The Buffalo Bills are a few short weeks away from arriving for training camp in Western New York. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the preseason festivities will be diminished; the team will not hold their sessions at St. John Fisher College, their training camp location since 2000.
Nevertheless, the aim of the training camp remains the same. The organization must prepare players for the preseason, which depth players will compete in their final battle for a roster spot.
Training camp could hold greater importance this year, as the trimmed down preseason slate leaves fewer opportunities for players to impress the coaching staff.
The Bills Wire will complete a position-by-position analysis of each group on the Bills roster. This edition will focus on the running back position:
Players (age)
- Devin Singletary (22: 2nd season)
- Zack Moss (22: Rookie)
- TJ Yeldon (26: 6th season)
- Christian Wade (29: 2nd season)
- Taiwan Jones (31: 10th season)
- Antonio Williams (22: Rookie)
- Patrick DiMarco (31: 9th season)
- Reggie Gilliam (22: Rookie)
2019 recap
It seems like ages ago, but the Bills entered the 2019 training with a three-headed monster: incumbent LeSean McCoy, veteran free-agent signee Frank Gore, and rookie Devin Singletary. McCoy’s decline and Singletary’s emergence ultimately left Buffalo with the difficult decision of releasing McCoy, their starting running back for the previous four seasons.
Gore led the way to start the season. He rushed for at least 55 yards in five of the first six games of the campaign. Gore showed the bruising rushing style that the Bills sought. However, he faded throughout the remainder of the year, rushing for over 55 yards only once during the last 10 games of the year. During this stretch, he rushed for an average of 2.6 yards per carry and zero rushing touchdowns on 80 carries. Early in his first season, Singletary was also hampered by a hamstring injury.
The emergence of the rookie Singletary was the major development last year. He burst onto the scene against the Jets, rushing for 70 yards on four carries and reeling in five passes on the day. Motor’s season just kept getting better, as he pushed for more snaps. He ended the season as the team’s leading rusher, averaging 5.1 yards per carry on 151 rushes. Singletary was a pleasant surprise in the passing game as well, as he was third on the team with 29 catches.
From the fullback spot, Patrick DiMarco played when the Bills went to two-back sets on offense. He could also be found split out wide at times, a testament to offensive coordinator Brian Daboll‘s creativity. TJ Yeldon did not dress in 10 games, and the veteran was used sparingly when he was active. Christian Wade was a feel-good story, exploding with a touchdown on his first touch in the preseason. He spent the rest of the season on the team’s practice squad.
Now here’s a rundown of storylines to follow in this position group:
How will the snaps be divided between Singletary and Moss?
Singletary’s emergence has been easy to notice. Still, the Bills coaching staff was a bit hesitant to give him the keys to the car, as Buffalo started Gore in their Wild Card playoff game, one which saw many clamor for Singletary to get more touches throughout it. With a year under his belt, Singletary should be expected to take on a greater role in the offense.
Still, the NFL largely relies on two-back systems, and the Bills, with a love to establish the run, wanted to find a complement to their second-year player. This is where rookie Zack Moss comes in. The Utah product is a bruising running back. He is compact like Singletary and runs with a little more violence at defenders.
It won’t be shocking to see a heavy diet of Singletary early in the game, while Moss will likely be the back to help close out games.
