Bills have a three-back rotation for the moment
Having a single star running back on your NFL roster is risky. If he goes down in the season with an injury, no one is left to carry the load out of the backfield. This is why most teams have what is known as a running back duo. Two guys split the workload and alternate in the game to always have fresh legs running the ball.
The Dallas Cowboys have adopted this philosophy with Marian Barber and Felix Jones. The defending Super Bowl champions, the New Orleans Saints, also rely on this technique and have Reggie Bush and Pierre Thomas both getting a chance to run the ball and make plays.
But having three RBs is a crowd. When the Buffalo Bills drafted rookie C.J. Spiller a few months ago, they added another talented player at a crowded position. The Bills already have Fred Jackson and Marshawn Lynch fighting for carries and an opportunity to be the team’s go-to guy.
Fourth-year veteran Jackson had a breakout season last year and rushed over 1000 yards for the first time in his career. Lynch has seen his production numbers decrease at an alarming rate. In 2009, his touches were nearly reduced to half and he racked up a career low 450 yards on the ground on two touchdowns.
Now after missing 11 training camp practices, former Clemson star running back Spiller enters the conversion and the rotation with the Bills’ starters. Spiller finished his college career with over 3000 yards rushing, 1500 yards in kickoff returns, 1000 yards receiving and 500 yards in punt returns and Buffalo are looking for that same production from the ninth overall pick as quickly as possible.
The rookie did practice with his team on Friday and Saturday after signing his five-year, $25 million contract. But Spiller, who was clocked with the second fastest time at this year’s rookie combine in March, is expected to get a few offensive reps with the Buffalo’s starters on Monday’s practice.
This means that the Bills will have a three-back rotation. Because Spiller has such exceptional speed and soft hands, it is likely that first-year Bills head coach Chan Gailey, will try to get the speedster the ball in open space by designing screen plays for Spiller and using him as a receiver out of the running back position.
Spiller scored a touchdown in every single game last season, whether it was receiving, rushing or on special teams. So he knows who to find in the end zone and make plays when the ball is in his hands. This is why Gailey is considering Spiller to be the guy to return punts and kickoffs at the start of the 2010 season. He did score eight touchdowns on special teams during his career at Clemson, so playing returner is nothing new for him.
With the rookie entering the lineup with the first team, speculations have already begun that the Bills are looking to trade Lynch for possibly an offensive linemen. According to the NFL Network’s Jason La Canfora, the Seahawks are “quite interested” in Bills’ running back Lynch.
Both Spiller and Jackson are expected to open the season as the new duo in town. But the two running backs and Lynch (if he’s still on the roster,) will need to work together and drastically improve Buffalo’s offence, which was ranked 30th out of the NFL’s 32 teams in total offence in yards last year.
Numbers like that will certainly not get you into the playoffs, which might explain why the Buffalo Bills have not been in the post-season since 1999.They are banking that Spiller and Jackson, and maybe even Lynch are the answer to their post-season drought.
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