Pro Football Rumors
Buffalo was one of just nine teams that had a fullback play 200-plus offensive snaps last year. Reggie Gilliam was on the field for 235 snaps, to be exact, but the Bills lost him to the AFC East rival Patriots in free agency. With Gilliam out of the organization, the Bills are “not guaranteed” to carry a fullback in 2026, Katherine Fitzgerald of the Buffalo News relays.
Several weeks after Gilliam accepted the Pats’ three-year, $10.8MM offer, the Bills made a couple of cheaper moves to address the position. They signed former Eagle Ben VanSumeren for the league minimum and added Jackson Acker, an undrafted free agent from Wisconsin. Those two are in line to compete for the job over the summer, but whether either will make the cut is up in the air. Based on head coach Joe Brady‘s recent comments, a traditional fullback isn’t a necessity on his roster.
“It’s such a unique position because there’s a lot else that comes with it,” Brady said in June. “It’s roster spot. You don’t ever want to have a fullback just to have a fullback.”
Brady is in his first year in his current position, but he was the Bills’ offensive coordinator for the previous two-plus seasons. Gilliam’s usage varied during that time. While he played a career-high 21% of offensive snaps and helped running back James Cook to a rushing title last season, the number checked in much lower in 2023 (9%) and ’24 (15%). However, Gilliam was consistently a special teams stalwart during his six-year run in Buffalo. His yearly snap shares in that department ranged from 49% to 85%.
If the Bills are more worried about filling Gilliam’s special teams void, it would bode well for VanSumeren. The 26-year-old has plenty of pro experience in the third phase of the game, having played around 75% of ST snaps in Philadelphia from 2023-24.
“Special teams has always been my calling card, ever since I came in the league,” he told Fitzgerald. “I even did it in college, so being a four-core guy is just part of me.”
VanSumeren has a multi-positional background, having moved from fullback to running back during his sophomore year at Michigan in 2019. He transferred to Michigan State in 2020 and switched to linebacker, where he continued to play through his first season in Philadelphia. The Eagles then shifted VanSumeren to fullback in 2024, though he played just 22 offensive snaps in 11 games before going down with a season-ending knee injury. VanSumeren made it back for Week 1 last year, but his season came to a quick and cruel end when he tore his patellar tendon on the opening kickoff.
If the Bills don’t keep VanSumeren, Acker or another fullback on their roster, Brady could turn to jumbo packages (six offensive linemen) more frequently in short-yardage situations. Regardless, Brady will continue to rely on second-year tight end Jackson Hawes, who played 43% of offensive snaps as a rookie and finished as...
