Buffalo Rumblings
For a minute there, it looked like the Buffalo Bills might end up starting their intended backup running back in games that matter this season. As starter James Cook executed a “hold-in” while at training camp, refusing to practice until his agent and general manager Brandon Beane agreed upon a new contract, there was plenty of attention turned to the team’s RB2.
While that young man — who is the same age as Cook even though they were drafted two years apart — played a role on the 2024 team as a rookie, there were definite divides among people in the know as to whether they thought he could be “the man” in the offensive backfield rather than a part of something special. After Cook and the Bills agreed on a four-year extension, however, the conversations about who would start at running back for the Bills disappeared.
In today’s edition of “90 players in 90 days,” we discuss Buffalo’s second running back — a second-year man looking to build off a solid rookie season.
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Name: Ray Davis
Number: 22
Position: RB
Height/Weight: 5’8”, 220 pounds
Age: 25 (26 on 11/11/2025)
Experience/Draft: 2; selected by Buffalo in the fourth round (No. 128 overall) of the 2024 NFL Draft
College: Kentucky
Acquired: Fourth-round draft choice
Financial situation (per Spotrac): Davis enters the second year of his rookie deal, a four-year pact worth $4,733,188 overall. For the 2025 season, he carries a cap hit of $1,138,297 if he makes the 53-man roster. Buffalo will be responsible for a dead-cap charge equal to the remaining guarantees on the contract, which amounts to $534,891, if they release him.
2024 Recap: Davis had a solid rookie season, showing toughness around the goal line, good hands in the receiving game, and adequate burst in both facets at different times. He played in all of Buffalo’s games for the season, though he did not start any.
Even the game where he saw the most action, Buffalo’s Week 6 victory over the New York Jets, saw the Bills start Ty Johnson instead of an injured James Cook. All Davis did in that game, though, was carry 20 times for 97 yards and catch three passes for 55 more.
Davis had a few other big games — five carries for 41 yards and a touchdown in Week Seven against the Tennessee Titans, two catches for 70 yards and a score in Week 9 against the Miami Dolphins, 11 carries for 63 yards and a score in the snow against the San Francisco 49ers, and 15 carries for 64 yards in a meaningless regular-season finale against the New England Patriots, but he was otherwise slotted behind Buffalo’s top dog in Cook.
For the regular season, Davis carried 113 times for 442 yards and three touchdowns. He caught 17-of-19 targets for 189 yards and three more scores. In the regular season, he didn’t fumble. In the playoffs, he saw much more limited action, carrying just seven times for 36 yards and...
