Who will the Bills count on to be the third RB behind Singletary and Cook?

The running back position is one that we all love to talk about, especially with national media continuing to stress that Buffalo needs more of an established run game in order to contend. I don’t believe that to be true anymore, however, as the Bills have their #1 and #2 RBs solidified heading into training camp this year.

Devin Singletary is the primary back, with second-round pick James Cook as the #2 option. Cook is certainly set to see a lot of playing time this year, especially if Singletary struggles or is forced to miss time due to injury.

In this article, we will take a look at the third running back option for the Bills in 2022. We’ll discuss Zack Moss and newly added Duke Johnson. Each player brings a different sort of skillset to the Bills’ backfield, but which one will be relied upon as the #3 RB?

Zack Moss

Moss is going into his third year as a Buffalo Bill. When he came onto the scene in his rookie year, Moss looked explosive, big, and powerful, which led many fans into thinking that Moss would be ready to overtake Singletary’s starting role in the next year as Singletary was struggling to get going. However, that wasn’t the case. While Moss did get off to a solid start, he soon began to slow down and lose that power and explosiveness we saw from him his rookie year. His vision for hitting holes hard decreased and the majority of the time when he was handed the ball it was going for a very minimal game or no gain at all.

In his rookie year in 2020, Moss averaged 4.3 YPC and rushed for 4 TDs in 13 games played. He added a few catches and a TD reception in his first-ever game as well. However, the following season we saw his YPC go from 4.3 to 3.6 which is quite a substantial drop off. Moss definitely was not the back we saw his rookie year. He suffered a high ankle sprain in the Wild Card game against the Colts which could have impacted his level of play.

Last year, when Singletary struggled a bit, it looked like maybe Moss could be the guy again, but then the Matt Breida experiment began and Singletary started performing more as a true RB 1. While the Bills added Duke Johnson as a depth piece and a role player to come in on third downs and pass block as well as catch some dump off passes from Allen, Johnson could very well see himself taking over the role of RB 3 during training camp if Moss continues to struggle.

Moss does have chemistry and unity with the offense and coaching staff. That may be the only reason why he gets additional carries over Johnson this year, but if he continues to spiral downward and not perform up to coach McDermott and Ken Dorsey’s standards, we may see Duke Johnson getting more playing time.

Duke Johnson

Johnson is entering his 8th NFL season. He signed a 1-year contract this offseason with the Bills – his 4th different team in his career. He was with the Browns, Texans, and Dolphins before signing with Buffalo. Johnson has been more of a gadget/third down RB for the majority of his career.

After the signing, Bills fans were reminded that Johnson was the one who took the 3rd and 18 dump off in the Wild Card round game between the Texans and the Bills and converted that first down, leading to the game-winning field goal for Houston.

Johnson has a career 4.3 YPC rate and averages just over 9 yards per reception as well. Johnson can absolutely be an effective piece in the Bills offense. He’s been around the league quite a bit but he’s only 28 years old and this is most likely going to be the best offense he’s ever been on. Johnson has traits that make him very valuable and appealing to teams. He has experience, he is a solid runner, a solid pass blocker and can catch the ball out of the backfield and make something happen with the ball in his hands.

It’ll be exciting to see him on the roster and battling it out with Zack Moss for playing time. Duke will get his opportunities to shine on the team and Allen will certainly look for him as a secondary option out of the backfield. The question is, will Duke Johnson be able to overtake Zack Moss in the RB 3 role.

My prediction is yes he will. While Zack Moss should certainly be higher up on the depth chart when the season starts due to his familiarity with the offense and time spent on the team, I believe that barring injury, Johnson will surpass Moss as the season goes along. Johnson has been seen to be very useful in his career and the Bills should be able to utilize his talents and get him the ball more if Moss struggles, which I feel is inevitable. Unless Moss can come out and surprise us with his vision, power and explosiveness, look for Johnson to come in and take more snaps over him. Brandon Beane brought him in for a reason and I don’t think they’re planning on paying him over a million dollars to ride the bench all year.