreDavious White’s lockdown corner play, the Bills were a top 5 defense most years, fueled by the stellar play of the secondary.
Father Time remains undefeated though, with Micah Hyde, semi-retired as a player coach on the practice squad during the 2024 season, Jordan Poyer a shell of himself, whose only strength now seems to be hitting defenseless receivers (RIP Keon Coleman’s rookie year), and TreDavious White helping the Bills get to the AFC championship, by playing for the Baltimore Ravens. (That play hurt my heart btw, as his is the only Bills Jersey I have ever owned)

With the fall of the gloried secondary, comes a defense that was bottom five in most statistical categories involving the pass. It was dysfunctional, not communicative enough, and lacking the talent, experience, and performance to maintain that high level of play we’ve become accustomed to. Taylor Rapp did his best Poyer impression, covering a lot of ground and laying the wood whenever he could, but missed out on the crucial playoff game against the Chiefs, because his body took the brunt of his physical play. Damar Hamlin is a good replacement-level player who knows the scheme very well, but doesn’t seem to be able to adjust to or keep up with modern route running. Former rookie Cole Bishop, flashed a lot of ability (including getting an interception in that Chiefs game that was stolen away by terrible officiating), but is still learning the system.
Into this competition and search to find the next foundational player in the secondary enters Darrick Forrest Jr.

Early Life and Background

Darrick grew up in Columbus, Ohio and attended Walnut Ridge High, a Columbus City School. He was a three-sport athlete playing football, basketball and track. He had success in his other sports, as he was the point guard for his high school team and also was honored as 1st Team All City for his role as part of the 800m relay team. Where he really shined though was in football, where he was the do-it-all player, playing corner all three years, but also filling needs at slot receiver, FS, and even running back.

Upon graduating high school in 2017, he received offers as a 3-star recruit from 6 different D-1 Ohio Schools and an offer from Eastern Michigan, before ultimately deciding to play with the Cincinnati Bearcats.

The Bearcats quickly made its bid to take over the crown as DB University, with Darrick partnering up with future NFL safety James Wiggins in his freshman year, and would go on to play with future NFL DBs Coby Bryant (Seahawks), Sauce Gardner (Jets), Bryan Cook (Chiefs), and Arquon Bush (Seahawks), not to mention NFL offensive talents Desmond Ritter and Jerome Ford. Led by the secondary, the Bearcats went 31-6 over the final three years Forrest started there, winning the Birmingham Bowl, the Military Bowl, and nearly upsetting powerhouse Georgia in the Peach Bowl.

Darrick finished his collegiate career with:

• 126 solo tackles
• 200 combined tackles
• 5 tackles for loss
• 6 Interceptions
• 6 Passes Defensed
• 1 fumble recovery

Forrest was unable to compete in the 2021 Combine due to it being cancelled during the COVID-19 pandemic, but his pro day number reveal he had a remarkably similar performance to another DB in the same year, Patrick Surtain. Both players ran a 4.42 40 yard dash, both posted a 39 inch vertical jump, Forrest actually surpassed Surtain in the bench press lifting 225 21 times to Surtain’s 18, and again in the broad jump 132″ to Surtain’s 131″.

First Contract With Washington

Upon being drafted in the 5th round by the Washington Commanders, Forrest made his presence felt largely on the special teams as a rookie, playing on 82% of Special Team snaps after he started the first 8 games of the season on IR. This seems to have made an impression on Head Coach Ron Rivera, as an article on commanders.com reported,

“You’ve seen him take that step forward on the mental aspect of the game,” said coach Ron Rivera. “He’s a very bright young man. He’s very eager, he practices the right way. He wants to see it and walk through it. If he’s wrong, he wants to see it again.” 

Darrick broke through in 2022 emerging as a key piece of the Commander’s new 3 safety defense, playing in 17 games, leading the team with 4 interceptions, and posting 9 passes defensed, 2 forced fumbles, 1 fumble recovery and a whopping 56 solo tackles, good for 3rd on the team.

While Forrest retained his starting spot going into the next year, a shoulder injury in week 5 landed him once again on IR, and this time, when he returned it was to a new head coach in Dan Quinn.

It seems that while the new coaching staff was actually very high on Forrest’s ability and locker room presence, he didn’t seem to fit what the new staff envisioned as a strong safety. Dan Quinn is most known for being Pete Carrol’s right hand man when it came to the legendary Legion of Boom defense, where Safety Kam Chancellor lowered the boom often. At 6’3 225 lbs, Chancellor was the enforcer in the Cover 3 press-bail backfield, making receivers think twice about crossing the middle due to his extremely physical play. One of the first things the new regime did upon taking the reins in 2024 was to sign ex-Panthers S Jeremy Chinn, who played at 6’3 220. This definitely worked out well for the Commanders as Chinn would lead the Commanders D and team to the NFC championship game, but it left Chinn without a chance at a starting role, and he struggled to find his way onto the field. He only saw 12 % of the defensive snaps, and returned to a role on Special Teams contributing 53% of snaps there.

Darrick entered the 2025 offseason as a free agent, and quickly seems to have prioritized opportunity above all else, as he signed a very team-friendly deal of 1 yr-1.3 million dollars with only 167,000 guaranteed as a bonus at signing. When asked to comment about the signing, Dan Quinn gave a glowing report, as well as letting us in on his nickname in the locker room, reported by Sal Capaccio, (who promptly spelled his name wrong, forgiveable as he was likely auto-corrected on his phone).

“D-Fo is a really tough, strong safety. Really committed. But I think his toughness, the physicality, that’s what stands out to me.”

What He Can Bring To The Bills

Watching his highlight film, D-Fo’s tape reminds me an awful lot of Jordan Poyer. From the hard-hitting, putting his helmet on the ball and shoulder to the chest of opponents, in his most productive season, Forrest brings a toughness and dog attitude where he is the hammer, not the nail. He appears to crave contact and embraces that role, but also has the stocky coverage chops to dissuade QBs from throwing his way. Watch and you’ll see him cover Saquon Barkley, Amon-Ra St. Brown, Dalton Schultz, A.J. Brown and look pretty sticky in his coverage. He wasn’t perfect, giving up some big plays, but what NFL DB doesn’t? His speed is also deceptive enough for him to bait QBs into testing him on a post route deep, only to see his 4.42 speed allow him to get to the spot and make a play on the ball. He has a great ability to swat the football away from the receiver’s hands, even in big moments like in the endzone. He is a versatile chess piece that Sean McDermott has a track record of elevating in years past.

But just how much can he be elevated? To find out, I gave it the BillsNerd treatment, comparing Jordan Poyer’s time in Cleveland to Darrick Forrest’s time in Washington and came to find they are remarkably similar. Poyer played in 8 more games over the 4 seasons, but only had 8 more solo tackles, with Forrest having 2 more interceptions with 4, and one more forced fumble with 2. At the combine, he was bigger, faster, and stronger than Jordan Poyer was.

As we began with, the Bills seem to be searching for the answer to the ultimate question when it comes to the secondary: Who will be the next Safety pair to take the mantle as the bedrock for the defense? If history is to be any indicator, D-Fo will get just as much of a chance as any during the upcoming mini-camp and summer training camp.

Let’s not forget, this is a team where Damar Hamlin played the second most snaps of any defensive player at 79%, with Rapp coming in at 70% and the next player to fill the void throughout the season was not Rookie Cole Bishop, it was trusted system player Cam Lewis. This has been a major hole on the field and while Hamlin returns to compete for this job, his play never elevated to the level we saw from Forrest in 2022. Hamlin is a willing replacement-level player, but lacks the coverage ability and toughness that Darrick demonstrates. Insert D-Fo’s career 8.8 yards/target, 54% completion percentage, and 92 Quarterback rating when targeted for Hamlin’s 11.3 yards/target, 70% completion percentage, and 118 QB rating, and the Bills defense could have looked very different this past season.

At worst, D-Fo can provide veteran leadership to an already strong special teams unit. At best, D-Fo can fill Poyer’s shoes and allow Taylor Rapp to move to his more natural position as free safety where he experienced so much success with the Rams. There is of course always a third option, where he could allow the Bills D to be creative, running a rotation or even 3 safety packages, as Forrest’s versatility on the back end and in the box gives Bobby Babich the flexibility to explore new possibilities.

Prediction

It seems likely that Forrest will contribute to the Safety position for the Bills in 2025 in some way, but it is one of the more dramatic camp battles that will still need to play out. His range of outcomes are enormous. He could take over the spot Jordan Poyer left vacant. He could also go the way of Mike Edwards, have an injury early, miss team reps, and fail to earn the trust of the coaching staff.

It seems more likely, though, that with the pedigree and success he has experienced, and the way the coaching staff believes in the philosophy of the best player playing right now plays, we’re going to predict that Forrest will earn playing time and make an impact on the defense. He has the intelligence to pick up the Bills’ scheme, the toughness to play in the box and tackle, and a track record of motivation that will enable him to do whatever it takes.

Prediction: 70% of snaps, 70 Solo Tackles, 3 Interceptions, 8 Passes Defensed.