Getty Chris Thompson #34 of the Jacksonville Jaguars warms up prior to the game against the Miami Dolphins at TIAA Bank Field on September 24, 2020 in Jacksonville, Florida.
While the Buffalo Bills are going into the 2021 NFL season as one of the top-ranked teams, there’s always room for more improvement. The Bills are obviously in good hands with quarterback Josh Allen at the helm and stacked with wide receivers, but they remain weak in the backfield.
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According to Bleacher Report‘s Kristopher Knox, the “best free-agent option” for the Bills to add is former Jacksonville Jaguars dual-threat running back Chris Thompson.
The Bills “should be looking to get more out of their backfield this season,” Knox wrote. “Despite fielding the league’s second-ranked offense, Buffalo ranked only 20th in rushing yards and 20th in yards per carry.” Ouch.
Thompson, a 2013 fifth-round pick out of Florida State, played his first six seasons in the NFL with the Washington Football Team. Last season, while playing with the Jaguars, he appeared in only eight games before landing on IR with a back injury.
Thompson, who remains unemployed for the 2021 NFL season, “appeared in 74 games and has compiled 1,214 rushing yards, 232 receptions and 1,918 receiving yards. He has averaged 4.7 yards per carry and 8.3 yards per reception,” Knox noted. “Adding him would give Buffalo an experienced piece of depth in the backfield and another receiving outlet for emerging superstar Josh Allen to utilize.”
Zack Moss and Devin Singeltary are Holding Down the Bills’ Backfield
When it comes to running backs for the 2021 NFL season, the Bills roster includes Devin Singletary, Zack Moss, and veteran newcomer Matt Breida. It has yet to be decided who will earn the starting role for the 2021 NFL season. Bills offensive coordinator Brian Daboll said in July that the team may rotate starters.
“Whoever’s back there is playing good,” Daboll said, as reported by The Buffalo News. “Sometimes that happens. Let’s say you’re in a game and you just get a sense one guy’s got it going a little bit more than the other guy and that’s the guy you ride with a little bit … there’ll be a good competition come training camp.”
However, according to ESPN’s Dan Graziano, no one should be “surprised if Singeltary gets the nod over Moss:
What I’m hearing: The Bills say conditioning was the main reason Singletary didn’t follow up on his promising rookie year with a strong 2020. They say the lack of a true offseason program last year affected some players more than others, and Singletary was one of them. He’s in better shape now and has had a strong camp.
They still like Moss, a third-round pick last year, and will use him. But if last year’s split morphs into something that tilts a little more toward Singletary, don’t be surprised.
Bills Take on the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 1
GettyJosh Allen #17 of the Buffalo Bills during training camp at the Adpro Sports Training Center on July 28, 2021 in Orchard Park, New York.
The Bills have the advantage of kicking off their 2021 NFL season at home at Orchard Park on Sunday, September 12 where they will be taking on Ben Roethlisberger and the Pittsburgh Steelers.
This is the third time in the past three seasons the two teams will play against each other, and the Bills took the win in the last two matchups.
Last season, Buffalo beat Pittsburgh by 11 points in Week 14. In 2019, the Bills won by seven points in Week 15, which secured the team’s spot in the playoffs.
Bills head coach Sean McDermott, who’s a former college teammate of the Steelers’ head coach Mike Tomlin, said before Sunday’s game, “They’re a good football team, and we expect to a very tough game.”
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