The constant nightmare that Buffalo Bills fans had to live through last season was seeing the run-defense be a major problem for most of their games. All in all, while Buffalo’s rushing attack on offense was one of the best, their ability to stop the run was atrocious. The Bills allowed 136.2 yards and 5.1 yards per rush last season.
Per Pro Football Reference, there were four games where the Bills gave up 200+ yards on the ground. There were seven games (not including the 200+ yards games) where Buffalo gave up 100+ yards on the ground. In the playoffs against Jacksonville in the Wild Card round, Buffalo gave up 154 yards on the ground.
Despite those stats, the Bills only lost three of those games. That just shows you how resilient the Bills were in games where their run-defense didn’t perform to an average performance. After Sean McDermott was fired, the Bills were going to need to find a defensive play caller who could come in and help this defense.
Once Joe Brady was hired, he pivoted and brought in Jim Leonhard from the Denver Broncos to take care of this defense. Even though Buffalo’s defensive line didn’t change much, the scheme and extra outside linebackers brought in should very well help Buffalo be better in run support.
However, that doesn't mean that Buffalo won't face some of the best backs, as well as players who could be set up for a breakout year in the backfield.
Bills' run-defense set to take on 3 potential game-changing RBs in 2026
Gary Davenport from Bleacher Report put together a list of five running backs who could have breakout seasons in 2026, and three of them will face the Bills. Those three running backs include Ashton Jeanty of the Las Vegas Raiders, Omarion Hampton of the Los Angeles Chargers, and TreVeyon Henderson of the New England Patriots.
Jeanty had a bit of a rough rookie season, but he still managed to rush for 975 yards and 5 touchdowns despite being behind one of the worst offensive lines in football. The Raiders brought in Tyler Linderbaum to help solidify the trenches and if Jeanty can get to the second level, he should easily rush for over 1,000 yards.
Hampton only played in 9 games last season due to an early injury to start his career, which is why he only rushed for 545 yards and 4 touchdowns. While the Chargers do have Justin Herbert, and now Mike McDaniel as the offensive coordinator, LA is not afraid to run the ball and Hampton could be in for a big year.
Bills fans are familiar with Henderson, who ran for 911 yards and 9 touchdowns last season. When the Bills played the Patriots in their first matchup, Henderson only had 24 yards on the ground. But then in the second matchup in Foxborough, Henderson rushed for 148 yards and 2 touchdowns against Buffalo.
Buffalo’s run-defense already has to face some of the best backs in the league like Derrick Henry, Jahmyr Gibbs, De’Von Achane, Kyren Williams, and Kenneth Walker. Now with these other three backs listed as potential breakout players, the Bills are in for a tough task all season long to prevent a rushing attack to make their lives on defense miserable.
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