The speedy veteran has a shot at the 53-man roster
The Buffalo Bills have five running backs on their current roster. It’s clear which one of those five will handle the lion’s share of the snaps and touches, but it’s anyone’s guess as to which player will slot in as the primary backup.
Buffalo is likely to keep three running backs, and there’s some potential for them to keep a fourth. In what is likely to be an offense that focuses a bit more on running the football than it has over the last few years, those backup running backs could take on extra significance this season given the team’s proclivity towards sharing carries in the backfield.
In today’s installment of “91 players in 91 days,” we discuss one of the four men fighting for a spot as a reserve running back.
Darrynton Evans
- Number: 37
- Position: RB
- Height/Weight: 5’10”, 203 pounds
- Age: 26 (27 on 7/9/2025)
- Experience/Draft: 5; selected in the third round (No. 93 overall) of the 2020 NFL Draft by the Tennessee Titans
- College: Appalachian State
- Acquired: Signed reserve/futures with Buffalo on 1/23/2024
Financial situation (per Spotrac): Evans signed a one-year deal worth $1.055 million overall. There are no guarantees on the deal. If he makes the roster, he’ll carry a cap hit that equals the total value of his contract, and he can be released without Buffalo carrying any dead-cap charge for the season.
2023 Recap: Evans was all over the place during the 2023 calendar year. He signed with the Indianapolis Colts on March 31, but was waived by the team on May 2. He remained a free agent until July 25, when the Bills signed him after news that Nyheim Hines would miss the season thanks to a Jet Ski® accident.
Evans spent the preseason with Buffalo, and he was quite productive in a variety of roles. He carried 21 times for 108 yards and a score across three preseason games, adding two catches for 10 yards and four kickoff returns for 86 yards. In spite of the positive performance, it wasn’t enough for him to make the team, and Buffalo released him on August 29. He signed with the Miami Dolphins’ practice squad on August 31. He didn’t appear in Miami’s first four games, and he was signed off the practice squad by the Chicago Bears on October 9.
He appeared in five games with Chicago, carrying 30 times for 105 yards and a score. He caught seven passes on 12 targets for 49 yards. The Bears waived him on November 16, and he signed to Miami’s practice squad once again on November 21. He was elevated for two games with the Dolphins, carrying twice for 16 yards. With both the Bears and the Dolphins, he played special teams, as well.
Positional outlook: Evans is competing with Ray Davis, Ty Johnson, and Frank Gore Jr. for the right to back up James Cook.
2024 Offseason: Evans is healthy and participated in offseason work. He’s ready for training camp.
2024 Season outlook: While I think that Evans ends up on the outside looking in once again, it’s not completely out of the question for him to make the final roster this time around. I think that Cook is clearly RB1, and I fully expect Davis, who the Bills chose in the fourth round of the 2024 NFL Draft to slot in as RB2.
That leaves Evans competing with Johnson and Gore Jr. for that third spot. Gore Jr. is my fifth guy given his utter lack of explosiveness, so that would leave Evans and Johnson in a fight for RB3. It’s pretty likely that the coaching staff keeps Johnson in the same spot he began when he joined the team last year. Both he and Evans have good speed, and they both have shown flashes of strength as kick returners.
I don’t think the team will go with four running backs, but if they do, look for Evans to stick on the roster as a designated kick returner or a game day inactive. Otherwise, I expect that he’ll be in a dogfight for that third RB spot all summer long.