Ty

Johnson

The Bills looked like they knew they were getting into a shootout from the start, using Johnson in pass-first sets out of the backfield on the first drive. Johnson made two huge catches on that first drive, including a sliding third-down conversion that put the Bills’ on the Lions’ 11-yard-line. Johnson later hauled in a huge 31-yard completion from Josh Allen and was a mismatch against the Lions’ linebackers all afternoon. The 27-year-old is a dynamic threat out of the backfield, but he’s the clear third option in the running game, which means next week against the Patriots might not be the best gamescript for him.

The Bills were in catch-up mode early on in this game which meant more work for Johnson than we’re used to seeing. The 27-year-old answered the bell when called on, including a beautiful 41-yard touchdown reception on a misdirection screen in the second quarter. With the Bills figuring to be in another shootout next week against the Lions, it’s possible that Johnson could be a factor in the gameplan again; however, he remains hard to roster outside of the deepest formats.

It’s a big moment for Gore, who signed with the Bills as a rookie UDFA this offseason, but the elevation draws James Cook’s Week 6 availability into question. ESPN’s Alaina Getzenberg said of the decision that it “will be interesting to see what this means” for Cook, while noting it “doesn’t seem to be a positive development for his injury status.” Cook, who is dealing with a toe injury, did not practice on Thursday or Friday but was able to log a limited session on Saturday. He enters tonight carrying a questionable tag, and said on Saturday he plans to play, so we’ll see what happens when the Bills announce their inactives 90 minutes before kickoff. In the event Cook is unable to go, Ray Davis and Ty Johnson would be the favorites to work in his place, with Davis likely earning the early-down touches.

Cook has yet to practice this week, though his Friday status is just an estimation from the team as they only held a walkthrough. Still, it’s a bad sign for Cook and puts him on the wrong side of questionable heading into the weekend. The Bills play on Monday, giving him a shot at returning to practice on Saturday. If he is ruled out, Ty Johnson and Ray Davis will split the Buffalo backfield. Davis would likely see more of the between-the-tackles work, putting him on the RB2/3 border.

Cook missed Wednesday’s practice as well. The Bills play on Monday Night Football, giving him an extra day to get back on the field, but a DNP for the first official practice of the week is not a good sign. Ty Johnson has played a role on passing downs with Cook healthy and would likely see more work on the ground if he can’t suit up. Rookie Ray Davis is also waiting in the wings. Davis would presumably be the team’s primary option on early downs, though he will top out as a risky RB3 if Cook is ruled out.

Johnson out-touched Ray Davis 3-to-1 in Week 5. Neither of them look like players that will get major run without a James Cook injury, but Johnson looks like he’d at least make it a RBBC in that theoretical scenario. Neither player is worth rostering in most leagues at this point with an implied timeshare behind Cook.

Cook struggled to find room to run against the top run defense in the league through the first month of play, even with opposing nose tackle Michael Pierce out of action with injury. Furthermore, Cook was sniped on the team’s only touchdown of the evening on Ty Johnson’s only touch, a three-yard touchdown scamper off the left tackle in the third quarter. Another difficult matchup on the ground awaits Cook in Week 5 when the Bills travel to Houston to face the Texans.

Johnson is the third running back in Buffalo, but he is not simply a garbage-time option. The Bills like to mix him in on passing downs, and his touchdown catch was a beautiful toe-tapping grab on the sideline in the second quarter. Johnson doesn’t play enough to be fantasy-relevant, but the Bills trust him and if there was an injury to either of James Cook or Ray Davis, he could see a sizable role in this offense.

Johnson is good to go after sustaining a minor knee injury in Week 1. He will continue to split the RB2 duties with Ray Davis. Neither back is on the fantasy radar unless James Cook suffers an injury or has his workload scaled back.

If Johnson were to miss Thursday’s game, that would mean Ray Davis would be the only back-up to James Cook and that would give the rookie a really nice opportunity to lay claim to the job full-time. He would likely not be used enough to warrant fantasy value, but he would make for a great bench stash in case anything happened to James Cook or if Davis himself happened to have a great showing on national TV.