INDIANAPOLIS -- Buffalo Bills speed running back Matt Breida is set to become a free agent, and he was little used in the 2021 season.
The Bills’ running backs didn’t produce much in short-yardage situations last season.
What could the Bills use more: A new speed back or a better power back? Or both?
It’s a question as the Bills evaluate the running back class at the NFL Scouting Combine and prepare for the start of free agency next month.
Running back is not high on the Bills’ to-do list, and the team is not about to invest prime draft capital on a running back. Devin Singletary, fresh off a good finish to the 2021 season, still is under contract for one more year. The Bills invested a third-round pick in Zack Moss in 2020.
And running backs figuratively grow on trees. There aren’t many workhorse, superstar, lead backs in the 2022 class, but there are a load of players who can fit a niche role – speed or power – who will be available in the fourth to seventh rounds.
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“I love this running back group,” said NFL Network analyst Daniel Jeremiah. “I don't think there's going to be one that goes in the first round. I think this is a really deep group. I was talking with a personnel director the other day and said, 'Let's just circle the fourth round.' You're going to get a great back in the fourth round, especially if you want a bigger back.”
Moss is a bigger back, at 223 pounds. But after gaining 481 yards and averaging 4.3 yards a carry in 2020, he slipped to 345 yards and 3.6 a carry last season. He played 37% of the snaps in 2020, 31% in 2021. And over the last nine games, he played only 14% of the snaps. He sat out both playoff games.
In short yardage situations, Josh Allen is the Bills’ go-to runner. He converted 8 of 11 runs on third-and-1 or third-and-2, and he converted 5 of 6 runs on fourth-and-1 last season. (The only failure was the final play at the goal line in Tennessee.)
Overall on third-and-1 situations, the Bills were just 7 of 13 running the ball (53.8%), the lowest percentage in the league. It’s a little deceiving because the Bills had the fewest third-and-1 attempts, but the league-average success rate on third-and-1 was 75.5%
More importantly, there were times in 2021 when the Bills could have used more run-game power, like in the home loss to New England, and some of the other bad-weather games, like the loss to Indianapolis.
A big part of the answer probably is getting better blocking. The Bills could use an upgrade at one of the guard positions. New offensive line coach Aaron Kromer might be able to increase the run-blocking productivity.
The Bills probably should not give up on Moss. His rookie season was pretty good.
Yet if the Bills want to add beef to the backfield, late-round options will be available. Among the many are Louisiana State’s Ty Davis-Price, listed at 6-foot-1 and 223 pounds, who rushed for 1,003 yards last season and has plenty of highlights bowling over people.
“He's just a bowling ball, just running over everybody,” Jeremiah said. “He killed Florida this year. Ran for a zillion yards. I think they're still picking up the Texas A&M safety off the turf from that game, too.”
Another is Florida’s Dameon Pierce (5-9, 220), with a powerful lower body and arguably was underutilized in college.
“Just be the hammer, not the nail,” Pierce said Thursday of his running mindset. “Not everyone wants to get the gritty yards. They want to make everything pretty. . . . I’ll get the gritty yards.”
Pierce said the Bills were among the many teams he has met with in Indianapolis.
Ole Miss’ Snoop Conner, Baylor’s Abram Smith and Michigan’s Hassan Haskins are other big-back, later-round options.
Ole Miss also has a speed back in the draft who is a Day 3 prospect in Jerrion Early. He’s 5-9 and 185, averaged 5.77 yards a carry and also caught 32 passes last season. He may run the 40-yard dash in the low 4.4s.
“When I run, your jaw will drop,” Early said Thursday of his 40 run, scheduled for Friday.
Cincinnati’s Jerome Ford, Florida State’s Jashuan Corbin and Georgia’s James Cook are among the other fastest running backs in the class.
Meanwhile, there are a slew of running backs who could be signed for near the veteran minimum salary in free agency. Breida is one. He could be brought back.
Others include: the 49ers’ Raheem Mostert, a 4.38 speedster coming off a September knee injury; Kansas City’s Darrel Williams, who just produced 1,000 yards from scrimmage; and the Ravens’ Devonta Freeman, who produced 766 yards last season and spent a couple weeks on the Bills’ practice squad late in the 2020 season.
