FS · New England Patriots · #31

Kevin Byard

FS1Questionable · Chestwk 7 report

College: Middle Tennessee State
Height: 5'11"
Weight: 212 lb
Experience: 11th season

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Season

Tackles

33▼ 57 vs '25

31st of 63 safeties

Passes defended

2▼ 6 vs '25

27th of 63 safeties

Passer rating allowed

111.5▲ 8.0 vs '25

48th of 63 safeties

Missed tackle rate

8.3%▲ 0.4 vs '25

35th of 63 safeties

Coverage

19 targets

63.2 cmp% · 9.4 y/tgt · 0 int

Ranks compare against the 63 qualifying safeties on the 2026 leaderboard.

Week-by-week

Tackles by game, dashed line = 2025 per-game average

2026 game log

	Usage		Tackling				Pass rush			Coverage
Game	Defensive snapsSnaps played on defense (Pro Football Reference snap counts).	Snap shareShare of the team's defensive snaps played, in the games the player appeared in.	TacklesSolo plus assisted tackles.	StopsTackles (solo or shared) that end a play the offense failed on, i.e. one with negative EPA. From play-by-play.	Tackles for lossTackles behind the line of scrimmage.	Missed tacklesMissed tackles (Pro Football Reference).	SacksSacks (half sacks count 0.5).	QB hitsHits on the quarterback.	PressuresHurries, QB hits and sacks combined (Pro Football Reference).	Targets allowedPasses thrown at the defender in coverage (Pro Football Reference).	Completion % allowedCompletions allowed per target in coverage.	Yards per target allowedReceiving yards allowed per target in coverage.	InterceptionsInterceptions made.	Passes defendedPasses broken up or intercepted.
Wk 1 @ SEAL	50	100.0	5	1	0	0	0.0	0	0	1	100.0	13.0	0	0
Wk 2 vs PITW	70	100.0	4	1	0	0	0.0	0	0	2	100.0	9.5	0	0
Wk 3 @ JAXL	59	95.2	5	2	0	0	0.0	0	0	2	50.0	14.0	0	0
Wk 4 @ BUFW	59	100.0	2	1	0	1	0.0	0	0	3	66.7	3.3	0	1
Wk 5 vs LVW	50	83.3	3	1	0	0	0.0	1	1	1	0.0	0.0	0	0
Wk 6 vs NYJW	62	100.0	7	2	0	2	0.0	0	0	7	57.1	6.4	0	1
Wk 7 @ CHIL	65	94.2	7	1	0	0	0.0	0	0	3	66.7	21.3	0	0
Season	415	96.1	33	9	0	3	0.0	1	1	19	63.2	9.4	0	2

How he compares

2026 safeties who qualify · dashed lines mark the group average

X axisY axis

Contract

signed 2026 with Patriots

$7Mover 1 year

Avg. per year: $7M
Guaranteed: $6.2M 88%
2026 cap hit: $9M 2.6% of the cap
Signed: 2026
Runs through: 2026

2026 · now

Year 1 of 1 ·

Career by season

Career rates are weighted by volume, not averaged across seasons

	Overall			Tackling				Pass rush			Coverage
Season	GamesGames played.	Defensive snapsSnaps played on defense (Pro Football Reference snap counts).	Snap shareShare of the team's defensive snaps played, in the games the player appeared in.	TacklesSolo plus assisted tackles.	StopsTackles (solo or shared) that end a play the offense failed on, i.e. one with negative EPA. From play-by-play.	Tackles for lossTackles behind the line of scrimmage.	Missed tackle rateMissed tackles as a share of tackle attempts (Pro Football Reference).	SacksSacks (half sacks count 0.5).	QB hitsHits on the quarterback.	PressuresHurries, QB hits and sacks combined (Pro Football Reference).	Targets allowedPasses thrown at the defender in coverage (Pro Football Reference).	Passer rating allowedNFL passer rating on throws into the defender's coverage, computed from completions, yards, touchdowns and interceptions allowed.	InterceptionsInterceptions made.	Passes defendedPasses broken up or intercepted.	Forced fumblesFumbles forced.	Defensive touchdownsTouchdowns scored on defense.
2026	7	415	96.1	33	9	0	8.3	0.0	1	1	19	111.5	0	2	0	0
2025	17	1,071	99.8	90	19	4	8.0	0.0	0	1	45	103.5	7	8	0	0
2024	17	1,056	98.9	120	36	5	8.1	2.0	2	4	53	119.0	1	7	1	0
2023	16	1,118	99.6	110	33	0	3.9	0.0	0	0	63	102.1	1	3	0	0
2022	17	1,139	97.5	96	28	0	3.6	0.0	1	2	71	77.8	4	6	0	0
2021	17	1,057	96.4	73	25	1	2.2	1.0	4	4	58	68.8	5	13	2	1
2020	16	1,102	98.5	101	30	0	6.7	0.0	1	2	45	112.6	1	7	1	0
2019	16	1,099	99.0	77	17	0	2.6	0.0	0	0	47	69.1	5	9	0	0
2018	16	1,043	99.7	81	23	3	7.2	2.0	5	5	40	34.8	4	8	0	0
2017	16	1,085	99.7	83	17	3	–	0.0	3	–	–	–	8	16	0	0
2016	16	656	60.1	58	21	5	–	1.0	5	–	–	–	0	4	0	0
Career	171	10,841	95.0	922	258	21	5.6	6.0	22	19	441	86.7	36	83	4	1