Buffalo Bills: NFL.com picks Zack Moss as ‘dark horse’ for Rookie of the Year

SAN ANTONIO, TX - DECEMBER 31: Zack Moss #2 of the Utah Utes runs the ball defended by Ayodele Adeoye #40 of the Texas Longhorns in the second half during the Valero Alamo Bowl at the Alamodome on December 31, 2019 in San Antonio, Texas. (Photo by Tim Warner/Getty Images)
SAN ANTONIO, TX - DECEMBER 31: Zack Moss #2 of the Utah Utes runs the ball defended by Ayodele Adeoye #40 of the Texas Longhorns in the second half during the Valero Alamo Bowl at the Alamodome on December 31, 2019 in San Antonio, Texas. (Photo by Tim Warner/Getty Images) /
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The Buffalo Bills third round pick was recently picked as a ‘dark-horse candidate’ for Offensive Rookie of the Year.

The Buffalo Bills have not had a player win Rookie of the Year since 2013 when linebacker Kiko Alonso won and fans would have to go all the way back to 1970 for the last time an offensive player won the award. That year it was quarterback Dennis Shaw and he is the only offensive player to win Rookie of the Year.

However, Bills’ third round pick Zack Moss has a chance to end that streak as NFL.com Lance Zierlein picked the rookie running back as his only “dark-horse candidate”.

"Zack Moss, RB, Buffalo Bills: Moss is unlikely to see the workload it would take for a running back to win this award, as he’ll be competing for carries with Devin Singletary, who’s coming off a nice rookie season. That said, Moss is built for the rugged rushing attack that the Bills want to employ. Keep in mind that Singletary had just two rushing touchdowns to Josh Allen’s nine last season. It would behoove the Bills to keep their young quarterback out of harm’s way and allow Moss to do more of the dirty work in the red zone. Given Moss’ violent style and ability to move the chains, he could garner plenty of fourth-quarter carries as the Bills look to put games away."

For Zack Moss, the fact that he plays running back could work into his favor as three of the last five award winners were running backs with New York Giants Saquon Barkley winning in 2018, Alvin Kamara in 2017 and Todd Gurley in 2015.

However, Moss will have to contend with a very good running back class and Zierlein actually had four running backs in his Top 10 candidates for the award.

The Buffalo Bills selected Zack Moss out of Utah in the third round of this past NFL Draft. He is a physical runner and is coming off three consecutive seasons with at least 1,000 rushing yards.

As Lance Zierlein notes, the Bills rookie has a number of factors working against him. The first is he has to contend with running back Devin Singletary for carries. It remains to be seen what the breakdown is in terms of touches between the backs but barring an injury, it will likely be a running back by committee at best.

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The other issue is that quarterback Josh Allen has dominated the rushing touchdowns the past two years, as he has 16 over that span. He is likely to be one of the Buffalo Bills top options and this is going to limit Zack Moss’ chances to win with a lower touchdown total.