Surprising Stat Shows Bills Don't Need Running Game in 2021

Looking at 2021 NFL mock drafts and projected free agent signings, there's a clear consensus. Everyone seems to have the Buffalo Bills addressing the running back position this offseason.

But a deeper look at the stats shows that upgrading from Devin Singletary and Zack Moss really may not be a necessary move for this offense.

The commonly-accepted wisdom is that running the ball is important in part because it opens up the play-action passing game. League-wide data doesn't show much correlation between successful running games and success off the play-action, however.

And Josh Allen's numbers from last season fit right into that data trend. Allen was one of the most productive play-action passers in the NFL, even though the Bills ranked in the bottom half of the league in both rushing yards per game (104.2) and yards per attempt (4.2).

This offense is built to air the ball out, and while a stud running back could be a nice-to-have addition, spending high draft capital on someone like Alabama's Najee Harris ultimately just doesn't address an important need.

Led by their prolific passing attack, the Bills currently rank 4th in FanDuel Sportsbook's Super Bowl LVI odds, at +1200 to hoist the Lombardi Trophy next year.

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Jason Schandl is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Jason Schandl also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username Jaymun. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his personal views, he may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his personal account. The views expressed in his articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.