Buffalo Bills Draft Countdown: Running Backs

Three of their four players at this position have contracts that expire after the 2022 season.

By the end of the 2022 NFL Draft, it would be almost impossible to imagine the Bills having not selected at least one running back.

The reason is simple: Uncertainty.

Starter Devin Singletary is entering the final year of his contract. Free agent Duke Johnson was signed to just a one-year deal. Same with veteran Taiwan Jones, a special-teams ace brought back for another season, which he will play at age 34. Zack Moss is entering the third year of his rookie contract, but his position on the team isn't even guaranteed again, especially if the Bills draft someone.

Part of their long-term plan is to see how this season plays out before deciding on paying anyone any real money.

What it all means is that the Bills could draft a running back as high as the first round, providing he's dynamic enough, even though the position has been slowly devalued in the Draft over the years.

In fact, NFL Network analyst Daniel Jeremiah makes a compelling case for Iowa State's Breece Hall, the running back he considers to be the finest in this year's class.

"I think you've got an offense that's going to go out and get a bunch of leads
with how explosive they are," he said. "I think getting somebody that can finish the game — I think Breece Hall — gives you that ability.

"When it comes to the value of the position, the devalue of the position, whatever you want to call it, my thought process on running backs is I don't have a problem taking those guys in the first round, provided your team is ready to win right now and they're all meaningful carries. In other words, you're a bad team and you take a running back high, if we assume that they've got a short shelf life and you're going to get a five-year run out of those guys, you're wasting two of those years or you're wasting two years of carries on a bad team.

"The Buffalo Bills have a team that's a championship-caliber team right now. You draft a running back, every single one of those carries you would think for the next four or five years is going to be a meaningful, valuable carry.
I could make a strong case that that would make a lot of sense with Breece Hall there for them at 25."

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Whether general manager Brandon Beane would consider using a first-round pick on a running back is another question. Though he wouldn't rule it out when asked about that scenario last week, he gave the impression that a lot of unusual things would need to line up.

"We've had guys on our board in the first round since I've been here that are running backs," Beane said. "... But sometimes it comes down to position value. If there's a player that I think is dynamic enough as a running back and can add an element to our offense this year, next year, whenever, we would still take him. But he would have to be dynamic enough to be over another position that maybe is considered a higher position value."

A first-round running back definitely would be a luxury pick the Bills could afford to make.

Bills fans shouldn't hold their collective breath waiting for that to happen, however.

Here is how we line them up at SI.com's 2022 Draft Bible.

Running back prospects

First-round grades: Breece Hall, Iowa State.

Second-round grades: Brian Robinson, Alabama. Kenneth Walker, Michigan State.

Third-round grades: Isaiah Spiller, Texas A&M. Dameon Pierce, Florida.

Fourth round grades and later: James Cook, Georgia. Isaih Pacheco, Rutgers. Kyren Williams, Notre Dame. Tyler Badie, Missouri. Pierre Strong, South Dakota State. Zamir White, Georgia. D'Vonte Price, Florida International. Tyler Goodson, Iowa.

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Nick Fierro is the publisher of Bills Central. Check out the latest Bills news at www.si.com/nfl/bills and follow Fierro on Twitter at @NickFierro. Email to Nicky300@aol.com.