Buffalo Bills: 3 Positions on offense to improve this offseason
Running Back
As great as the Buffalo Bills were this season, only one win can truly be linked to the success of the running back group and that would be Week 8 against the Patriots. Outside of that game, the running back group was just a complementary factor to the Bills pass-heavy offense. Although the Bills relied heavily on their passing attack, the running backs were not very efficient when given the chance. The fact that Josh Allen is in the debate for the Bills most efficient ball carrier in 2020 is an issue.
Allen finished the season with 102 carries for 421 rushing yards and 8 touchdowns. Devin Singletary had the most carries at the running back position with 156 carries for 687 rushing yards and only 2 touchdowns. Lastly, Zack Moss had 112 rushes for 481 yards and 4 touchdowns before his season-ending injury.
The only one with eye-popping numbers in that group is Allen with 8 rushing touchdowns. It’s a great asset to have Allen as a threat at the goal line, but the pressure has to be taken off of his shoulders at some point. Getting a dynamic running back to compliment Allen in the backfield this offseason could relieve a lot of that pressure considering Allen had almost 25% of the Bills total rushing yards this season.
With the clear drop off in efficiency that Singletary had in Year Two relative to his rookie season, it wouldn’t be shocking to see the Buffalo Bills explore a trade for him. Not many teams are willing to trade for running backs, but Singletary is still on his cheap rookie deal and still offers a modest amount of potential. The most the Bills could get for him is probably a third round pick at best considering that was the round he was selected just two years ago.
With that being said, this has a very low chance of happening as there are only a handful of teams that would have even slight interest in a running back of Singletary’s caliber. These potential teams include the Jets, Dolphins, Texans, Falcons, Jaguars, Cardinals, and maybe the Seahawks or Chargers. These are teams with running backs on expiring contracts or have a running back that is similar to the level of Singletary.
Moving forward, the Bills are right up against the salary cap so it is unlikely they will be able to address the running back position through free agency. With the cap space projected to be reduced significantly next year, the Bills will likely have to improve the team with quality draft picks.
The Bills have more obvious needs than the running back position, so ideally a first round pick won’t be used on this position. Some prospects to keep an eye on heading into draft season include Travis Etienne, Najee Harris, Trey Sermon, Jaret Patterson, Chuba Hubbard and Michael Carter who had a great week at the Reese’s Senior Bowl.
All of these prospects are incredibly dynamic in their own right and have a chance to fall into at least the second round given the way teams shy away from drafting running backs in the first round.