Tag: Josh Allen fantasy football

Assessing the Buffalo Bills’ backfield for fantasy purposes

Will Buffalo rely heavily on the run with a shaky WR corps?

Heading into last season, the Buffalo Bills made the decision to let running back Devin Singletary (now with the New York Giants) depart for greener pastures. That thrust RB James Cook into the lead role. He responded. After rushing for 507 yards while splitting time with Singletary as a rookie, Cook carried the ball 237 times for 1,122 yards last year. That’s solid production from a lead back, especially with a capable running quarterback factoring in.

Things didn’t go as smoothly further down the depth chart. Damien Harris, signed from the New England Patriots to serve as RB2, suffered a severe neck injury in Week 6 and missed the rest of the season. He retired in March. With Harris lost, the team tried its luck in playing veteran Latavius Murray and even brought RB Leonard Fournette onto the practice squad in late October. While Murray (79-300-4) was the best of the bunch, the overall lack of production from that spot was an issue.

General manager Brandon Beane hopes he has addressed that with the selection of Ray Davis in the fourth round, and perhaps even via the signing of undrafted free-agent RB Frank Gore Jr. With major changes at receiver in Buffalo as well, let’s take a look at the Bills’ backfield to see who holds value in 2024.

Assessing Buffalo’s two talented tight ends in fantasy football

What to make of the Bills’ crop of TEs in fantasy football?

With an MVP candidate at quarterback (Josh Allen) and only one legit top-tier target (Stefon Diggs), the Buffalo Bills offense was a popular place to look for breakout candidates heading into last season. At the top of the heap were wide receiver Gabe Davis, who ended 2021 with a 201-yard, four-TD performance in the playoff loss to the Kansas City Chiefs, and tight end Dawson Knox, who trailed only Diggs among the team’s returning players in receiving yards.

Ultimately, neither player delivered what the Bills, and fantasy owners, were hoping for, and Diggs posted more yards (1,429) than Davis (836) and Knox (517) combined. Through that lens, it’s easy to see why the Bills traded up to select TE Dalton Kincaid with the 25th overall pick in this year’s draft as they continue to seek more receiving weapons for Allen, who took a beating last season that has had both the quarterback and coaching staff openly talking about reining in his rushing exploits.

With all that in mind, let’s look at what the tandem of Knox and Kincaid might bring to the table in 2023 from a fantasy perspective.

Fantasy Football: 5 QB-WR duos to consider stacking in 2022

Stacking QBs and WRs from the same team can help you double up on points in fantasy football.

If you start Joe Burrow in fantasy football, a 25-yard touchdown pass could net you 5.25 points. If you also start Ja’Marr Chase and he catches Burrow’s TD pass, that could add 9.5 points for a total of 14.75 points on one play.

It’s called stacking, adding a quarterback and wide receiver from the same team hoping to double up on points when they connect for a completion or — even better — a touchdown.

Here are five QB-WR duos to consider stacking in fantasy football this season.

Draft one: Stefon Diggs vs. Deebo Samuel vs. Tyreek Hill

If you can pick only one, which WR are you drafting?

In most fantasy football leagues, teams are made and broken by the critical decisions early on as to what cornerstone roster pieces they have in place. A poor choice at running back or quarterback can have devastating weekly implications. Wide receiver is by far the deepest fantasy position to find talent, but having a lead dog who produces big numbers consistently is critical to long-term success.

Few wide receivers are dominant every week, but we’ve chosen three to focus on who have come pretty close – Stefon Diggs of the Buffalo Bills, Deebo Samuel of the San Francisco 49ers, and Tyreek Hill of the Miami Dolphins.

Here’s the case for all three:

No. 1 fantasy football quarterback: Josh Allen vs. Justin Herbert

Is Herbert a good bet to overtake Allen as the top fantasy QB?

When it comes to fantasy football quarterbacks, for years it seemed like you saw the same names of veteran quarterbacks at the top of draft boards. Heading into 2022, two young names have emerged as the top candidates based on dominating the fantasy world over the last couple of seasons  – Josh Allen of the Buffalo Bills and Justin Herbert of the Los Angeles Chargers.

Who is your best bet if you taking the No. 1 guy on the board? A pretty persuasive case can be made for both.

The case for and against Josh Allen

  • Over the last two seasons he has thrown two or more touchdown passes in 26 of 33 games and, in the seven games he didn’t, had at least one rushing touchdown.
  • In his career (61 games, 60 starts), he rushed for 2,325 yards – an average of 38 yards a game – and has scored 31 ground touchdowns.
  • Allen’s most prolific rushing season came last year when he set career highs with 122 carries for 763 yards and scored six rushing touchdowns.
  • He has scored eight or more rushing touchdowns in three of four seasons – a number many fantasy owners would be satisfied with from a running back.
  • The Bills offense has come to depend on him more each year since his rookie season. Allen’s pass attempts and completions have gone up in each of the past three years, topping out by finishing 2021 with 646 attempts, 409 completions, 4,407 passing yards and 36 touchdowns.
  • Over the past two seasons, he has thrown for 8,951 yards and 73 touchdowns, while rushing for 1,184 yards and 14 touchdowns.
  • In 33 games over the last two seasons, he has amassed 280 or more passing yards in 16 of them.
  • Buffalo’s pedestrian run game helps Allen from the fantasy perspective. Since Allen has been with the Bills, there hasn’t been a running back rush for more than 870 yards.
  • In 2021, Buffalo ran 1,143 offensive plays. Just 415 of those (36.3 percent) were run plays and 102 of those (24.6 percent) were runs by Allen, leaving just 268 carries (23.4 percent of all offensive plays) as rushes by Devin Singletary and Zack Moss.
  • Buffalo changed offensive coordinators heading into this offseason, going from the stability of Brian Daboll to first-time play-caller Ken Dorsey. Granted, the latter learned under the former and not much is expected to change, but there’s no way to account for how Dorsey will respond to in-game management. Calling plays has some art to it, even from the same playbook.
  • The Bills drafted running back James Cook while losing wide receivers Cole Beasley and Emmanuel Sanders in the offseason. Allen will need to establish chemistry with Jamison Crowder, and third-year wideout Gabriel Davis must step up his game.
  • While the starting right guard and tackle spots are not entirely settled, Buffalo has plenty of depth, and veteran left guard Rodger Saffold came over from Tennessee to anchor that side. He’s better at run blocking than pass pro but is coming off a Pro Bowl selection and remains one of the top interior veterans at his position.

[lawrence-related id=466156]

The case for and against Justin Herbert

  • Herbert has thrown for 9,350 yards and 69 touchdowns in 32 career games, the most prolific start to a career in NFL history. Dan Marino threw 68 TDs over five fewer starts.
  • He has been a yardage monster, averaging 292.2 passing yards a game in his career – 289.1 yards as a rookie and 294.9 yards last season. Herbert’s yards-per-game average is No. 1 and clear ahead of second place by 36.1 (Andrew Luck).
  • He has displayed accuracy that is rare for a young QB transitioning to the NFL. He completed 66.2 percent of his career passes.
  • In 2021, he became just the ninth quarterback in NFL history to throw for 5,000 or more yards in a season, joining Dan Marino, Drew Brees, Tom Brady, Matthew Stafford, Peyton Manning, Ben Roethlisberger, Patrick Mahomes and Jameis Winston.
  • While Herbert doesn’t run as often as Allen, he has scored eight rushing touchdowns in two years.
  • The Chargers accounted for 1,128 offensive plays last season, and just 423 of them (37.5 percent) were running plays. When you take Herbert out of the equation for scrambles, it drops to just 360 rushes (31.9).
  • Los Angeles plays in division where everyone has loaded up on offensive talent, which lends itself to shootout games.
  • Herbert finds a way to keep all his receivers happy and engaged. In 2021, the Chargers had eight players who caught 20 or more passes, six who caught 30 or more, and three (Keenan Allen, Mike Williams and Austin Ekeler) who caught 70 or more passes.
  • In the last 15 games of the 2021 season, Los Angeles scored 27 or more points in 11 of them, including each of the last six. In that same span, the Chargers gave up 27 or more points in nine of them, putting undo pressure on the offense to keep scoring.
  • LA added veteran tight end Gerald Everett to replace the well-aged Jared Cook. Every other key component of the offense returns intact, and LA upgraded its offensive line with first-round rookie Zion Johnson.

Fantasy football outlook

Herbert has made a strong case in two seasons for a Chargers team that seemingly needs to keep throwing to win games or come from behind to try to win, but Josh Allen is the pick here for those erring on the side of caution.

Los Angeles upgraded the defensive in the offseason and may not need to rely as much on Herbert’s arm. It’s not as big of a gap as some may think, and it wouldn’t be too brazen to draft Herbert ahead of Allen if an owner wanted to take a calculated risk.

While not exactly the Jim Kelly-led K-Gun offense that dominated the AFC 30 years ago, Allen’s ability to throw touchdowns as well as being the most dangerous runner for the Bills near the goal line gives him the razor-thin edge to be the first quarterback to come off the board in fantasy drafts this year.

Fantasy football team previews: AFC East

Take a fantasy football spin around the AFC East.

The 2022 fantasy football draft season is starting to heat up now that we’ve gone through the height of free agency and all of the chosen rookies have been assigned to their professional home cities.

The landscape has changed a great deal for many franchises after a whirlwind offseason, and our divisional preview series will help you stay on top of all of the changes to date.

AFC divisional previews

East | North | South | West

NFC divisional previews

East | North | South | West

Is it time for Zack Moss to emerge in Buffalo?

Moss stands out among a crowded backfield.

With training camps and preseason games officially in the rearview mirror, it’s time to take a look at crowded depth chart positions and hopefully provide a little clarity as to what the 2021 season will look like in fantasy football.

A season ago, the Buffalo Bills ended New England’s stranglehold on the AFC East and then advanced to the AFC Championship Game before falling to Kansas City. While the rise of QB Josh Allen took center stage, Buffalo has also assembled a talented backfield that features a pair of Day 2 picks from the 2019 and 2020 drafts, respectively. Now the question becomes how that workload will be divvied up this season.

It’s not too late to sign up for The Huddle and dominate!

Of course, it’s worth pointing out that Allen was among the more prolific runners at the position, ranking fourth among QBs in carries (102) and eighth in yards (421). If that level of activity continues it will have the same trickle-down effect that Lamar Jackson has on the Baltimore running game, albeit on a smaller scale. Conversely, if Allen dials that aspect of his game back it could increase the Bills’ RBs workloads.

Devin Singletary fantasy football outlook

Selected 74th overall in 2019, Singletary has led the Bills in rushing in each of his first two seasons. There wasn’t much growth in Year 2, however, as his rookie year totals of 151 carries and 775 yards (5.1 YPC) were marginally better than the 156-687 (4.4 YPC) mark from 2020. The big plays also dried up with just three carries of 20-plus yards last season compared to seven in his debut campaign.

Singletary showed some strides as a receiver, increasing his receiving output from 29-194 as a rookie to 38-269, and he was more careful with the football (he reduced his fumbles from four to one).

Some of the shine seems to be off Singletary, though, as he is undersized and lacks big-time speed — he has scored just six times in 374 combined touches. Despite being the nominal starter, Singletary is best suited as an RB4.

Zack Moss fantasy football outlook

Moss followed Singletary as another third-round selection, coming off the board with the 86th pick last year. His final numbers weren’t great (112-481-4), but the then-rookie started seeing more action late in the year. In fact, over the team’s final three meaningful games, Moss logged 38 carries to Singletary’s 25.

Moss is clearly the more powerful of the two backs, which should allow him to be a bigger factor in the red zone, regardless of how many carries between the 20s are allocated in a given week.

Although he was used sparingly as a receiver last season (14-95-1), Moss’ hands and blitz pickup were considered above-average coming out of Utah.

It certainly feels like there’s more upside with Moss, who improved as his rookie year went along and will now have the benefit of a full offseason program with the team heading into his second season.

Moss may currently sit behind Singletary on the depth chart, but Moss’ upside is higher. This is going to be a true committee, and really may be closer to a hot-hand scenario. Allen, not Singletary, should be his biggest enemy for limiting touchdown opportunities.

Moss can be drafted to fill an RB3/flex role and may be leaned on for more if the Bills were to lose star WR Stefon Diggs for extended time.

Matt Breida fantasy football outlook

After spending his first three seasons with the San Francisco 49ers, Breida was traded to Miami before last year’s draft. It didn’t pan out. In a running back room that included both unproven (Myles Gaskin, Salvon Ahmed) and over-the-hill (Jordan Howard) options, Breida could never carve out on a meaningful role with the Dolphins.

A hamstring injury and a trip to the COVID list rounded out an inauspicious stint in south Florida with Breida setting career lows in carries (59), yards (254) and TDs (0).

Buffalo signed him in free agency in the hope they’ll see the 49ers version of Breida, who averaged 634 yards on 127 carries (5.0 YPC) and 2 TDs per year during his three seasons with the club.

He’ll operate behind Singletary and Moss in the backfield, but offensive coordinator Brian Daboll had Breida line up wide in the preseason, which could open some action on jet sweeps or quick passes to get him the ball in space. It’s unlikely to be enough to generate meaningful fantasy value, but Breida would be worth a look if either Moss or Singletary were to miss time.