Am I the only one who hasn't completely given up on Zack Moss?

[Captain Hindsight]

What does he do well? Hes not fast, his vision is poor, blocking is average. Bills should be looking to improve that position

[CapeBreton]

22 minutes ago, Bob in STL said:

I was thinking of red zone failures and I think it was the Titans game, could have been the Bucs. Moss had an easy TD which would have won the game for us.   
He ran past the seam and straight into were the blockers were moving the defense.   I cannot think of any plays he made in the red zone.   

 

As a runner he lacks vision and football smarts.   Blocking is average at best and he did nothing as a receiver out of the backfield.   The Bills will draft a RB and Moss will have to really improve to make the team.  

 

12 minutes ago, Captain Hindsight said:

What does he do well? Hes not fast, his vision is poor, blocking is average. Bills should be looking to improve that position

 

I don't care for Moss and he looks like a bust but I thought he was known for being a very good pass blocker? 

[2003Contenders]

It's funny because I thought Moss played well late into his rookie season -- and actually made an impact in the playoffs. When he got hurt, it seemed like the offense took a step back with Singletary (most obviously in the AFC Championship Game against KC). That is why expectations were modestly high on Moss headed into 2021. As it turns out, from day one (when Moss was a healthy scratch against Pittsburgh), he was a major disappointment.

 

He does some things well -- especially blocking and catching the ball out of the backfield. However, breaking tackles and fighting for extra yards used to be his calling card (wanting defenders to "make a business decision" when tackling him). Too often in short yardage and redzone situations, he failed to get the yards needed. He seemed slow at times to read his blocks -- and sometimes outright missed open holes. He may not be any slower than Singletary -- but especially late in the season Devin seemed much more determined and decisive when making his cuts than Moss did.

 

So in answer to your question, especially given that he is still playing on a 3rd round rookie contract, I have not completely given up on him. He and Devin combined should prove to be serviceable. However, with defenses totally dedicated to stopping Josh, you would think that Moss would be more productive when given the opportunity. Imagine what the offense could do with an elite "bell cow" RB legitimately taking some of the pressure off the passing game (and opening up play-action) -- and converting on those crucial 3rd and short situations to keep drives alive!

 

[BrainwashedBillsFan]

Yes you are the only one who still believes in Moss.

[BringBackFlutie]

2 hours ago, CapeBreton said:

 

 

I don't care for Moss and he looks like a bust but I thought he was known for being a very good pass blocker? 

 

I believe this is a common misconception. It is, in fact, the smaller of the two who is really good at pass blocking (Singletary).

[Chicken Boo]

12 hours ago, GoBills808 said:

Pass first offense. He only got 188 attempts.

 

12 hours ago, John from Riverside said:

But that’s kind of the point with the offense that we’ve been running there’s very little opportunity for running back to get thousand yard seasons that’s why they have to be effective when they do get their carries

 

A lack of balance will become problematic.  The Bills need to be able to lean on the running game from time to time, particularly if Josh is going to run less and I'm not sold that Devin is a 200-250 carry kind of guy.

[glazeduck]

On 4/10/2022 at 4:26 PM, Logic said:

It seems that just about everyone has written off Zack Moss as a reasonable RB2 option going forward. 

I understand that he had a down 2021, but he certainly showed promise in the 2020 season, to the point where he was viewed by many as the Bills' true RB1 heading into 2021. He is a hard running, physical back with good balance and catching ability. He was drafted in the third round just two seasons ago and Beane was very excited to get him (cue pithy Cody Ford remark here).

A few things stick out to me:

1.) In 2020, when the Bills offensive line switched to primarily zone running, Moss became very effective. Singletary, less so. In 2021, the Bills tried to do a bit of everything, rolled out the "RB by committee" approach again, realized it was a failure by mid-season, and scrapped it for a heavy reliance on Singletary and power gap runs and pin-and-pull concepts. These are Singletary's bread and butter, so whereas he had struggled in 2020, he rebounded and flourished behind the blocking scheme with which he is most effective. Moss, on the other hand, went the opposite direction. After averaging 4.3 ypc in 2020, he averaged just 3.6 in 2021.

Here's the thing with that: if I'm not mistaken, new o-line coach Aaron Kromer will most likely be bringing in the wide zone, one-cut-and-go stuff full time. As just mentioned, Moss thrived behind this running scheme in 2020. Why doesn't anyone think he can thrive again?

2.) We saw just last year, with Singletary himself, the following phenomenon: A running back comes in and thrives as a rookie, has a sophomore slump partly due to change in blocking scheme, then rebounds in year three upon returning to the blocking scheme with which he's most comfortable. This exact scenario seems to be playing out with Zack Moss right now. Nice year one, down year two behind new blocking scheme...why can't year three with a zone running scheme see the same type of bounce-back from him that Singletary enjoyed?

I'm not saying he's ever gonna be a top five back or light the league on fire, but so many Bills fans seem completely ready to ship him off for a late round pick or cut him outright, and certainly aren't counting on him to contribute meaningfully in 2022, and I can't quite figure out why that is. It's not as if he has NEVER shown that he can be effective in this league. Bring up the 2020 game highlights and you see plenty of really nice plays and both the running and passing game from Moss. Does everyone just assume he completely forgot how to play football?

If you're one of those who have given up on Zack Moss, I'm curious to know your reasoning. I'm also curious to know: if you don't believe he can rebound behind better OL personnel, with a better o-line coach and a blocking scheme better suited to his skills, WHY don't you believe it?

 

It's funny, when Moss was drafted last year, I was VERY vocal about how meh he was, and I was told repeatedly that I didn't know what I was talking about. I might even go as far as to say that I was the most anti-Moss poster on the board. I HATED it (still do).

 

That said, people now are treating him as though he has Henry Ruggs levels of value, as though we'd literally accept a used dustmop for him and run laughing all the way to the bank... While I absolutely do not think he's anything close to resembling a franchise RB, people are absolutely way too low on him -- both as a Bill and as a football player in general. He played hurt last season and does have some potential as a short yardage thumper. Would I take a 5th round pick for him? Probably, yeah. But would I cut him? Not unless I truly thought he was the worst player on the roster -- and we'd have at least a couple moves to make before that were the case...

[transplantbillsfan]

I don't think Moss was even good in his rookie year.  I'm hoping he's not on the roster next year because we've either traded him (hopefully) or cut him after a TC battle with Singletary, Johnson and whatever rookie(s) we draft.

 

He's Devin Singletary except slower, more injury prone, and with poorer vision.

[machine gun kelly]

Transplant, agreed on you’re take.  I was hopeful when drafted and thought he might act like more of a battering ram to Motor’s wiggle.  He looked to regress in year 2, and Singletary improved late in the year.

 

I still see Beane going after in no particular order a CB, WR, G, a punter in the 7th, and try for a steal mid rounds for a RB.  Whenever I think we’ll never get a lock at RB, I have to remind myself Diggs, and Milano were taken in the 5th.  Both have outplayed their rookie draft status, and who’s say Beane may swing and hit this time.  I’d never pay big $ for a free agent, and most teams these days don’t even typically extend a lot of RBs.

 

We definitely would benefit from another RB in the room as Gilliam is really a FB/hybrid TE.