Do you feel old yet? I feel old...
The Buffalo Bills seem like a team committed to running the football a bit more this coming season. While that may seem counterproductive with a quarterback as talented as Josh Allen, having a strong ground game will unlock different strengths in Allen’s game. Whereas many teams may not sell out for the run on a play-action fake knowing full well that Allen and the pass is more dangerous than anything a Bills player can do on the ground, if that trend starts reversing, it will open up some big plays off of play-action.
With a rebuilt receiving corps, it certainly would be nice for first-year offensive coordinator Joe Brady to have a running game to take pressure off of that passing attack. If the Bills can spread carries around throughout their diverse backfield, it will make the run game that much better — and much less predictable.
In today’s edition of “91 players in 91 days,” we discuss an undrafted rookie with a very familiar name.
Frank Gore Jr.
- Number: 20
- Position: RB
- Height/Weight: 5’8”, 195 pounds
- Age: 22 (23 on 3/13/2025)
- Experience/Draft: R; signed with Buffalo following the 2024 NFL Draft
- College: So. Mississippi
- Acquired: UDFA signing
Financial situation (per Spotrac): Gore Jr. signed his three-year rookie contract, worth a total of $2.845 million, in late April. He’s guaranteed $90,000 out of that total, and that’s also the number which represents the dead-cap charge Buffalo will carry if they release him. If Gore Jr. makes the roster, he’ll carry a cap hit of $800,000 for the year.
2023 Recap: Gore Jr. had another productive season for the Eagles, as he eclipsed the 1,000-yard mark for the second consecutive year. He gained 1,131 yards on 231 carries, good for a 4.9 yards per carry average, and scored 10 touchdowns. He added 27 catches for 221 yards and three touchdowns, all of which were single-season highs for Gore Jr. in his NCAA career. He finished his career third on the school’s all-time rushing yardage list, gaining 4,022 yards on 759 college carries.
For his efforts, Gore Jr. was invited to both the East-West Shrine Bowl and the 2024 NFL Scouting Combine. He made the most of his opportunity at the Shrine Bowl, earning offensive MVP as a result of his six-carry, 87-yard performance, capping it off with a 47-yard touchdown run. He also had one reception for three yards in the game. At the combine, Gore Jr. chose only to participate in the bench press, where he completed 12 reps at 225 pounds. At Southern Mississippi’s pro day, he improved on that number by performing 18 reps of the 225-pound bench, but he didn’t test very well otherwise. He ran the 40-yard dash in just 4.69 seconds, and he had a 29” vertical jump and a 9’3” broad jump.
Positional outlook: Gore. Jr. is one of five running backs on Buffalo’s current roster. James Cook, Ty Johnson, and Darrynton Evans were all with the Bills last season, while Ray Davis was drafted in the fourth round in April.
2024 Offseason: Gore Jr. is healthy and participating in the team’s offseason program.
2024 Season outlook: I don’t foresee a scenario where Gore Jr. is any higher than RB4, as I think a Cook, Johnson, and Davis trio atop the depth chart — and not necessarily in that order — seems like the way it’s going to go. That doesn’t mean I think it’s a given that Gore Jr. will be released, however, as I could absolutely see the Bills keeping an extra running back here if they thought they were going to run the football a lot.
The difficulty in projecting Gore Jr. to the roster comes when trying to figure out where the team will skimp out at other positions as a result of rostering a fifth running back, though, which is why I ultimately view him as a practice squad candidate more than a roster candidate. By giving Gore Jr. $75,000 in guaranteed salary, it gives me some pause about the team cutting him; however, that amount is minimal in the grand scheme of the Bills’ vast operations budget.
Frank Gore Jr. will need a big preseason to force Johnson off the roster, and given Johnson’s quickness combined with his success in limited action last year, I doubt that happens.