ESPN says this Bills rookie will provide 'sneaky-big impact' in 2024 NFL season

A strange and (justifiably) infrequently discussed storyline that has manifested throughout Brandon Beane’s near-decade at the helm of the Buffalo Bills is the executive’s apparent hatred of fourth-round draft picks.

He just doesn’t use them, at least not to select prospects. The veteran team builder had six NFL drafts under his belt prior to 2024’s event; he submitted fourth-round picks in just two of them. Beane, to his credit, hit on both of these selections, grabbing Weber State corner Taron Johnson in the fourth round of the 2018 NFL Draft and UCF wideout Gabriel Davis in 2020. The former has developed into a stalwart nickel defender for Buffalo’s defense while the latter was a key offensive contributor for the Bills for four seasons before departing as a free agent this spring.

It’s admittedly a small sample size, but Beane—when he uses fourth-round draft picks—generally hits on them. He made just his third career fourth-round selection in the 2024 NFL Draft, grabbing stout Kentucky running back Ray Davis at pick No. 128. A 5-foot-8, 211-pound rusher with power and pass-catching ability, Davis projects as an immediate contributor to Buffalo's offense, the complementary thunder to James Cook’s lightning.

And several officials around the league feel as though Beane, in his selection of Davis, may have continued his fourth-round prowess. ESPN analyst Jeremy Fowler recently wrote an article containing intel he’s compiled from around the league since the conclusion of the 2024 NFL Draft; the Davis pick, per Fowler, is one that some around the league liked from a value and fit perspective.

“One pick who could have a sneaky-big impact is fourth-round tailback Ray Davis, who has fantasy upside due to his stout frame at 5-foot-8, 211 pounds,” Fowler wrote. “He's got power. ‘Great complement to [James] Cook and should get a lot of goal-line and short-yardage work, which should result in some touchdowns,’ a veteran NFL scout said of Davis.”

Fowler suggests that there are plenty of carries to go around in the Bills’ offense under new full-time offensive coordinator Joe Brady, noting that Buffalo ran the ball 512 times in the 2023 season (part of which saw Brady calling plays) as opposed to 430 times in 2022.

While it’s true that Brady further integrated the ground game into Buffalo’s arsenal after taking over as play-caller in Week 11 and that Davis, given his ability between the tackles, possesses a skillset not previously present in the Bills’ backfield, it’s important to mention the other bodies present in said backfield. Perhaps no player benefited more from Brady’s ascension than James Cook; the running back finished sixth in the league in scrimmage yards in the 2023 season (1,567), with Brady getting him 137 touches from Weeks 11–18 (roughly 20 per game).

Though not a member of the backfield proper, quarterback Josh Allen’s rushing ability cannot be overlooked. He rushed for 524 yards, 15 touchdowns, and 57 first downs last season, with a large swath of this production coming in the same short yardage and goalline situations many are now attributing to Davis.

Davis is objectively a talented running back, this evidenced by his 3,626 rushing yards and 29 touchdowns throughout his collegiate career. That said, it’s difficult to imagine him carving out too significant of a role given Brady’s demonstrated usage of Cook and Allen’s rushing prowess (sure, Davis could, in theory, take some of the hits off Allen, but do you really expect the contact-loving signal caller to willingly relinquish the ball in key situations?). 

The former Kentucky Wildcat may not ultimately be the touchdown vulture that some are projecting him as, but he is a nice changeup for Brady to occasionally throw, a physical tone-setter who should comfortably slot in as Buffalo’s No. 2 back immediately.