Buffalo Bills Running Back Depth Chart — 2026

A handcuff is the backup who inherits the starter's workload if the starter gets hurt — so the Bills handcuff is whoever sits directly behind James Cook on the depth chart above. Rostering him is how you protect a starting back you have already spent a pick on. More on what a handcuff is.

Ty Johnson is Buffalo's passing-down back, and the snap counts are unusually clean about it. James Cook played 58.1% of the offensive snaps but only 47.0% of the pass snaps, a tilt of -11.1. Johnson played 29.5% of snaps and 40.6% of pass snaps, +11.1, drawing 33 targets.

It has almost never happened. Cook has played 66 of 67 team games — 98.5% — which is about as close to a full attendance record as the position offers.

The role itself is large: 309 carries at +1.17 yards over expected per carry, 2nd of 49 qualifying backs, on 58.1% of the snaps.

Ty Johnson is the back with the longer record — 70 of 85 team games across 5 seasons — but his work has been situational rather than volume. Ray Davis has played 13.3% of the snaps, 74th among running backs, and Frank Gore and Ian Wheeler have no 2025 record.

Enough to matter for one of them, and not much for the other.

Johnson took 29.5% of the snaps, 50th among running backs — a genuine rotational share. Davis took 13.3%, 74th, which is closer to a spot role.

The split between them is not about ability so much as down and distance. Johnson's snaps come with the offence in the air; Davis has drawn 13 targets in 17 games, 0.76 a game, on 77 pass snaps — under the 100-snap line where a participation rate starts to mean something.

The reporting below is worth reading against that, because a new coordinator is the one variable the snap counts cannot see.

Yes, and this is the clearest split of its kind anywhere.

Cook's 47.0% share of the pass snaps sits well under his 58.1% share of snaps overall — a tilt of -11.1, away from throwing downs. Johnson's runs the other way by the same distance: 40.6% of pass snaps against 29.5% of snaps, +11.1, on 241 pass snaps — 35th among running backs.

That is a designed substitution, not a rotation. Johnson drew 33 targets, 1.94 a game, catching 24 for 263 yards. Cook still drew 40, so this is not a starter who never catches — it is a starter who is off the field for a meaningful share of the throws.

Davis is the third man in that conversation and has not been part of it yet.

Reporting from a previous season, kept because a role a player has already held is the best evidence available about the one he might hold next. It describes 2025, not now.

Ray Davis was named first-team All-Pro as a kick returner in 2025. (Sports Illustrated (Bills Central), 2026-07-10)

What the beat is reporting, last refreshed 2026-08-23. Nothing here is measured — it is reporting, attributed and dated.

Buffalo hired Pete Carmichael Jr. as offensive coordinator (A to Z Sports, 2026-07-24).

Bills reporter Sal Capaccio said Carmichael is known for using running backs in the passing game, citing his work with LaDainian Tomlinson and Alvin Kamara (A to Z Sports, 2026-07-24).

Capaccio expects Buffalo to add running back screens it rarely used before (A to Z Sports, 2026-07-24).

Entering camp, James Cook, Ty Johnson and Ray Davis are listed as running back roster locks (Sports Illustrated (Bills Central), 2026-07-10).

Ty Johnson was described as having performed well in his role as the team's third-down back (Sports Illustrated (Bills Central), 2026-07-10).

Ray Davis was described as having expressed interest in increased offensive opportunities (Sports Illustrated (Bills Central), 2026-07-10).

Ty Johnson enters the season in a contract year, and with left guard David Edwards having departed for New Orleans his pass-blocking is described as becoming more critical (Sports Illustrated (Bills Central), 2026-06-16).

Buffalo's depth chart when voluntary offseason work opened listed the running backs in order as James Cook, Ty Johnson, Ray Davis, Frank Gore Jr., under new head coach Joe Brady (Sports Illustrated (Bills Central), 2026-04-07).

How Ray Davis is used is framed as depending on new head coach Joe Brady's offensive philosophy relative to predecessor Sean McDermott's ball-control approach (Sports Illustrated (Bills Central), 2026-05-03).