Buffalo Bills: Devin Singletary ranked in Top 10 of elusiveness by PFF

The Buffalo Bills second year running back ranked in the Top 10 among running backs in elusiveness by Pro Football Focus.

This past season Devin Singletary had a breakout year for the Buffalo Bills and the expectation is he will build on that this coming season. One of the reasons that Singletary was so effective was his ability to avoid tacklers and make it difficult on defenders to bring him down.

This past season, Singletary finished fifth in the NFL rushing attempt per broken tackle, with a broken tackle for every 7.5 rushing attempts.

The author, Ben Lindsey, of Pro Football Focus’ recent rankings of running backs’ elusiveness defined it as a measure of how hard it is to take a running back down. Considering that fact, plus the stat previously mentioned, it is not surprising that Singletary would break the Top 10.

"9. DEVIN SINGLETARY, BUFFALO BILLSThe Bills have an interesting situation at the running back position next season. Rookie Zack Moss, who they drafted in the third round of the 2020 NFL Draft, was dubbed the most elusive running back in the 2020 Draft Guide, and that’s Singletary’s calling card as well. Across his final two seasons at FAU in 2017 and 2018, Singletary trailed only David Montgomery in broken tackles on the ground (179). As a rookie last season, he forced 42 missed tackles on just 181 touches, once again making him one of the most elusive backs among his peers. The question becomes whether that is enough to hold off Moss as the season progresses."

It is interesting that Lindsey notes the addition of Zack Moss and wonders how much this will impact Devin Singletary in his second season. The fact that Moss and Singletary both excel in this one category speaks to the type of running back the Buffalo Bills want to have in this offense.

It is hard to imagine that Singletary wouldn’t at least start the year as the featured back. He had one of the best rookie seasons by a Bills running back in over ten years. However, this could be more of a timeshare than some expect.

The Buffalo Bills committed the same draft capital to both running backs, as Singletary and Moss went in the third round of consecutive NFL Drafts. It is hard to imagine that general manager Brandon Beane would be willing to draft Moss in the same round and view him as the compliment, or backup, to Singletary.

This certainly isn’t a knock on Singletary and this is a great position for the Buffalo Bills to be in. They essentially have two running backs that provide very similar skills and that makes their offense more dynamic considering they are interchangable.