What are your ideas to fix the Bills' running game for next year?

[gobillsinytown]

Since this is now a predominantly a passing league, I think the best way to go would be to find a running back that can be effective in spots.  That's tougher than we would think because you need someone who can come in and get yardage without having to get into a rhythm.  If you go back to the 90's and watch the great backs like Thurman, Emmet Smith, etc.  It always took them a few plays to "ramp up".  Can't really do that now.  

I also think that the team needs more balance between size and speed along the O-Line.  Of course smaller linemen will generally move a little faster, which is an advantage against edge rushers, but they also have a harder time moving D-lineman off the line of scrimmage.  

IMO that's going to be the biggest challenge during the off season, trying to develop a balance between speed and power in that unit.

[DJB]

Chubba Hubbard in the 3rd. Very productive, not as good this year but had some injuries. 

 

Dude is lightning fast. 

 

https://www.dynastyfootballlife.com/chuba-hubbard

[BuffBillsForLife]

Can we get Wyatt Teller back for a 5th?

[mjd1001]

Simple for me. The OL has to be better.

 

I think this was a below average line the entire year. Allen's mobility saved them a lot of sacks (put most other QBs behind this line and they would be allowing a LOT more sacks) and they didn't open many holes in the running game.  

[dakrider]

Even this would be an improvement  

[DeltaDigital]

22 hours ago, Dr Krentist said:

 

From this analysis it seems like it's more OL play than RB.

after watching this. the offensive line is horrible. horrible execution. cody ford is another beane whiff. 

[Lenigmusx]

10 hours ago, Victory Formation said:

I think Buffalo could use another quality TE. One that can catch and block. More twin TE sets, easier to run, better personnel for run blocking with the option to pass and run the play action. Could use an elite FB. Losing Dimarco did seem to hurt the team in terms of running the football. Buffalo runs a lot of 3-4 WR sets which is not conducive to running the football. Need to start running heavier sets.

During the K-Gun era we ran out of 3-4 WR sets effectively. That was Thurman though. Thurman could run out of the shotgun. I do think that would be a wrinkle that could be reintroduced in this offense. We just don’t have the back to execute it. Honestly a CJ Spiller in his prime could have been a real asset in this offense. 

[Thrivefourfive]

It’s a numbers game. It’s competition. There are some things that you can do to eliminate mistakes in the runningbacks room, personnel wise. Buffalo does some of these things, and now they just need to hit on somebody(s).

 

Don’t look for a star. Chances are you’re not going to find one. And if you do, they’ll want more money as soon as anything big happens for them. Then you’re paying a lot of cash to a guy who may or may not keep the fire from what got them there.
 

Still, even if they do get paid, and stay hungry, they always get hurt. And, in addition to their numerous physical injuries that will take them out of games at halftime and keep them out of one or two games, they’ll get butt hurt when you bring in good players that threaten their big play opportunities. Now you’ve got a broken locker room, because he’s a star and needs his ball.
 

And, after their huge year which displays their star, they’re peak is gone and you’ve just built a team around a superstar runningback that won’t be there again in that similar capacity. Sure, there are outliers, but I’d have to guess that less than half of big name runningbacks don’t last more than five years at a high level. They are - figuratively speaking - shooting stars. 
 

The good guys: Ingram (selfless), Kamara (heart), Henry (endurence), Cook.. (here’s a guy that careered AFTER getting paid, but he’s thin in the joints and that combined with soft tissue injuries is concerning), Jones (size/takes a beating and is starting to miss time)

 

The bad guys: Barkley (injuries) McCaffrey (injuries), Elliott (diva), Bell (diva, injuries), Chubb (injuries), Connor (injuries), Gordon (left his team stigma), Fournette (what the hell??)

 

Star is rising, but factors above will be in play: Jacobs (good young talent), Mixon (causality of a bad team), Carson (a beast but injured), Ekeler (injuries), Sanders (young/injuries), Hunt (hotel hallway), CEH (jag?) Akers (young/injuries), Dobbins (young), Montgomery (talent ceiling), Taylor (young)

 

the ideal guy you want is Robinson, obviously. Basically a training camp

fourth stringer who turned into an everyday back over night. But.. how long will it last.. 

 

The Bills need to stack the room with young, hungry, something to prove, personally slighted, reasonable talent on paper, good blockers, team oriented/not star-minded guys. And these core value guys need to keep coming into camp

year after year, even after you hit on a guy. Moss may be a good third round pick, but another year of injuries and he’s not. Singletary is looking like a sub-value third round pick. But.. I believe Singletary had dead legs this year. (It’s a football thing.) Just a theory, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he looks quicker and sharper in year three. If he doesn’t, then there isn’t much need for him. Doing your homework and getting these guys in rounds 5-7 is what you do. Or, if a talent falls because of off the field issues, and you believe you can handle him, then do that. Kamara. I wouldn’t have taken on Mixon though. That’s a little too much baggage. 

Edited January 27, 2021 by Thrivefourfive

[maryland-bills-fan]

I see some people really like the idea of taking flyers on a bunch of 3-5rd picks and hope to find a great/adequate RB there.

 

Yes, you can get value if you try long enough.  It might take 7 years, but you will real value, even ignoring the lost draft value for the failures.

 

Draft one now in the 2nd round and your hit rate goes up 4X and you get to use him while the Bills are on the upswing.

 

Pay the price, balance the offence and take the fliers on backup linemen.

 

MY QUESTION.

 

Would we have been better playing KC with Dobbins or Espensa? From the 2020 draft: 

 

Quote

 

2   54    Buffalo  Bills                A. J. Epenesa     DE      Iowa               Big Ten

2   55     Baltimore Ravens      J. K. Dobbins      RB      Ohio State      Big Ten

 

 

https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/players/playerpage/2804420/j-k-dobbins

 

 

Edited January 27, 2021 by maryland-bills-fan

[Gugny]

1.  Build an O Line that actually run blocks.

2. Give Singletary (4.8 yards/carry over his first two seasons) the ball more and let the kid run.

[Jobot]

On 1/25/2021 at 4:56 PM, maryland-bills-fan said:

I want to see a good running back a high pick CB and a lot of shots at defensive linemen.

 

 

I'd have no problem with this.

 

Another WR/TE weapon would make me happy, but I may just be overreacting to our WR injuries during the AFC championship game.. and I should trust that this coaching group gets an Allen level improvement out of Knox next year.

[SoCal Deek]

Why is this so complicated? The Bills need a much much better Running Back in 2021. Go get one! I’d easily trade John Brown’s or Trent Murphy’s contracts for one....wouldn’t you? 

[jdonley1180]

While neither of our runningbacks are true game breakers, they are more than adequate. Both of them could easily make another roster as a change of pace back and it wouldn’t surprise me if atleast 1 of the 2 was a productive starter on another team. Our Oline was patched together in order to protect JA, and they do a decent job of that. I’m hoping we spend our 1st pick on IOL and maybe make a mid level OL FA signing that will allow our offense to become more well rounded

[Malazan]

On 1/25/2021 at 11:51 AM, Call_Of_Ktulu said:

3 new interior O-Lineman, New RB and the running game coordinator from the 49ers. That should improve our running game dramatically. Moss is the only keeper on our current depth chart.

 

Replacing Morse will be a nice upgrade. He was what they needed for a bit, but keeping Williams/Feliciano seems fine. A solid center who doesn't look like he's been beaten with a bag of horseshoes before each game would go a long way. 

 

That along with some coaching. Here's hoping that Daboll is self-aware and able to get some help. It's not simply the talent of the players alone that caused this mess. 

[Bleeding Bills Blue]

16 hours ago, mjd1001 said:

Simple for me. The OL has to be better.

 

I think this was a below average line the entire year. Allen's mobility saved them a lot of sacks (put most other QBs behind this line and they would be allowing a LOT more sacks) and they didn't open many holes in the running game.  

 

A lot of flux too - Spain started 2 games, then ford moved over and they released spain.  Winters started a bunch, then feliciano came back.  Then ford was hurt and boettger played.  Morse was hurt and feliciano kicked inside.  Then they settled on dawkins-boettger-morse-feliciano-williams.  For all the praise some of these guys got, when challenged they failed - especially inside. 

 

I thought williams had a nice game against TJ watt, and even against frank clark this past week, he for the most part did his job.  But if they run outside zone to the left he is not getting it done on the backside - and hes not fast enough to get where he needs to be on his own side.  Morse is a little bit too inconsistent for what he's paid but i expect him back for another year.  I watched teams lose games because they can't find a center who can snap the ball.  Feliciano gets a lot of praise but he is not a player that teams fear going against.  Boettger showed some inconsistencies too, but he was honestly better than I thought he'd be.  Dawkins will never make a pro bowl, but he's pretty solid.  Ford needs to be better to crack the lineup this year.  

[BillsFanSD]

I agree with others that this is mainly just an issue of not having a lot of talent at the RB position.  The line could do a better job in run blocking and Daboll could do a better job of mixing in runs, but when you're only calling the occasional running play here and there because there's so little talent at that position relative to QB/WR it's hard to do much.  

 

We don't need the next Thurman Thomas or Barry Sanders.  This is going to be a pass-first team because a) we have an MVP-caliber QB and stellar WRs so of course we lean into our strengths and b) this is the 2021 NFL, not the 1992 NFL, which means you pass the ball if you want to win.  We need a guy who can get yards when called upon and especially a guy who can be a threat in the passing game.  We obviously don't have that guy on our roster right now.

[maryland-bills-fan]

My opinion is that our two running backs look a lot better than they would be if we ran more.   Imagine the what the other team's defense says when we hand the ball off to our RB.  "WTF ?!!!!! They're RUNNING the ball?  Really!!! (then there is a 3 second pause while they try to comprehend that fact before they start chasing the ball"  .  I don't think you would do better if they carried more.

[Richard Noggin]

On 1/25/2021 at 12:57 PM, NewEra said:

The run game coordinator for the niners is the new OC for the jets iirc.

 PASSING game coordinator, turns out. Green Bay HC's brother. 

 

I'm actually glad it's not the RUN game coordinator, to be honest. Do they have a run game coordinator? I know that's a Shanahan family business, that productive zone blocking scheme. (Google tells me they DO/DID have a separate run game coordinator, who's now been promoted to OC, Mike McDaniel; been basically everywhere Shanahan has been.)

Edited January 28, 2021 by Richard Noggin
said it twice

[TBBills]

Throw the ball more.

[Hapless Bills Fan]

On 1/25/2021 at 11:49 AM, Logic said:

Perhaps it's too early for some to start talking about next season. If that's the case for you, I understand.

As for me, I'm already excited about the potential of the 2021 Buffalo Bills.

It was quite clear watching last night's game -- and watching the entire season unfold, really -- that the Bills could DESPERATELY use a good run game. 

The question remains, though: Just HOW do you go about addressing the running game? Buffalo recently spent third round picks on Singletary and Moss. I doubt they're ready to give up on either of them, nor should they. The Bills usually only dress three running backs on game day, with the third being a special teams contributor. Neither Singletary nor Moss contribute much on special teams.

So what do you do?

Do you draft another running back? If so, you'd probably better draft one earlier than round three. If Singletary and Moss aren't getting it done, what makes you think another third round or later running back will?

Are you willing to part with such premium draft capital for a running back? Do you focus on replacing a guard or two, or the center? What do you do? 

Knowing how aggressively Beane attacks roster weaknesses, and how much McDermott values the run game, I trust that Buffalo will actively seek to address this problem. But in the meantime, how do YOU suggest we go about it? This question does not seem to have any easy answers.

I think the first thing to do is to understand what the problem is in the run game.

 

1) Clearly at times we were able to run the ball successfully.  One of those times was vs. NE, when Daboll commented that on Friday, we practiced 50 plays and 48 were runs (190 yds rushing).  Another was vs. the Chargers, just after the bye when we'd said we'd work on the run game (172 yds).  Chopping Wood on BuffaloBills.com and Cover1 Run game vs the Chargers.

 

So our OL is capable of blocking and our backs of running successfully - at times.

 

IMO we need a change to the focus on practice and execution in the run game.  It shouldn't be "practice 48 of 50 plays" but if they need to "Dial in a little more" as Dion said, suck it up and ***** do it.

 

2) At other times, we struggled (Rams, Titans).  From some of the breakdowns available online (see Cover1 "Plays are there to be Had" for example, and some Chopping Woods episodes), when we struggled it was (as Beane said in his presser) because the OL had trouble blocking, because the TE or WR missed their blocks, or because the timing was AFU.

 

Our OL gets out-techniqued or overpowered in the run game at times.  IMO we need an upgrade at G and a transition plan at C.

 

Don't mistake Beane's comment that Morse isn't a guy who will knock the NT 3 feet backwards for meaning Morse is ineffective at run blocking.  In Morse's first 2 1/2 seasons in KC (2015, 2016, Game 1-6 of 2017, the Chiefs had a very effective run game.  He's not and will never be a power blocker.  He's a zone blocking, technique guy, and when we were rushing effectively, Morse was effective.  Morse has more dead money than cap savings this year.  In a cap strapped year, I don't think he's going anywhere.

 

IMO they ought to really push to bring back Daryl Williams.  In a perfect world, they'd bring back Feliciano, also, but if it's a choice let's lock down Williams.

Bates seemed to play capably when they gave him a chance in the NE, SEA, and 2nd MIA games.  He's signed for another year.  Boettger is a RFA and should be able to be brought back fairly cheaply.

 

But we need to address OL in the draft, more than RB IMO

 

3) the Backs.  Antonio Williams showed something vs Miami.  Maybe he deserves more look.  Maybe Christian Wade deserves more look.  I see us looking for a lower-priced FA and another RB later in the draft because, Competition, but IMO if we can fix 1) and 2) we should be able to have a more competent run game more of the time.

 

Somewhat tangential, but we know the Beane-meister loves him his draft capital.  It wouldn't shock me if he would try to trade a couple guys we're out of love with but have shown enough flashes that another team might want them, for some low-round picks he can wheel and deal with.  I see Singletary as one possible target.