After spending their first two picks on players in the trenches, the Buffalo Bills drafted running back Devin Singletary with their third-round pick. In doing so, the team added an incredibly shifty runner with some gaudy statistics.
No one in the last three years has scored as many touchdowns as Singletary’s 66, including an astonishing 32 touchdowns in 2017. In the past two seasons, Singletary has forced 175 missed tackles, including 96 this past season. He may be on the small side, and he may not have tested as an elite athlete, but on the field, he looks like LeSean McCoy playing for Florida Atlantic University.
Singletary is also a capable receiver out of the backfield, and he has experience as an effective pass protector. The negatives are that, as a McCoy/Sanders style runner, Singletary will be prone to tackles in the backfield, especially as he’s adjusting to NFL speed. He also enters a crowded running back room with McCoy, Frank Gore, T.J. Yeldon, and Marcus Murphy already on the roster.
Singletary won’t start in year one, but he’ll learn behind two modern greats. He wouldn’t have been my preferred pick in the third round, with wide receiver Hakeem Butler still on the board, but after the first couple rounds end, you can’t be too picky. My biggest question is how the team finds room to give Singletary reps. If he can adjust his style to the NFL’s level of play, Singletary has the upside of a lead running back for an offense. He’ll certainly have an easier time running behind Buffalo’s rebuilt offensive line.