The Bills wanted Utah running back Zack Moss at the 2020 NFL Draft, so they took him.
But the actual story was a bit rockier as Buffalo general manager Brandon Beane explained following the second day of the event.
The Bills saw Moss fall to them at the No. 86 overall pick in Round 3. Following the festivities, Beane said at no point did he try to trade up in the second round. But in the third round? He tried to and failed, all because he wanted Moss.
“The second [pick] one was much more stressful to be honest with you,” Beane said. “We had Moss in a pretty good spot up there.”
Turns out it was a blessing in disguise and the Bills got him anyway.
“We were making some calls [to move up in Round 3],” Beane said. “(Moss) is a guy, I felt, fit a need, but we had him a little higher than [on their draft board] where we got him.”
“He was sticking out on the board,” Beane added.
In Moss, the Bills are landing a physical complementary runner to their incumbent in Devin Singeltary, someone Moss said he already knows since they’re both Florida natives. Singletary called to welcome Moss to Buffalo, the rookie said.
That complement is an important role for the Bills, as Frank Gore proved last season. It makes sense that Beane would get antsy.
But Moss didn’t exactly compare his running style to Gore’s. Instead, he did so with another former Bills back, Marshawn Lynch, otherwise known as “Beast Mode.”
“I think a lot of people just see the way I run, the low center of gravity and the base that I run with, things like that,” Moss said. “They like to compare it there. But I’m just trying to come out and be myself. Marshawn is definitely a guy any back wants to be compared to. He’s one of the best to ever do it and a guy I’ve been watching for a very long time.”
In Lynch’s career with the Bills which spanned four years, he rushed for 2,765 yards. That’s a number Moss will hope to beat with the Bills as surpassing tough goals is something he had a knack for. At Utah, Moss set six records and included that is his 4,067 rushing yards which make him the program’s all-time leader. After a 1,416-yard season as a senior last year, Moss was named the Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Year.
While he wasn’t the most patient one in the war room, this one might’ve paid off for Beane and the Bills if the do find themselves “Beast Mode 2.0.”
[lawrence-related id=59895,59866,59923,59865]