2023 Running Back Depth Chart: You Choose

[transient]

8 minutes ago, LABILLBACKER said:

Cook is RB1 getting 60+% of touches. Hines and Perine split the rest. Do not draft any RB's but pick up 2-3 udfa guys to compete for a possible 4th spot. Pay that 4th RB the league minimum, put him on ST and dump Jones.

I could get behind this. I had stated previously in another thread that I didn't think they should waste draft picks or FA money on a RB they won't use and, given their current RB room, they should bring to camp every UFA RB with size and reasonable speed that could be used as a battering ram, throw them at the wall, and see who sticks.

[Straight Hucklebuck]

James Cook, Nyheim Hines, and an undrafted rookie free agent. 

 

No other investment. 

 

The Bills have 6 draft picks. 

[NeverOutNick]

Pacheco in the 7th please…jk but honestly RB is the thing we should be worries least about. After the dust settles and we draft a couple awesome O lineman and we get a stud #2 WR in free agency (hoping Hopkins) then we get a RB that is still waiting for a team on a reasonable 1 year prove it deal

[Airseven]

Montgomery

[PetermansRedemption]

I voted Mattison out of those options. Guy has produced whenever standing in for Cook. 

[Brianmoorman4jesus]

24 minutes ago, FireChans said:

Keep working?

 

Here's how the Eagles built this Super Bowl team.

 

They have a QB making 2% of the cap.  They have a really good WR2 who is a star on a rookie deal. They have a WR1 who they traded a FRP for and signed to a mega deal. They have a RB1 on a rookie deal.

 

They have the best RT in football being paid accordingly.  Darius Slay, who they traded for, is making 11% of their cap on his mega deal. Bradberry is on a 1 year deal.

 

They have an aging group of ProBowlers (Kelce, Cox, Graham) who all took shorter term contracts for one last ride.

 

What similarities do you see between them and us heading in 2023?  They WENT for it this year. This offseason, Kelce and Cox will likely retire, Graham will be voided, and they will lose a bunch of their guys.

 

We don't have the cap space or luxury of a star-studded cast. Slay/Bardberrys' is better than our CB's.  Josh is better than Hurts, but he may not be $50M better than Hurts. Every single OL player on their team is better. Their DL is better. Their WR group collectively is better. Their RB group is better.

 

The only place we are better than the Eagles today is QB, WR1 and FS.  That's why they are in the Superbowl, and we are talking about cheap OL signings in FA.

 

"Just build a great team" isn't a strategy. It's a pipe dream.

 

 

My entire point was to adjust the philosophy into a more physical, balanced attack. It’s very doable and not a pipe dream whatsoever. It’s a shift in mentality and coaching scheme with some run game pieces added. The eagles commit to the run and push the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball. You are getting hung up on the semantics of the roster here

[CircleTheWagons99]

Other: build a better Oline then the rest wont matter. 

[FireChans]

1 hour ago, Brianmoorman4jesus said:

My entire point was to adjust the philosophy into a more physical, balanced attack. It’s very doable and not a pipe dream whatsoever. It’s a shift in mentality and coaching scheme with some run game pieces added. The eagles commit to the run and push the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball. You are getting hung up on the semantics of the roster here

Have you ever noticed that good teams who commit to the run, and play tough physical defense..... usually have a lot of really good players?

 

Teams like the 49ers.  The Eagles.  The 2014 Seahawks. etc. etc. etc.

[Brianmoorman4jesus]

59 minutes ago, FireChans said:

Have you ever noticed that good teams who commit to the run, and play tough physical defense..... usually have a lot of really good players?

 

Teams like the 49ers.  The Eagles.  The 2014 Seahawks. etc. etc. etc.

We have a very deep roster

[RyanC883]

Mattison, dude has been a stud when Cook missed time.  Here, he could be the No1. and play with Cook’s brother.  For 2.2 mill that would free up a pick for OT. 

[John from Riverside]

I voted for a late round, running back, and I still think we should take one
 

But Perrine and Mosart are intriguing for the price

[LyndonvilleBill]

6 hours ago, Brianmoorman4jesus said:

We have a very deep roster

We do. We just don't have any "Game Changers" on D and our only REAL O is Diggs and Allen. I think we are easy to gameplan against. Double Diggs and spy Allen. On D when Von was playing,  Double Von. Pretty simple.

 

I thinks we need a bigger back (later rounds) to compliment Cook on a rookie deal and a couple of "Difference Makers" i.e. WR, LB, Edge. Someone that makes the opponent have to plan for. Add an OL or two to give Allen an extra 1/2 second in the pocket and I think the whole O changes including the running game.

[CapeBreton]

13 hours ago, Virgil said:

If our offensive line gets better, I’m good with Cook and Hines

 

Cook and Hines alone would easily be the worst RB group in the league.

 

I like the idea of signing Mattison for cheap, I have doubts that the Bills can find a decent RB late in the draft.

[BarleyNY]

14 hours ago, Virgil said:

If our offensive line gets better, I’m good with Cook and Hines

Really depends on if they keep Hines. He seems like a cut due to salary or a pay cut candidate to me. They traded (not much) for him, then hardly used him on offense. $4.8M is his salary in 2023. That would put him 17th among RBs in average salary. I just don’t see that happening, but maybe we see an extension with some decent guaranteed money and lower AAV. He just turned 26 so it’s possible. But I think him getting cut is much more likely. 
 

If Hines is a cut then we just have Singletary and we’re looking at adding a FA, a draft pick and an UDFA to our 90. I would not use any consequential resources on one with one possible exception: Bijan Robinson. That’s not the direction I think they will go and it’s not my first choice, but if the team was to revamp its offense, he’s the one playmaker at RB we could afford and possibly acquire. I think they’ll go with low cost solutions. 

Edited February 3, 2023 by BarleyNY

[K D]

RB? Who cares. That's my opinion on it. KC got their RB in the 6th round

[Brianmoorman4jesus]

4 hours ago, LyndonvilleBill said:

We do. We just don't have any "Game Changers" on D and our only REAL O is Diggs and Allen. I think we are easy to gameplan against. Double Diggs and spy Allen. On D when Von was playing,  Double Von. Pretty simple.

 

I thinks we need a bigger back (later rounds) to compliment Cook on a rookie deal and a couple of "Difference Makers" i.e. WR, LB, Edge. Someone that makes the opponent have to plan for. Add an OL or two to give Allen an extra 1/2 second in the pocket and I think the whole O changes including the running game.

I actually think we have exceptional talent on defense. The scheme is the issue.

[Don Otreply]

We have serviceable RBs, what we don’t have is a serviceable O-line and offensive scheme that know how to seamlessly integrate RBs into an offensive scheme. It is about personnel usage and play call sequencing, and a rookie OC who hasn’t got enough experience to know when / how to mix it up when playing the real contenders. 
 

GO BILLS!!!

[LyndonvilleBill]

17 minutes ago, Brianmoorman4jesus said:

I actually think we have exceptional talent on defense. The scheme is the issue.

Don't get me wrong, I think we have some VERY good players on D. But, other than when Von was playing, do you think any OC we played against said "We need to focus on this player in order to beat the Bills"?

[BigBuff423]

With Cook as the primary, and Hymes as the lead back-up and with a similar skill-set, I don't believe investing ANY FA money into the RB position makes sense. I think Drafting a viable RB somewhere between the 5th and 7th Round who is a complementary type RB to both of those players is wisest thing to do. Also, the NFL, including last year, is littered with good and productive RBs who were drafted in those rounds and given the other needs of the team to be addressed via FA, I don't think it's prudent to expend resources in a RB outside of the Draft, unless it were a trade for a similar Draft pick value. 

[NastyNateSoldiers]

17 hours ago, Rigotz said:

With Devin Singletary set to become a free agent, I thought it might be interesting to highlight available free agents and provide a variety of options via poll.

 

If you don't see an option you like, please add in the comments.

 

I'll go first. I think we need a running back with pass blocking and short distance skill set, with some pass catching ability as a bonus.

 

These players are available in late rounds and free agency, but I'm picking a known commodity and adding Samaje Perine at an estimated $3M/Yr.

 

What's your choice?

 

(All free agent market value projections taken from Spotrac)

I voted for 3rd/4th rd Pk but I also want Foreman for 3.5 mil.