Buffalo Bills general manager Brandon Beane spent the offseason loading up on running back depth. Now, it's time to see which decisions will pay off.
LeSean McCoy led the Bills with 161 rushing attempts last season, but the former All-Pro is now 31 years old. Buffalo needed some insurance. The Bills signed running backs Frank Gore (Miami), T.J. Yeldon (Jacksonville) and Senorise Perry (Miami), then drafted Devin Singletary in the third round.
Despite all these additions, the Bills don't believe Shady is done just yet.
"I'm not concerned. I think LeSean still can play. If not, we would have made the decision to move on," Beane said, via WGR 550 Sports Radio's Sal Capaccio. "I think he's embraced the competition this spring. Guys handle competition in different ways. I don't think he's shied away from it. I don't think that's his nature.
"He's very confident, when you talk to him, that he still sees himself up here (raises hand up to show a high level), and I don't think you're changing that. And I wouldn't want him to think any different. But we're focused on this year. That's what we have him under contract for, and I definitely think he's got enough left in the tank to help us in 2019."
In addition to McCoy, Gore, Yeldon and Perry, the Bills still have two other backs on the roster. Marcus Murphy will return for his third season in Buffalo after a career-high 52 rushing attempts for 250 yards in 2018. To round out the group, the Bills signed former rugby player Christian Wade, who has never played in the NFL.
"I'd rather have too many than not enough," Beane said. "We're looking for the best 53 players. You do have minimums you've got to keep at a position, but I don't go every year into camp and go, 'We got to keep X number of [offensive] linemen, X number of running backs.' We've got to keep the best football players."
It's hard to imagine the Bills carrying six running backs into the regular season. It's just not realistic. But training camp is inevitably filled with injuries, and each of the six should see snaps during the preseason.
