Buffalo Bills: Is RB at 30th overall still a possibility in the 2021 NFL Draft?

The Buffalo Bills have done their due diligence on seemingly every area of their roster so far this offseason and aren’t many areas that need improving. Of course, there’s always room for improvement but General Manager Brandon Beane and company have done a great job so far this offseason to lessen the need to draft a specific position in the 1st round.

According to Tony Pauline of Pro Football Network, the Buffalo Bills are a third team that is seriously considered selecting Najee Harris in the 1st round of the 2021 NFL Draft. This has been a hot-button topic because there is so much narrative that surrounds the NFL Draft and how the running back position is not a position of high value. Thus, running backs should not be taken in the 1st round.

However, there is and should always be open mindedness when it comes to this rule because there are exceptions. Players like Christian McCaffrey, Saquan Barkley, and Josh Jacobs come to mind as running backs that have recently been selected in the first round and were worth the selection. McCaffrey and Barkley were both top 10 draft picks while Jacobs was taken at 24th overall. These three players show that exceptions can be made to this rule but each individual case deserves some context to show why the exception was made to the extent it was.

As this applies to the Buffalo Bills, their running game in 2020 left a lot to be desired and many have pointed fingers at the running back room. The first argument was that Devin Singletary and Zack Moss are too slow and don’t offer that home-run threat. The Buffalo Bills addressed that concern by signing Matt Breida on a one year deal. This signing certainly lessens the likelihood that the Bills use their 1st round pick on a running back like Najee Harris, but it doesn’t completely take that possibility off the table.

With all that being said, if the Buffalo Bills do draft Harris at 30th overall that would mean there are four running backs on the roster. In my opinion, it’s unlikely that the Bills go into the season with four running backs without one that they would feel comfortable stashing on the practice squad. If Harris is drafted by the Buffalo Bills, I think this could mean that Devin Singletary could be put on the trading block.

This isn’t to say that Singletary is worse than Moss, but rather Singletary has one less year on a rookie contract than Moss. So from a financial perspective of roster construction, it would make sense to explore the possibility of trading Singletary with hopes to reimburse themselves with a 3rd round pick in the future. This hypothetical running back room would consist of Najee Harris as the complete back that can do it all, Zack Moss as the power back for short yardage situations, and Matt Breida as the receiving and home run threat.