We have two years of evidence on who Ray Davis is as a player in the Buffalo Bills offense. He’s flashed upside in limited bursts, but is clearly not a threat to take any work from James Cook. That doesn’t mean he’s useless in fantasy football, though. Is there a spot for Davis on 2026 fantasy rosters?
Should You Draft Ray Davis in Fantasy Football?
Through two seasons, Davis has been a perfectly capable backup to Cook. Of course, that hasn’t amounted to much production.
In his rookie year, Davis saw a 29.8% opportunity share. That actually decreased to 14.1% in his sophomore season. Although it wasn’t necessarily a role reduction. Cook played every game last season, but two years ago, he missed one due to injury. In that game, we got a glimpse of Davis in a lead-back role, which naturally contributed to his increased total volume that season.
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Davis started in Week 6 of the 2024 season and played 61% of the snaps. He turned 23 opportunities into 152 total yards, posting 18.2 fantasy points without scoring a touchdown. The only other time Davis saw the lion’s share of the touches was in a meaningless Week 18 game that same year. He posted 14.5 fantasy points.
Last year, Davis never had a chance to serve as the lead back, maxing out at just over a 20% snap share twice throughout the entire regular season…until yet another meaningless Week 18 game. In that game, Davis served as the lead back with the Bills resting Josh Allen and Cook. He turned 23 opportunities into 174 yards and scored, good for 25.4 fantasy points.
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Although two of his lead-back opportunities came in games that didn’t matter, we now have three samples of Davis as the Bills’ RB1. He’s averaged 19.3 fantasy points per game.
So, the good news is we know what Davis can do as a lead back. The bad news is we also know he does not matter at all as long as Cook is healthy. In fact, Ty Johnson’s opportunity share was actually greater than Davis’ last season. Johnson also averaged 2.1 PPG more (not that either was even remotely fantasy-relevant).
Davis’ Redraft Fantasy Football Value
When it comes to backup running backs, fantasy managers are often overconfident in predicting who the handcuff is and what percentage of the starter’s production he can replicate.
There are few situations where we know for sure who the primary beneficiary would be, and that he’s pretty close to just as good as the starter if he got a lead role. Davis is one of them.
Even though Davis is technically the RB3 when everyone is healthy, we have proof of concept. On three separate occasions with a backfield trio of Cook, Johnson, and Davis, when Cook was out, Davis saw the overwhelming majority of touches and was just as good as Cook in that role.
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The ideal type of backup RB to draft is one with some standalone value plus injury-contingent upside. We don’t have that with Davis, which is why his ADP is way down at RB66. He will be burning a hole in your bench for as long as Cook is healthy, which, to this point, has been all but once since Davis entered the NFL.
Davis is currently my RB63. It’s a bit above consensus, but not anything significant. Once you get that far down in the rankings, everyone is largely the same. It all depends on what you need. If your roster construction necessitates a guy who won’t get you zero, then Davis is not your guy. If you are good at running back and can focus solely on upside, throw Davis on your bench and keep him there as long as you can.
Preseason Fantasy RB Rankings
- Bijan Robinson | ATL
- Jahmyr Gibbs | DET
- James Cook III | BUF
- Jonathan Taylor | IND
- Ashton Jeanty | LV
- Christian McCaffrey | SF
- Saquon Barkley | PHI
- Chase Brown | CIN
- De’Von Achane | MIA
- Derrick Henry | BAL
- Kenneth Walker III | KC
- Jeremiyah Love | ARI
- Omarion Hampton | LAC
- Javonte Williams | DAL
- Breece Hall | NYJ
- Kyren Williams | LAR
- D’Andre Swift | CHI
- Travis Etienne Jr. | NO
- Josh Jacobs | GB
- Cam Skattebo | NYG
- David Montgomery | HOU
- Bhayshul Tuten | JAX
- TreVeyon Henderson | NE
- Quinshon Judkins | CLE
- Jaylen Warren | PIT
- Bucky Irving | TB
- Jadarian Price | SEA
- Rhamondre Stevenson | NE
- Chuba Hubbard | CAR
- Kenny Gainwell | TB
- Tony Pollard | TEN
- Jordan Mason | MIN
- Rico Dowdle | PIT
- Jacory Croskey-Merritt | WAS
- Blake Corum | LAR
- RJ Harvey | DEN
- Kyle Monangai | CHI
- Rachaad White | WAS
- Chris Rodriguez Jr. | JAX
- Zach Charbonnet | SEA
- Aaron Jones Sr. | MIN
- Jonathon Brooks | CAR
- J.K. Dobbins | DEN
- Tyler Allgeier | ARI
- Tyrone Tracy Jr. | NYG
- Isiah Pacheco | DET
- Woody Marks | HOU
- Tyjae Spears | TEN
- Nick Singleton | TEN
- Brian Robinson Jr. | ATL
