The Buffalo Bills have used the “hot hand” method of running back selection for the past year or more. That is, to have a few good running backs and keep handing it off to the one who doesn’t fumble or who is seeing the field better or more effective that day. That trend seems to be going away this season.
After being inactive Week 1 following a lackluster training camp and preseason, Zack Moss has been the consistent hot hand for the last several weeks. Over the last three games Moss has inched ahead in snap counts, but against the Kansas City Chiefs it was an explosion.
Moss played 74 percent of Buffalo’s offensive snaps against Kansas City, by far the highest percentage of snaps he’s ever played in a single game in the NFL. Compare that to just 26 percent of snaps for Devin Singletary, the lowest number of his career. Moss had 11 rushes and four targets in the passing game with Singletary running six times and receiving two targets out of the backfield.
In the previous two games, Moss out-snapped 56 percent to 43.5 percent. Three games is a trend, and we’re seeing it unfold at the running back position.
It’s not just overall numbers that are one-sided; the Bills are going to Moss a ton more inside the red zone. Against Kansas City, only one running back received a red-zone carry (Moss). Against Houston, Moss got five carries and a goal line target. He converted one for the score. Singletary had one red-zone carry and it was with Mitchell Trubisky as QB when the game was mopped up. Against Washington, Moss had five red-zone carries and one red-zone target (which he converted for a score). Singletary had three rushes in the red zone.
Moss has noticeably been running with a mean streak and delivering blows to opposing defenses. It seems like Buffalo is moving from a 1A/1B to a 1 and a 2, especially in terms of fantasy value.
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