Bills RB duo the best in McDermott-Beane era

Buffalo Bills rookie running back Ray Davis showed the NFL world what he was capable of against the Jets on ‘Monday Night Football’ in Week 6.

Starting for an injured James Cook, Davis’ 152 total yards from scrimmage sprung the Bills to a 23-20 victory in MetLife Stadium, giving the Bills a 4-2 record and an early stronghold on the AFC East.

At 5’8″ and 220 pounds, Ray Davis has more of a “bruiser” running back build compared to Cook, who is more of a finesse back.

Either way, Davis’ 97 rushing and 55 receiving yards were the most combined yards from scrimmage for a Bills running back since Cook recorded 221 versus Dallas in Week 15 last season.

The play of Davis on Monday not only solidified his role as the RB2, it showed the rest of the league that Josh Allen doesn’t have to use his legs to account for the Bills’ lack of running back talent any longer.

In fact, the Cook/Davis duo may be the best tandem in the era of general manager Brandon Beane and head coach Sean McDermott (since 2017).

Combined, the two players average 127.3 total yards from scrimmage so far this season. This is the most of any combination of Bills running back since 2016 when LeSean McCoy and Mike Gillislee hit the 150 total scrimmage yards per game mark.

The Bills’ 2016 team, however, was not a pass-first offense and the offensive workload went through McCoy.

The 2024 Buffalo Bills offense goes through Allen and having a solid running attack between Cook and Davis will go a long way down the stretch this season. While the passing game feels out new WR1 Amari Cooper, hopefully the running game will prevent Allen from feeling the need to put the offense on his back as much in year’s past.