Buffalo Bills: Ranking the running backs in the AFC East
By Rob Spehar
This is where the Buffalo Bills running backs rank within the AFC East.
We continue on our position ranking adventure around the AFC East with our attention now shifting to the backfield and look at where the Buffalo Bills rank among the projected running back tandems in the division.
In 2019, the Baltimore Ravens broke a 41-year old team rushing record that was held by the 1978 New England Patriots. The previous mark held by the Patriots was 3,165 yards and the Ravens broke that by finishing with a new record of 3,296 yards, thus setting the new standard. Lamar Jackson was the human joystick breaking Michael Vick’s all time rushing yards by a quarterback in a single season with 1,206 yards. The Ravens also had Mark Ingram, Gus Edwards and Justice Hill providing a solid commitment to rushing the ball behind a stout offensive line. It’s no wonder why the rest of the league looks to the defending AFC North champions to try and emulate what they accomplished.
The days of Thurman Thomas and Marshawn Lynch are a distant memory and the experiments with LeSean McCoy and Frank Gore are done. Now is the time for the future in Western New York and the Buffalo Bills. With the drafts of Devin Singletary and Zack Moss, there is a lot to be excited about on the offensive side of the ball. They are just another piece to the puzzle that will help quarterback Josh Allen take another big step forward.
Today’s NFL seems to be in a state of being pass happy. But there still needs to be a rushing compliment in order to make an offense successful. So what these new young head coaches and offensive coordinators have done is try to employ a two back system. It is now rare to see a single back being used because the workload can take its toll on a back throughout the course of a season. Each team in the AFC East has a tandem that will be used in the upcoming 2020 season. Let’s have a look at where each team stands in the latest list.