Ty Johnson or Ray Davis as Buffalo Bills’ No. 2 linebacker?

The Buffalo Bills left the 2023 offseason program confident in their running back depth…and rightfully so.

James Cook entered his second year ready to replace Devin Singletary as the starter and was supported by veterans Damien Harris, Nyheim Hines and Latavius ​​Murray.

Plan A – four quality backs – was unable to start training camp after Hines’ jet ski accident ended his season with a knee injury. Released by the Bills, Hines is now with the Cleveland Browns.

And Plan B — three quality backs — didn’t survive mid-October after Harris suffered a season-ending neck injury. Harris, 27, retired on March 25.

Murray remains a free agent, leaving a question mark after Cook enters the Bills’ first training camp on July 24: Will it be veteran Ty Johnson or rookie Ray Davis as Cook’s primary backup?

Johnson started last year on the practice squad, was activated Oct. 20 and finished with 45 regular-season/playoff carries and eight regular-season kick returns. In 72 career games, he has 238 carries for 1,057 yards (4.4 yard average) and four touchdowns, and 93 catches for 730 yards and four touchdowns.

Davis was drafted in the fourth round (128th overall) after a five-year career at Temple, Vanderbilt and Kentucky. He rushed 746 times for 3,626 yards (4.86 yard average) and 29 touchdowns.

The thin camp entry has Johnson, because of his experience, as the favorite to be the second-team back. Johnson and Davis missed time during the offseason program due to undisclosed injuries.

In head coach Sean McDermott’s seven years, the Bills have mostly managed to have a 1-2 backcourt tandem. The backs (with rushing attempts in the regular season):

2017: LeSean McCoy (287 carries) and Mike Tolbert (66 carries).

2018: McCoy (161) and Chris Ivory (115).

2019: Frank Gore Sr. (166) and Singletary (151). The Bills selected Singletary in the third round. (Gore Jr. is now a rookie fullback in Buffalo.)

2020: Singletary (156) and Zack Moss (112). The Bills selected Moss in the third round.

2021: Singletary (188) and Moss (96).

2022: Singletary (177) and Cook (89). The Bills drafted Cook in the second round and traded Moss to Indianapolis during the season.

2023: Cook (237) and Murray (79). The Bills turned to Cook after Singletary signed with Houston as a free agent.

The Bills were one of 12 teams to have a back with at least 200 carries, but no other back with at least 100 carries.

Cook’s rushing total was skewed last year after Hines was never available and Harris was lost in Game 6. Cook was one of 23 NFL running backs with at least 200 carries, and he ranked 10th in attempts and fourth in yards (1,122).

It remains important to note how much of the running game runs through quarterback Josh Allen, who has been the Bills’ best option in short-yardage and goal-line situations. Last year, including the playoffs, he was 21 of 23 when needing 1-3 yards on third down, and nine of his rushing touchdowns were 1-3 yards.

Since Allen entered the league in 2018, his 657 regular-season carries rank second among quarterbacks, behind only Baltimore’s Lamar Jackson (875), who entered the league the same season.

But in an ideal situation, the Bills evenly split Cook closer to 200 carries and lower the lean to use Allen as a designed runner.

Last year, the most evenly distributed tandems in the league were Atlanta (Bijan Robinson, 214; and Tyler Allgeier, 186), Chicago (Khalil Herbert, 132; and D’Onta Foreman, 109), Detroit (David Montgomery, 219; and Jahmyr Gibbs, 182), Green Bay (A.J. Dillon, 178; and Aaron Jones, 142), Indianapolis (Moss, 183; and Jonathan Taylor, 169, although Taylor missed four games with resistance and three with injury) and New England (Ezekiel Elliott, 184; and Rhamondre Stevenson, 156).

If Cook maintains his production, the Bills are unlikely to have a 60-40 split among the backs, but the combination of Allen’s reduced attempts and the emergence of Johnson or Davis would take some pressure off Cook.