Duke Johnson: 3 things to know about Buffalo Bills new running back
It didn’t take long for Brandon Beane to pivot after J.D. McKissic stood the Buffalo Bills up at the altar last week when he reneged on the free agent agreement he made to become the team’s third-down running back.
With McKissic going back to Washington, Beane moved on and signed Duke Johnson to a one-year deal worth a reported $1.27 million.
McKissic was clearly a player the Bills targeted to give them more production out of the backfield in the passing game, but the Commanders lured him back once they knew what the Bills were offering and gave him the same two-year, $7 million contract to stay put.
In a rare display of anger toward another team, Beane called out the Commanders for their handling of the situation, but did not let it deter him from upgrading Buffalo’s running back room with the 28-year-old Johnson.
Here are three things to know about Johnson:
1. Duke Johnson had a great college career at Miami
The Browns made Johnson their third-round pick in the 2015 NFL Draft based on a stellar resume he put together playing for the Hurricanes.
Johnson appeared in 33 games at Miami and rushed for 3,519 yards and 26 TDs with an average of 6.7 yards per attempt. He also caught 69 passes for 719 yards, and that was the role the Browns were most interested in him filling for them.
Cleveland used him extensively as a pass catching option during his four seasons there and he caught 235 passes for 2,170 yards and eight TDs, with 105 of his receptions resulting in first downs.
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2. Production has dipped in his last three seasons
Johnson was traded by the Browns to the Texans shortly before the start of the 2019 season, one season into a three-year contract extension he had signed in 2018.
On a Houston team quarterbacked by DeShaun Watson and featuring wide receivers DeAndre Hopkins, Will Fuller and Kenny Stills, Johnson didn't get the same heavy target share he had in Cleveland. Still, he caught 44 passes for 410 yards his first season and in the playoffs that year, he had three catches for 30 yards in the Texans victory over the Bills.
In 2020 he battled an injury and caught a career-low 28 passes for 249 yards.
He spent the first half of the 2021 season in the Urban Meyer fiasco that was the Jacksonville Jaguars and never made it into a game. He was finally signed off the practice squad by the Dolphins and broke into their lineup in the last month of the season.
During that time he had the first two 100-yard rushing games of his career, though Miami did not use him as a pass catcher and he had only four receptions.
3. What will his role be with the Buffalo Bills?
The one piece that Josh Allen has never had during his time with the Bills is a legitimate weapon out of the backfield. Devin Singletary can get the job done, but catching passes is not his forte.
And the previous third-down backs, T.J. Yeldon and Matt Breida, were never given an opportunity by former offensive coordinator Brian Daboll to get on the field and make plays. Breida played only 81 offensive snaps in 2021, while Yeldon played a total of 192 in two seasons.
Given their interest in McKissic, and now Johnson, it appears under new OC Ken Dorsey that the Bills want a player to replace Singletary on passing downs and those snap counts should rise.
Sal Maiorana can be reached at maiorana@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @salmaiorana.
This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Duke Johnson: 3 things to know about Buffalo Bills' new running back
