Ten 2024 NFL Draft Running Backs the Buffalo Bills Should Target | ARH

Bills Depth Chart at RB [Music] bills Mafia on tonight's air raid hour we will be breaking down 10 of our favorite running backs in the 20124 NFL draft what are their strengths what are their weaknesses how do they fit the bills and where are they projected to be drafted we answer all those questions tonight but [Music] first [Music] welcome to the air raid hour a cover one network podcast here are your host Judge Mathis and tilt [Music] money welcome in bills Mafia we're getting right into it tonight talking about some of our favorite running back prospects in this draft class not going to be as in-depth as some of our other shows where we tear out specific specific players to specific rounds and and talk about 20 30 sometimes pushing 40 prospects because the Buffalo Bills are probably not going to draft a running back as high this year so we're just going to share 10 of our favorites and we will let you guys in the comment section share your favorites and uh we will have a grand old time tonight but let's start first Dave with looking at the Buffalo Bills depth chart at running back they got James Cook entering year three of his four-year rookie contract he has sort of taken over the Reigns of the Buffalo Bills backfield both as a pass Catcher And as a runner out of the backfield you've got Ty Johnson on a one-year deal and you got Darren Evans on a future deal so the Buffalo Bills they're going to add to the running back room but chances are you're probably not going to see a running back drafted by the Buffalo Bills until at minimum round four yeah and you think about how the bills went in the last off season they had latavius Murray they had Damen Harris they ended up bringing in Johnson all behind James Cook at one point they had Leonard forette so clearly the bills like to have or they at least last year showed that they wanted to have some insurance policies there behind James Cook and so I agree you have James Cook and obviously fan favorite Tai Johnson back in the mix but to expect really much out of Darron Evans probably is a bit naive so they will add to the room at some point and if you're the bills you can wait until this fifth or sixth round see if a guy drops because if it if it does doesn't work out for you you have $10 million on June 1st when Trey white his post June 1st C Money free up you still got Kem hunt out there you still got Zeke Elliott out there there are running backs on the open market that the Buffalo Bills can likely get their hands on to be rb2 if they don't like the way things fall in the draft uh so let's get into it this evening we're going to share our top 10 running backs but first Not Top 10 but our our 10 favorite running backs but first this show is sponsored by Picasso's Pizza four great locations in Williamsville West senica Lancaster and blazedale buffalo Pizza since 1980 you can order a line atos pizza.net and if you're an out of toer like us you can even get a mail to your home and we can tell you from experience it is just as good as getting it fresh from the restaurant again that is picassos pizza.net all right tonight we are going to go back and forth sharing our five favorite running backs the the Buffalo Bills should consider in this year's draft by the time that we are done we will have shared 10 total running backs these aren't all going to be consensus top guys in this year's draft in fact a lot of these guys won't be the first couple of running backs off the board why as we mentioned at the top of the show it's unlikely the bills are going to use a premium pick on a running back this year but you never know and I know you slid one of the the upper echelon guys in there into your top five as well so we'll have a conversation on a few of them but I would consider this episode Dave kind of like an episode of Shark Tank we're we're trying to sell these Five Guys onto bills Mafia here and sort of try and illustrate their F fit with the Buffalo Bills so I'll start with you the floor is yours what is the first running back you want to talk about this evening yeah and the first running back I'm going to talk about is Jaylen Wright probably one out of the entire list of 10 that we're going to share tonight that's likely to be the highest drafted uh running back of of the 10 that we're going to share and I don't necessarily think the bills have a super realistic chance at Landing this guy but he is really exciting to watch and I do think um he would be a really nice compliment to a guy like James Cook had a really strong com combine and you just never know um I haven't necessarily seen him as the top ranked running back but I've seen him as maybe in the top five top three range and that's Jaylen Wright from Tennessee um obviously with at the Senior Bowl ran the 43840 at the combine which was the second best of all the running backs at the combine behind only a guy that you're going to talk about later so I'll leave that there um look I like Jaylen Wright as a fit he's got that experience in the zone read style at Tennessee if you watch a lot of those Tennessee games it's it was a lot of Zone re it was a lot of Jaylen right running out of the shotgun a lot of the similar types of design plays that you've seen the bills run with James Cook with latavius Murray a year ago and I think he would be very comfortable in the bills system and what they do offensively especially if Joe Brady carries that stuff over into 2024 as I mentioned the second best 40 time at the Combine he improved his yards after contact each year at Tennessee over the past three years he was their number 11 overall run pff's number 11 overall running back in 2023 I really like his footwork confined spaces I thought he did a really nice job in traffic shows patience and he's obviously got the long game to go but he is 510 210 so he's not necessarily a super slim guy and he's not afraid to get up straight up the field so um not the biggest receiving threat 22 catches in 2023 which is pretty solid but can add that to the room as well especially at times as we saw guys like Murray making some drops last year so I like Jaylen Wright I don't think it's necessarily super realistic that the bills get him but I do did really enjoy researching him and watching his games yeah a lot of the scouting reports I read on Jaylen Wright to talk about how he's probably one of the better if not the best pass protecting backs in this entire class as well so that's an A+ for him if he was sitting on the bo if he was sitting on the board in round four man that would be awfully tempting if you're the Buffalo Bills a guy like Jaylen Wright could really be another spark plug on this offense to work off of a guy like James Cook so I love Jaylen Wright Jaylen Wright definitely in the fan club so I agree with you there uh with your first pick my first Ray Davis pick is a guy who's pretty well traveled in college football and that is Ray Davis who started his career at Temple then he made his way to Vanderbilt before finally finding a home at Kentucky he was a Senior Bowl participant this year he turned a lot of heads at the Senior Bowl he turned a lot of heads at the combo 5'8 21 lb like I said he's just a workmanlike dude those three stops that he's had a lot of Buzz about him in the pre-draft process he reminds me of another Davis Mike Davis he's short he's squatty Joe Brady got a thousand yards out of Mike Davis in Carolina so maybe Joe Brady looks at a guy like Ray Davis if you put their Ras scores up next to one another they are very very very similar a guy like Mike Davis has great vision he's got a p running style he's got pass catching upside and you know being 58 to11 he's that little bowling ball right he's got that low center of gravity he had a pretty good 40 45356 split with a 35 vert and a 911 Broad he is explosive he had 280 yards this year versus Florida four total touchdowns three rushing one receiving that was his sort of real Breakout game this year and we've seen Brandon Bean gravitate towards guys who had big games right like King did that big USC game we've seen him gravitate some towards some of those dudes he's got the frame to grow into being a better pass protector with coaching but he's not exactly the worst pass protector in the world either at this point so Ray Davis to me I just Envision him as sort of a a perfect complimentary type of back to a guy like James Cook yeah and that's the other thing as we start going through these guys more right like I really honed in on guys that I thought would be compliments to James Co so it's like obviously as I I like a guy like Bucky Irving he's not going to be on my list right because of that fact that I'm really tried to hone in guys that would be compliments to cook who is your next guy up here my next guy will be someone that I think a Audric Estime lot of people like and obviously Nate giri is going to be a big fan of this guy played in some really big games um and I think a lot of people were maybe a little bit concerned about the combine numbers but then on the pro day obviously kind of picked up his um his testing a bit and that's audri es from Notre Dame um you know he had the 47140 at the combine and kind of improved that down then into the four FS at his Pro Day his 6.4 yards per carry last year was the highest in college football of running backs with at least 200 carries he had the fourth highest yards per carry of running backs with at least 100 50 carries he had the fourth best broad jump at the combine third best rushing grade in 2023 per PFF of all running backs in college football with 100 snaps um and I particularly like his footwork in tight spaces his contact balance had the fifth most 15 plus yard runs in college football in 2023 12th best yards per carry as I mentioned followed up an 11 uh rushing TD year in 2022 with 18 in 2023 to go along with his 1300 plus rushing yards chipped in 17 receptions that's obviously not his game but obviously you love him in past protection as well and just feels like this would be the guy that could be the ideal compliment to a James Cook so audri estimate no stranger to playing in big games and delivered time and time again um in his career at Notre Dame so audre gue you know I've had the pleasure of seeing Audrey gate in person in the Fiesta Bowl a couple of years ago against Oklahoma State you know you go and you watch guys and some of the guys on the field just look different like Audrey Gest just looked different he had a big game out here in in glendell in that game and he reminds me of and again this isn't the best comp in the world because this guy was a top 10 pick for a reason because he was also super fast to go along with that size but audri ese gives me Leonard forette vies like Leonard forette the Leonard forette that got to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and kind of like lost a step like that kind of Leonard forette who was a really really good player for them in their Super Bowl run I think audre Gast sort of fits that sort of that like sort of like that's sort of how I Envision him the way the Buccaneers used him in their in their Super Bowl year and the Buffalo Bills brought in Leonard forette for a reason they clearly liked Leonard forette now Ty Johnson stepped up he never found his way onto the field so maybe the Buffalo Isaac Guerendo Bills see some of that Leonard forette and Audrey castay and Brandon Bean maybe if he's there in the fourth or the fifth round makes a decision to pull the trigger my second running back is a guy who has shot up throughout this entire pre-draft process he had probably probably the the talk of the combine yeah and one of the things that you'll notice in common about all of my guys outside of Ray Davis is they're mostly all Shrine bow guys because I really wanted to stick with guys who I thought would be like fifth sixth seventh round picks and every year I love what ERT gko does I love some of these guys he finds for the shrine bow and I think he found a real gem in Isaac gendo out of the University of Louisville via Washington he was a a transfer from the University of Washington he was a former four-star recruit Isaac Reno 6'2 221 pounds he ran a 43340 at the combine had everyone a buzzing 997 Raz he's a former high school three-time state track Champion he is Elite in all physical facets like he is off the charts like 99th percentile in most physical facets when you look at Raz he had under 250 College carries but in those under 250 College carries he had six plus yards per carry he's dense he's got a strong build he's got a strong frame like he is an athlete combination of good patience and vision he's got short yardage and goal line value at that size his speed around the corner it is noticeable for a running back his size and if the Buffalo Bills can get a guy like him around the corner and get him cutting up field he can be a big play machine and he can be a big play spark plug for this Buffalo Bills offense behind James Cook he has rb1 poent potential too with all those physical skill sets a guy who could maybe succeed James Cook if they decide not to give him a second contract he's got pass catching upside he's returned kick in his career which is more valuable now with the change to the kickoff rules he has showed promise and pass protection when I look at Isaac gendo and I mean this is a compliment he looks like a souped up Tai Johnson a souped up Ty Johnson we all love what we saw from Tai Johnson last year imagine a souped up version of that I think that's what you're getting in a guy like Isaac gendo yeah he was certainly the uh the the bell of the combine for sure and you're I it's an interesting thought around like the succeeding of James Co because this is year three obviously he's got the fourth year and then what happens after that we don't know what the future may hold so do the Bills get ahead of that and we know they do like to take the pressure off James Cook in certain situations so third guy for me um maybe the biggest running back in the Braelon Allen class and felt like I linebacker slash linebacker and look I had to put him on my list only because my my first first mock draft Monday of the year last week I I had him in my mock draft and that's brillan Allen from Wisconsin obviously the big Bruiser 61 235 um didn't run the 40 at the combine obviously and that's not really his game but second most bench reps um of all running backs at the combine so that strength came through only behind Blake Corum by the way um and he was he he can actually catch the ball as well he had caught 28 of 30 Targets in 2023 um interestingly enough he didn't get graded out as a great pass protector but I think some of that has to do with the style I've seen some clips too where he he he uses that body well yeah exactly and I think so that's a little bit misleading in there um 13th best yards after contact per attempt of all running backs with 150 carries 3.77 yards there um he certainly has patience but I think he's going to have to be a guy at the next level that really just like puts his foot in the ground and gets up field I don't think he's gonna be much necessarily much more than that but I mean if you're looking for a guy that you can have roam around near the goal line and have a guy that you can rely on in short yardage and take some of that pressure off of Josh Allen running in some of those design short yardage plays where maybe you don't want him to get hit and I'm not talking about quarterback sneak situations where we want Josh Allen to do that but like the fourth and twos the third and threes those types of situations then brilin Allen to me is interesting um I think I you know for me he's on the list because of his complimentary um skill set to cook but I can also understand why but maybe some people are are not he's not the most exciting guy I'll say but he can do the Dirty Work put him on the list I mean brillan Allen is 20 years old right now too right like his breakout age was not even 18 it was like 17 and three quarters like we talk about breakout age with a guy like Xavier worthy how they broke out so young and had their best start to their career so young brayan Allen is the same way I mean this kid's been a stud since his walk-on freshman year at the University of Wisconsin another guy I've had the pleasure of seeing in person out here in the desert at what was formerly the Chey Bowl I don't remember what it's called now but I mean the dude just looked different he walked different he talked different he ran different he just strided different he is a different kind of player um he elected not to run at his Wisconsin Pro Day either I just Googled it which it's pretty telling that his time would not have been great so it'll be really interesting to see how that affects his draft stock and how teams view his decision just straight up not to run a 40 which is something we're seeing a little bit more of um from some of these prospects over the last couple of years something we've never really seen before so that'll be really interesting to see but brillan Allen man fourth again fourth fifth round if he's still sitting there and the Buffalo Bills decide to pull the trigger I will be excited I am definitely a big fan there are some red flags to brillan Allen but if you're bringing him in squarely as just a pure athlete give him the ball use his big body and pass protection right like number two behind James Cook I am all for getting that type of athlete on our football team injecting that into our offense my number three running back is Tyrone Tracy Tyrone Tracy out of the University of Purdue via the University of Iowa 5 foot1 209 pounds he ran a 44840 at the combine he's another guy at the combine who turned heads he had a big big weak at The Shrine Bowl 987 Raz so again another guy who's Elite percentile in everything that he tested former wide receiver he's still developing as a running back like he was legit for three years a wide receiver at the University of Iowa before transferring to Purdue to play running back so he is new to the running back position he's still developing and he still had a really good year at the University of Purdue long Strider he's got kick return Flex he's also played a ton of special teams as a depth receiver at Iowa he played a ton of special teams like kick coverage units and things like that so Tyrone Tracy just gives you so much versatility he can play special teams he can return kicks he can catch the ball really smooth out of the back field he can play slot receiver he can play running back he could be this draft's Tony Pard now he was a shrine bowl invite who had a good combine to me that might get might get him into the fifth round right we had this conversation a couple of shows ago if you're in the shrine bow unless you're an exemption like Z flowers like Mason McCormack is going to be one of those exemp this year maybe we should slow our role with maybe over projecting them and where they'll be drafted but the combination of shrine B good combine fifth round a guy like Tyrone Tracy who I've seen him in some draft Twitter communities top five running backs in this draft I think that would be another really good guy to compliment James Cook a guy to have in case James Cook gets hurt because he has a very similar skill set to James cook and what he can do as a receiver and and all those different things so he might not be the compliment in the sense that he can do the between the tackle stuff or he could be that Bruiser but he is the compliment in that you know you can do the same stuff on the field with James Cook that you can do with tyon Tracy yeah I like Ty on Tracy a lot uh probably um would be on a joint list if we both made a list together for sure um Kimani Vidal fourth guy for me is maybe one of my favorite prospects in the entire draft regardless of position he's probably going to be my no matter what running back when we do our no matter what lists for each position and it's a guy that was kind of caught my eye since very early on in the process he was kind he was on my non-trending names to watch going into the combine and small school guy kamani vdal from Troy who really I think helped himself out at the combine with some of his testing especially in his with some of his speed numbers 44 six he ended up coming out with an 8.81 Raz when all was said and done was at the Senior Bowl obviously 57 213 but one of the best pass protectors in the country the analytics on his pass protection line up with the tape Jim naggie has been obviously very um vocal in his support right so being a Senior Bowl guy but um the combine really solidified Vidal to me right and so second most yards after contact in all of college football in 2023 so obviously playing at Troy you like to see that he's able to kind of shake you know shake some of those tackles at that level of competition so second most yards after contact most 10 plus yard rushes in college football last year of any running back he had the eighth best run blocking grade in college football last year fifth best of those with 100 snaps and double digit rushing TDS the past two seasons to go on top of that 92 career receptions averaging 23 receptions per season on average so um really a good complete package the height is the one thing you look at and you're like can he hold up at the next level he's got the frame is the height of concern all other boxes to me are checked for him especially when it comes to pass Pro so kamani vdal um on my list this year yeah I made sure when when I texted you like here are my five running backs I made sure to at the end I saved Kam vdal for you because I know how much you love him I know that we we both sort of zeroed in on him when we were talking about with with John helmcamp in in our Senior Bowl wup show is a guy that stood out to him and then I think both of us started to really dig into to Vidal and love his game and if he if he wasn't already your uh no matter what running back he probably would be mine so I'm gonna have to go to find someone else now because I'm I'm giving you you this one this year Vidal baby Josh Jacobs Dan Jeremiah called him at the combine again just that's a complimentary skill set to a guy like uh to a guy like James Cook a guy you really like to have that guy on your team in November December when your team needs to maybe run the ball between the tackles you really like to have a guy like that on your football team in the fourth quarter when you have a two touchdown lead and you need those tough yards um to sort of continue to grind and run the clock down so big fan of kamani Vidal's game that combine really helped him out I mean fourth fifth round could be a place where you see a guy like K Vidal go in this draft my next Frank Gore Jr. running back on the list my number four running back it's this name's going to sound familiar to you folks and that is because he is the son of former Buffalo Bill and future NFL Hall of Famer Frank Gore that is Frank Gore Jr out of Southern Miss University even though he spurned my UB bowls and decided to go to Southern Miss even though he had an offer from UB I'm still putting Frank gour Jr on my list 5'8 2011 lbs ran a 45840 at his Pro Day chose not to run at the combine nothing came easy for him at Southern Miss behind that offensive line but he was still able to rack up yards and create something out of nothing that is the type of running back he he is those types of make you you know make you miss in a foone booth type of running backs are a lot of fun to watch he is a limited receiver but he's pretty viable in sort of the dump off game he's got the body to pass protect but need some fine tuning he had a huge Shrine week and he capped it off with an explosive 49 yard touchdown run in the game 80 plus yards rushing in total he's very Devon single T like and a lot of people aren't going to want to hear that right but he's very Devon single like and well if you can get that in the sixth round or the seventh round or as a priority free agent that's a heck of a lot more fun than getting it in the third round um for a guy like Deon single ter so lateral agility and quickness contact balance he forces Miss tackles he's got good Vision good patience to find those run lines like I said make guys missing a phone booth Frank Gord Jr is is is a really fun watch and uh one of my favorite running back prospects not the best running back clearly but as a guy to come in and be a compliment to James Cook a second or third running back on your football team I love frank G Jr in that kind of role yeah I mean how would you not it would be automatically endearing to all the fans if he came in I mean he's just got that going for him and you know that he's going to give you everything he's got um and every snap just because of that pedigree and from what we've seen uh rounding out my list uh the Kendall Milton compliment to Dun Edwards in Georgia was for me Kendall Milton from Georgia um 61 225 pretty good Raz 8.0 Raz when all was said and done um he had the best 10 yard split of all the Run running backs at the combine sixth best broad jump at the combine of all running backs um you start to look at some of his Advanced stats obviously he had the huge touchdown numbers last year 14 touchdowns but 13th best yards after contact average of all running backs with 100 snaps um just outside the top 20 as far as a pass blocking grade for running back with 100 snaps so he can give you that added benefit in pass protection um he's got a good nose for the goal line he's got a good nose for The Yards to gain showed patience I think to me and good Vision behind obviously a really good offensive line of Georgia but still I I did like his patience and I like that way that he kind of like finds his way through the hole he had some burst um and doesn't shy away from contact he's obviously not got the top high-end speed only ran the 46240 but that's not really what you getting him for right you're getting him for that complimentary role and by the way just another fact he's a former I'm sorry not former he's the his uncle is Kevin Hardy who was the former number two overall pick in the NFL draft in 1996 at linebacker so that shows you where things have changed in the NFL where you had a number two overall pick as a linebacker we're not even talking about a linebacker being picked in the first round this year but he's got those Family Ties some good pedigree there for Kendall Milton so I like Kendall Milton to round out my list for tonight somebody the bill Scout SCS have been in contact with so there were some reports Kendall Milton did an interview with the draft Network he spoke he said yeah I met with the Buffalo Bills a couple of times you know he seemed like they had some positive meetings I project Kendall Milton as a priority free agent I don't think he gets drafted but as a priority free agent that's a really I think High upside priority free agent so big fan of kennall Milton I like the way he just seeks contact that's something you always like to see from a linebacker kind of got some Chris Ivory vibes to his game a little bit um my last two I Blake Watson end up going with a tie for my last two because they're pretty much very very similar players and the tie I went with the first is is Blake Watson the one I texted to you on surprised to you uh but Memphis viia Old Dominion 5 foot N 200 PB so not exactly like that you know thunder and lightning with James Cook but a 43940 at his prod day 415 vert 113 broad absolute combine snub this is a guy who much like to um much like Tyrone Tracy was a former wide receiver he's an elite athlete he's explosive he's a natural pass catcher he had some big kick returns early in his career at Old Dominion he's a playmaker in space 557 yards after the catch in 2023 per PFF we talked about at the top of the show Joe Brady likes these yards after the catch these Yak guys he wants to do more underneath stuff in this maybe this new offense a guy like Blake Watson dump the ball off to him or try to create something for him to get him the ball in space and he will make plays he had a huge Shrine week he capped it off with almost a 100 all-purpose yards in the game so Blake Watson I don't know if the Buffalo Bills are going to zero in on a running back like that kind of that water bug type but if they do Blake Watson is a big one and then this guy I talked about in our combine show as well and I just wanted to make sure we added Keilan Robinson him at the end that's Ken Robinson out of the University of Texas right career backup but he was recruited to Alabama and then he transferred to Texas so clearly this guy is a pretty good athlete going from Alabama to Texas but at Texas he laided behind bejan Robinson Jonathan Brooks Roshan Johnson throughout his career I didn't go back to see who he played behind at Bama but I'm sure they were probably some pretty good running backs there too when he got to the combine right he ran a 442 40 had a Brun J up 104 this is a guy who can run he's a good receiver he's got return Flex there are a couple of people at the combine and watching the combine coverage that sort of said like hey this guy could be this year's Kon Mitchell right who had a nice blow up his rookie year for the ECU uh or from ECU for the Baltimore Ravens so Keen Robinson is a guy just wanted to throw in there at the end as as somebody I like as well sort of as a 5B uh to Blake Watson's 5A all right I'll throw my honorable mention then is there we go George helani from Boise State will be my honorable mention go look him up if you have yeah I have not had a chance to look into George helani yet and I'm not gonna lie to you it's a th% because he doesn't have a good name yeah it's not a good name but he like just watching the way that he kind of like sets up routes as a running back from out of the back field especially on of these Choice routes and it was just fun to watch him so George helani I don't know he's the perfect compliment to James Cook but I had fun watching a couple of the Boise State Games with him and really really T really well too I think good good good good good chops as a receiver out of the back field as well so all right ladies and gentlemen thank you so much for joining us this evening join us next week next week we're going to do exactly what we did Monday night but we're going to do it for day two target so I know it kind of stinks because right now the Buffalo Bills only have one pick on day two but we're going to talk about all the guys who the Buffalo Bills could be targeting in round two we could be talk we're going to talk about all the guys the Buffalo Bills could be targeting in round three if maybe they trade back or decide to trade back up so we're going to have that day to Target conversation and next week we'll also talk about some of our favorite offensive linemen as well in our second show so thank you guys so much for joining us we really appreciate it and until next time go bills go bills thank you for watching tonight's episode of the air raid hour make sure to hit that like button on the way out if you are catching the show on demand leave a reply in the comment section and we will respond over the course of the week you can always listen to every episode next day on all major podcasting platforms including Apple podcasts and Spotify by searching air raid Buffalo thank you for your continued support and as always go bills