Buffalo Bills RB Ray Davis showcased his talent last season, but didn’t see enough work to be relevant in fantasy football behind James Cook. With Cook still entrenched as the starter, is Davis anything more than a handcuff this season? Should fantasy managers target him as one of the higher upside backup RBs?
Ray Davis Fantasy Outlook
When dealing with backup running backs, we need to be confident in two things. Is he likely to be the one who benefits from an injury to the starter? Can he produce at or near the level of starter?
Fantasy managers are historically not as good as we like to think at assessing backup running backs. Oftentimes, when the starter goes down, the guy who steps up either isn’t as good as we thought, or is sharing the backfield with someone unexpected.
For Davis, I don’t think we have to worry about either of those things. Fortunately, we already have proof of concept.
Last season, Cook missed one game. Veteran Ty Johnson got the ceremonial start, but Davis was the feature back. As a rookie, Davis wound up playing 62% of the snaps and handling 23 opportunities, which he turned into 152 scoreless yards. Davis posted 18.2 fantasy points without a touchdown. That is some serious upside.
Here is every play of Ray Davis versus the Jets on MNF last season
Can he be the Bills rb1 if Cook leaves? #BillsMafia pic.twitter.com/IyJoF9bKzS
— SleeperBills (@SleeperBills) May 20, 2025
Given that we already saw what the Bills would do if Cook missed a game, we know Davis would be the primary beneficiary and that he’s capable of producing at the same level as the starter. The Bills decided to run it back with Cook, Davis, and Johnson as their backfield trio. That means we have every reason to think they will deploy these backs the same way.
Davis’ ADP sits at RB51. He is surrounded by a bunch of other backs who are also pure handcuffs with no real chance at standalone value. It’s really pick your poison with this group.
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We know what Davis can do in the starter’s role. However, Cook has a pretty strong history of health, with the game above being the only one he’s missed in his career.
I have Davis ranked as my RB42, which is surprisingly above consensus. He’s in that cluster of backup running backs with varying degrees of upside and likelihood of getting chances to start. If you take Davis, or any one of those backs, do so with the knowledge that they will be burning a hole in your roster for as long as the starter stays healthy.
Dan Fornek’s Ray Davis Projection
Ray Davis carved out a nice role for himself in Buffalo’s backfield despite being a fourth-round rookie in the 2024 NFL Draft. He had 113 carries for 442 yards and three touchdowns while adding 17 receptions (on 19 targets) for 189 yards and three touchdowns. Davis had just a 24.3% snap share as a rookie, but made the most of his opportunities.
We also got a glimpse of Davis’s ability to operate as a lead back. He had two games with a 50+% snap share as a rookie. In those games, he combined for 35 carries for 161 yards and added five receptions for 56 yards. He scored at least 14.0 fantasy points in both contests.
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2025 is shaping up to be a very similar experience for Ray Davis. James Cook participated in training camp despite his contract dispute, and Ty Johnson returned to the team as their third-down back. Davis did enough to earn a larger role in the backfield in 2025, but it is hard to imagine a world where he siphons more carries from Cook or Josh Allen without an injury.
The Bills have one of the better run scheme designs in the NFL, so Davis is a high-priority handcuff in fantasy drafts. We have seen him be an RB2 with a sufficient workload already.
