Bills RB Ty Johnson played well ahead of RB Ray Davis in Thursday night's win over the Dolphins. Johnson out-snapped Davis 15 to 4, playing more on early downs (7 snaps to 3) and third downs (4 to 0). Johnson finished with 3 carries for 13 yards, plus 1 catch on 2 targets for eight yards. Davis didn't record a carry and failed to catch his only target.
2025 Fantasy Football Impact
Neither Johnson nor Davis is a fantasy option as long as RB James Cook is healthy. (Cook is handling a bigger share of the backfield work this year than last.) But it's now unclear who the best fantasy bet would be if Cook misses time.
Davis controlled the backfield when Cook missed Week 6 last year, out-snapping Johnson 40 to 25 and out-touching him 23 to 4. Davis has 10 pounds on Johnson, who has topped 12 carries in an NFL game just once.
We'd still bet on Davis leading this backfield in carries sans Cook, but the split might be much tighter than we initially thought. And Johnson would be the favorite to control passing downs.
Davis no longer looks like a high-end handcuff and is not a must-stash on fantasy benches.