The Bills will face some pretty talented running backs
With mandatory minicamp wrapping up this week the Buffalo Bills are one step closer to the 2024 NFL regular season. The next stop for the Bills is training camp, starting in the later part of July.
Before we can get to the finer details of summer camp, we’ll continue breaking down position groups that Buffalo will face during the coming season. As such, let’s take a look at some of the running backs who will be lining up opposite the Bills’ defense.
Nine: The number of rushers the Bills will face who had over 1,000 yards during the 2023 season. This includes the 2023 league leader in Christian McCaffrey, who had 1,459 yards and 14 touchdowns for the San Francisco 49ers this past season. His accomplishments have also earned him the honor of being on the cover of Madden 25 this year.
Apart from McCaffrey, It doesn’t get much easier as the second-leading rusher, Derrick Henry, is also on Buffalo’s schedule — but he now plays for the Baltimore Ravens. But wait... there’s more! Third-leading rusher Kyren Williams on the Los Angeles Rams is on the schedule as well. The Bills are lucky enough to not play the fourth-leading rusher: James Cook.
Seven: The number of running backs the Bills will be facing who had 10 or more rushing touchdowns during the 2023 season. The leader in that category is Miami Dolphins’ running back Raheem Mostert who had 18 scores on the ground.
Two of those running backs belong to the Detroit Lions. Veteran David Montgomery rushed for 13 touchdowns last season, while rookie Jahmyr Gibbs contributed with 10 touchdowns. After he had a pretty productive game against the Bills in London, Jacksonville Jaguars running back Travis Etienne is back on the schedule boasting 11 touchdowns from last year.
Eight: The defense will face a lot of explosive running backs this season as eight of them on the schedule had at least seven rushes of over 20 yards last season. The player who had the most 20-plus-yard rushes will be their Week 1 opponent. James Connor of the Arizona Cardinals had 11 rushes for 20 or more yards.
Three of those players who achieved that feat are in the AFC East. Dolphins running backs Raheem Mostert had seven rushes for 20-plus yards, and teammate De’Von Achane had eight of them (in a limited role no less).
New York Jets running back Breece Hall had seven of those rushes as well. To make matters worse, Achane and Hall were first and second in the NFL with rushes going for 40-plus yards with five and four respectively.