The Buffalo Bills will boast an historic running back room in 2019 with the veteran duo of LeSean McCoy and Frank Gore in the backfield.
The Bills' free-agent acquisition of Gore on a one-year deal this offseason brought the NFL's active leading rusher (14,748, fourth all-time) to Orchard Park, where he won't be asked to carry the load but should siphon off carries from the workhorse McCoy.
Sitting down the Around The NFL Podcast on Sunday afternoon, Bills coach Sean McDermott expressed excitement over what his veteran running-back tandem can accomplish in 2019.
"I think it's a great addition, I really do. He's x-amount of years old. I don't even know how old he is at point," McDermott said of the 35-year-old Gore. "At the end of the day, look, it's about production. It's about being able to go out there and [I] love the leadership component and I love that he's driven to be the best. ... I'm just excited to have LeSean and Frank in the same backfield, even more so than that to watch them two make each other better throughout an entire season. I know they train together sometimes in the offseason.
"I just think what better way to challenge one another with a guy for LeSean that's been there and done that and done a lot of the things LeSean's done at a high level. I think iron's gonna sharpen iron in that situation."
As teammates in Buffalo, Gore and McCoy will combine for the most career rushing yards by an RB duo on the same roster in NFL history (25,354), besting Emmitt Smith and Chris Warren with the 2000 Dallas Cowboys.
It's not yet clear how Buffalo will divvy up carries and playing time.
Gore was the backup option for the Miami Dolphins in 2018 (playing in 35.9 percent of offensive snaps), the first time he'd been the second option since his rookie year. Gore toted the ball less than 200 times for the first time since 2005 and benefited from it, averaging 4.6 yards per carry, his best mark since 2012.
Meanwhile, McCoy, in his age-30 season in 2018, averaged a career-low 3.2 yards per carry and 752 total yards as Buffalo's starting running back (46.7 percent of offensive snaps) ahead of Chris Ivory and Marcus Murphy.
Novice viewers might make fun of Buffalo's AARP backfield -- McDermott joked that Gore will be dropped off at the facility by a "senior citizen bus" and leave at 2:30 p.m. for the "early bird special" -- but when the season rolls around, the tandem of McCoy and Gore figures to be no joke.
