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Buffalo Bills Backfield: Leonard Fournette vs. Latavius Murray

Originally posted on Buffalo Fanatics | By Bryce Martino | Last updated 1/3/24

The Buffalo Bills, for the first time in a long time, have a very good backfield . So good that they could have to make a tough decision here soon. That decision is who to keep active on game days, Leonard Fournette or Latavius Murray. Both have had very good NFL careers, and Murray started the year out as a good goal line back for Buffalo. But now, his age (34) is starting to creep up to him and he’s not hitting the line like he’s supposed to. So, who would you rather have?

Latavius Murray

As Bobby mentioned on the Buffalo Fanatics Instagram, Murray’s pass blocking has been suspect the past few weeks, and his production has seemed to dwindle down as well, only totaling nine carries in three games. Compare that to early on in the season where Murray had 15 carries in the first three games, and 12 against the Giants. His production has dwindled to almost nothing. Murray has totaled 300 yards and four TDs on 79 rushes this season. Murray’s snap counts have decreased from early in the season as well. Most notably, he played 32 snaps in their first game against the Patriots.

I know it's about pass protection, but why Latavius Murray is involved in 2 minute situations over James Cook is still beyond me.

Especially when Murray is thrown the ball.
— Jon Scott (@JonScottTV) December 31, 2023

In the last four games, he’s seen only 14, seven, 19, and 16 snaps. It seems as if, when his pass blocking has diminished, his snap count has as well. He’s even lost his RB2 role to Ty Johnson in recent weeks.

Leonard Fournette

It may be time to get Fournette rocking and rolling before the playoffs start. One thing that’s different about practice squad call ups in the playoffs is, you can promote a player an infinite amount of times. Fournette saw some action once this season, against the Chargers. There he totaled five attempts for 20 yards, the longest going nine yards. He also saw some kick return duty, taking over for a then-injured Ty Johnson. If we make the playoffs, we’ll need one more game to get Fournette’s legs under him. And the perfect game to do that is this week against a banged up Miami Dolphins defense. They’ve lost a couple pass rushers, meaning we don’t need to rely as heavily on Latavius Murray’s pass blocking this week.

Leonard Fournette both out-snapped Latavius Murray last Sunday and earned five more carries. Murray had zero.

Why wasn’t Fournette elevated in favor of Murray today? #BillsMafia
— John Sparaco (@JohnSparaco) December 31, 2023

Sean McDermott has had months now to get Lenny up to speed, which goes along well with his timeline to play veteran signings/rookie draft picks. Now is the time you signed Fournette for, and he’s going to give you plenty in the run game.

Overview

The Buffalo Bills could be fazing out their veteran RB, and if they do, it should be for a younger Leonard Fournette. The Bills deactivated one veteran who has underperformed last week in Von Miller. If they want to continue doing that, they should look to the offensive side of the ball as well. Murray hasn’t been what he once was early in the season, and they’ve been giving Josh Allen the majority of the goal line touches. A complete 180 from what we saw previously.

This article first appeared on Buffalo Fanatics and was syndicated with permission.

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