Buffalo Rumblings
Last year, the Buffalo Bills boasted the league’s best rushing attack, amassing 2,714 yards on the ground to go with 30 rushing touchdowns. Buffalo’s backfield was led by James Cook, who would go on to claim the league’s rushing title (rushing 309 times for 1,621 yards and 12 touchdowns in the regular season).
What will Cook do for an encore in Joe Brady’s first season as head coach?
Today’s edition of Buffalo Rumblinks leads off by examining the state of Buffalo’s running backs, including whether Brady will dial up more pass plays for Cook and Buffalo’s tailbacks this year.
Check out the assessments and then be sure to leave your thoughts on the state of the Bills running backs heading into the season.
The Bills backfield consists of reigning NFL rushing champion James Cook, along with Ty Johnson, Ray Davis, Frank Gore Jr., and former United Football League champion Ian Wheeler.
Last year, the Bills ran the ball on 49.84% of plays, the second-highest rate of all teams. And no team ran the ball more on first down than Buffalo, which, led by Cook, posted 38 carries of 10-plus yards on first down last season. But this year, it seems like changes are likely in Buffalo’s offensive game plan, which could mean a healthy dose of passes from Josh Allen to Cook and Johnson coming out of the backfield.
We explore why Joe Brady should call more pass plays for Buffalo’s talented stable of running backs; speculate why the Bills would be wise to manage Cook’s workload to keep him fresh for the team’s potential run to a Super Bowl; hear why Cook is Buffalo’s second-most important player heading into this pivotal season; and figure out which backs will make the 53-man roster and which players are cut candidates.
Discussing which Bills are under the most pressure to perform at training camp, a group led by wide receiver Keon Coleman (pictured below). Plus, exploring which former and current Bills players could be bound for the Pro Football Hall of Fame; dissecting Buffalo’s salary cap situation heading into training camp; and more!
