Buffalo Bills: Re-Signing Jerome Felton Would Be a Smart Move

The Buffalo Bills would be smart in re-signing their fullback, Jerome Felton, to a multi-year extension.

The Buffalo Bills donned the top rushing attack in all of football last season. In fact, it’s something the Bills have done in back-to-back seasons and has no doubt become the team’s strength on offense.

With Rex Ryan and Anthony Lynn no longer in Buffalo, repeating that accomplishment for a third consecutive year might be hard to do. If the Bills are to do it, they must start with bringing back the ones that made it possible.

There were a lot of reasons the Buffalo Bills were able to lead the league in rushing the past two seasons. Obviously, the talent has a lot do with it. LeSean McCoy led the way with dominant running, while Tyrod Taylor and Mike Gillislee added effective runs throughout the game to give McCoy rest. The talent was only half of it, though.

The other half comes from the guys doing the blocking. The Buffalo Bills had a very complex run-game in 2016 and the blocking was the same way. Richie Incognito can pretty much lead any back wherever he needs to go and Charles Clay does an excellent job blocking as a tight end, but Jerome Felton is probably the most under-appreciated player in the Bills’ run-game.

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Not only is he entering his 8th season in the NFL, but his two years in Buffalo show that he is comfortable with this team. Looking at how under-utilized the fullback position is in the NFL, the last thing you want to do is waste that roster spot on a fullback that you won’t use. With Felton, the Bills know what they’re getting and they know how he can fit into this offense.

His career has been built on his ability to block, but don’t sleep on his ability to run and catch the ball. In addition to helping pave the way for the leading rushing attack in the NFL, Felton added 13 rushing yards on just 8 carries and 57 yards receiving on 6 receptions. These aren’t big numbers, but given more chances on offense, Felton can definitely be productive.

He was also selected as a Pro Bowl second alternate this season, which was well- deserved.

There are several things that could hold the Buffalo Bills back on signing the fullback. The team won’t have a lot of room to work with as far as their cap space goes and looking at the holes on the roster, his spot could be given to someone with more value.

If the Bills end up re-signing him, they need to be 100% certain that he will be used. With a new head coach, offensive coordinator and running backs coach, chances are the Bills will look a lot different on the offensive end next season.

Personally, I think the Buffalo Bills shouldn’t touch their run-game at all this offseason. I mean, why fix what isn’t broken, right?

With Jerome Felton and Mike Gillislee both free agents this offseason, not bringing either one of them back will completely destroy our top rushing attack. In addition, not bringing back Tyrod Taylor will hurt that area even more.

With the future of Taylor still uncertain, the Buffalo Bills need to do whatever it takes to make sure our run-game stays as effective as possible. Bringing back Felton and Gillislee would be enough to ensure that next season — even if the team moves on from Tyrod Taylor.

Jerome Felton leads the RBs in a pre game rant. McCoy calls him a first team pro bowler. @news4buffalo pic.twitter.com/KPTCFxWuDk
— Scott Swenson ✌ (@ScottSwenson4) December 11, 2016

If the Buffalo Bills do decide to sign Jerome Felton, I would think it would happen rather quickly. For now, it’ll have to be a waiting game.

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Would you like to see the Buffalo Bills re-sign Jerome Felton? Leave your comments below!

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