Last season the Buffalo Bills employed the NFL’s leading rusher. That’s the first time that happened since O.J. Simpson was carrying the football in 1976. With that kind of output from your top running back, opportunities for any of the reserve rushers are obviously going to be limited.
The Bills had a pretty clear hierarchy at the position last season, as each of the team’s top three running backs fit into particular roles. Arguably, all three of the players thrived in those roles, even if they weren’t
all exactly thrilled about the opportunities they had.
In today’s installment of our “91 players in 91 days” series, we discuss one of the Bills’ backup running backs, a player who made a name for himself in a completely different area last season.
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Name: Ray Davis
Number: 7
Position: RB
Height/Weight: 5’8” 220 lbs.
Age: 26 (27 on 11/11/2026)
Experience/Draft: 3; selected by Buffalo in the fourth round (No. 128 overall) of the 2024 NFL Draft
College: Kentucky
Acquired: Fourth-round draft choice
Financial situation (per Spotrac): Davis enters the third year of his four-year rookie contract, which is worth $4,733,188 overall. For the 2026 season, his cap hit is $1,253,297 if he’s on the 53-man roster, and the Bills will carry a dead cap charge of $356,594 if they release him.
2025 Recap: After a solid rookie campaign as the second back behind James Cook, Davis looked primed to take another step forward in his second season. However, he was next to a nonfactor on offense for much of the year, and he saw double-figures in carries just once. That was during Buffalo’s regular-season finale, a blowout win over the New York Jets in which they were resting most of their starters. Davis carried 21 times for 151 yards in that game, adding two receptions for 23 yards and a score to his ledger. Given that, for the whole season, Davis had 58 rushes for 275 yards and 10 receptions for 86 yards with two touchdowns, that final game stands as a major outlier on what was otherwise pedestrian production offensively. Much of that was due to lack of opportunity that sprung from James Cook having a career year, which led him to stay on the field more often than he had in 2024. It wasn’t a wasted year for Davis, though, as he instead emerged as the top kickoff return man in the league. He averaged an NFL-best 30.4 yards per kickoff return, taking 31 tries for 943 yards and a touchdown. In the playoffs, he led the NFL in kickoff return attempts (9) and kickoff return yards (249) despite the Bills playing in only two postseason games. For his efforts, Davis earned First-Team All-Pro recognition as a kickoff returner, becoming the first Buffalo player to earn such an honor in team history. Terrence McGee was named Second-Team All-Pro as a returner twice, in both the 2004 and 2005 seasons, but he never earned the First-Team nod like Davis did last year.
Positional outlook: Davis is one of five running backs on the roster. Ian Wheeler, James Cook III, Ty Johnson, and Frank Gore Jr. are the others. Ben VanSumeran and Jackson Acker are listed at fullback.
2026 Offseason: Davis is healthy, though he did go through an injury scare at a practice on August 4. He has participated since, however, and he is on track for the start of the preseason.
2026 Season outlook: It’s fair to wonder what Davis’ role will be this season, and in his own words, he wants to have a bigger role in 2026 than he did in 2025. I can’t say I’m mad at him—I’ve always said that I’d rather have a player working hard who wants the ball over someone who’s content to do less, and so long as that player isn’t being a distraction for the group, I’ll take the competitor every time. Davis has been a consummate pro in his two seasons with the Bills, accepting a smaller role on offense last season and making the most of his opportunity on special teams. In short bursts, he’s proven himself to be more than capable of handing the majority of backfield duties, as well. His issue isn’t his own ability, it’s that he plays on a team that employ a running back who happens to be one of the best in the NFL.
Could Davis slot in as RB2 like he did as a rookie? Some of that might depend on Ty Johnson’s health, as the veteran suffered a hamstring injury during the Return of the Blue and the Red scrimmage. While it’s not expected to cause him to miss regular season time, hamstrings are tricky; those are the kind of injuries that tend to linger. While that might be a great Cranberries song, it’s not something we want for Ty Johnson moving forward, so the Bills might choose to give him closer to the maximum recovery time of four weeks rather than rushing him back in two.
That could open the door for Davis to see some increased opportunity in the early going. I assume that Cook is going to remain on the field for close to 60% of the offensive snaps like he did last season, so there isn’t a ton of opportunity for Davis, but he’s shown himself to be a dangerous receiver out of the backfield, and he can carry the load if needed. At worst, we’re looking at a great RB3 who has become a truly elite kickoff returner. At best, we’re looking at a strong RB2 who could make an argument for being the second part of a committee approach on many other teams who lack a star running back.
In short, Davis might be disappointed if he expects a tremendous increase in his offensive workload this season, but the Bills could give him some more touches in the early going to the benefit of both the player and the team. Davis is a great insurance policy and a very good back overall.
