Countdown to Training Camp: Devin Singletary projects as 13th Most Valuable Bill
The running-back battles in Buffalo Bills training camp may be the most intense affairs of the summer.
The stage was set almost as soon as last season ended, when coach Sean McDermott said running the ball more effectively will be a top priority this offseason, general manager Brandon Beane followed that up by saying the team has no "home-run hitters" at the position, then added free agent Matt Breida to the mix.
Devin Singletary, who began last season as their top option, was seeing less work than rookie Zack Moss by the end of the regular season and into the playoffs. But he regained the No. 1 role when Moss was felled by a season-ending ankle injury against Indianapolis in the wild-card round.
Since then, Singletary has engaged in an intense offseason training regimen to make sure he is their top option again by the start of the 2021 season.
Not only did he make sure to get into the best shape possible, but he even claimed to add some speed that could pay off in the form of an extra home run or two, which would fit the Bills; needs precisely.
He worked out with a personal trainer, Nick Hicks, who said: "We didn't sit there and try to make him into a 100-meter sprinter. We just tried to make him, I guess, two-tenths, three-tenths faster than what he what he what he was coming back in. We literally left no stone unturned this offseason. So yes, he's going to be way faster, way more explosive than the Devin Singletary you guys are used to. Motor's got a motor now."
As such, Singletary falls in at No. 13 in our day-by-day countdown to training camp of the projected 30 Most Valuable Bills in 2021.
Although Singletary claims not to pay attention to the "noise" about the Bills' running-game deficiencies of 2020 and his ranking of 31 among the NFL's projected 32 starting running backs by Maurice Jones-Drew of NFL.com, it's a good bet his ears and eyes have been wide open.
Singletary's physical transformation could even be noticed in a Zoom press conference in which he claimed to have gained only two pounds while adding significantly more strength.
"The message was just trying to find ways to get better," the understated back said.
How much better will determine a pecking order that won't be established until late August at the earliest.
Because Moss will have something to say about it. So will Breida, Taiwan Jones, Christian Wade and Antonio Williams.
Singletary in 2020 led the Bills in rushing for a second straight season, but his yards per carry fell from 5.1 to 4.4 in the process.
He and the Bills know they need more from their top back this season.
Singletary has done everything in his power to make sure he is that choice again.
Nick Fierro is the publisher of Bills Central. Check out the latest Bills news at www.si.com/nfl/bills and follow Fierro on Twitter at @NickFierro. Email to Nicky300@aol.com.
