Not a lot went right for the Bills last night, but they are starting to use Ty Johnson more. And that’s a good thing.
Johnson isn’t a heralded back. He’s a former sixth-round pick, and he’s been waived by two other teams. The Lions pulled the plug on him a month into his second season. Then Johnson spent two-plus years with the Jets.
But he’s had some value for the Bills, as a backup, special teams player and third-down option. There was a playoff game against Kansas City in 2023 where they couldn’t get James Cook going; Johnson stepped in and ran for 40 yards on 7 carries.
But it’s his receiving ability that catches my eye. They’ve found some ways to scheme him into big plays. Last year he averaged 15.8 yards on his 18 catches, and with 3 TDs. And in the postseason that year, they went to Johnson on a pivotal fourth-down play, with him making a difficult catch for a 24-yard touchdown.
So I have been surprised that they haven’t been using him more. He caught only 2 passes in the team’s first seven games. But they’re using again now, and those plays are working. He’s caught at least 2 passes in four straight games, including a season-high 3 last night. They’ve thrown him 9 passes in the last four games, and he’s caught all of them, including a 52-yard touchdown and a 23-yard catch last night.
He's averaging 14.6 yards per catch, which is only a yard off what we did last year.
He’s not a volume guy. He’s never going to develop into a Darren Sproles type third-down option who’s catching 70-plus passes per year. And he’s averaging only 8 rushing yards, leaving us short of enough overall workload to be viable.
But with Johnson having that nice big-play rate, he’s a guy they should be making more of an effort to not forget about. They need to make sure he’s catching a couple of balls per week. And that seems to be happening now.
Over the last two years, Johnson averages 15.3 yards per catch. That’s over 5 yards more than any of the other 52 running backs who’ve caught at least 25 passes.
| RUNNING BACKS, YARDS PER CATCH (last 2 yrs) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | Tgt | No | Yards | Avg | TD |
| • Ty Johnson, Buff. | 41 | 29 | 445 | 15.3 | 4 |
| Austin Ekeler, Was. | 48 | 40 | 404 | 10.1 | 0 |
| Samaje Perine, K.C.-Cin. | 44 | 35 | 352 | 10.1 | 1 |
| Christian McCaffrey, S.F. | 115 | 89 | 878 | 9.9 | 5 |
| Kyle Juszczyk, S.F. | 52 | 37 | 360 | 9.7 | 3 |
| Jahmyr Gibbs, Det. | 106 | 89 | 851 | 9.6 | 6 |
| D'Andre Swift, Chi. | 85 | 65 | 596 | 9.2 | 1 |
| Josh Jacobs, G.B. | 78 | 64 | 579 | 9.0 | 1 |
| David Montgomery, Det. | 57 | 51 | 457 | 9.0 | 0 |
| Derrick Henry, Balt. | 37 | 30 | 267 | 8.9 | 2 |
| Bucky Irving, T.B. | 71 | 66 | 585 | 8.9 | 2 |
| Justice Hill, Balt. | 78 | 63 | 552 | 8.8 | 4 |
| Breece Hall, NYJ | 109 | 81 | 709 | 8.8 | 4 |
| Bijan Robinson, Atl. | 131 | 108 | 937 | 8.7 | 3 |
| Joe Mixon, Hou. | 52 | 36 | 309 | 8.6 | 1 |
| Antonio Gibson, N.E. | 32 | 25 | 212 | 8.5 | 0 |
| Jaylen Warren, Pitt. | 75 | 63 | 529 | 8.4 | 1 |
| Jonathan Taylor, Ind. | 63 | 48 | 396 | 8.3 | 3 |
| Raheem Mostert, Mia.-L.V. | 29 | 25 | 206 | 8.2 | 0 |
| James Cook, Buff. | 64 | 56 | 461 | 8.2 | 3 |
| James Conner, Ari. | 64 | 55 | 452 | 8.2 | 2 |
| Alexander Mattison, L.V. | 48 | 36 | 294 | 8.2 | 1 |
| Aaron Jones, Min. | 84 | 64 | 520 | 8.1 | 3 |
| Zach Charbonnet, Sea. | 62 | 51 | 407 | 8.0 | 1 |
| Saquon Barkley, Phil. | 76 | 61 | 485 | 8.0 | 4 |
| Najee Harris, Pitt.-LAC | 51 | 39 | 308 | 7.9 | 0 |
| Tyrone Tracy, NYG | 79 | 56 | 422 | 7.5 | 1 |
| Kareem Hunt, K.C. | 45 | 33 | 242 | 7.3 | 1 |
| Alvin Kamara, N.O. | 126 | 99 | 725 | 7.3 | 2 |
| Tyjae Spears, Ten. | 54 | 48 | 351 | 7.3 | 1 |
| DeVon Achane, Mia. | 158 | 132 | 962 | 7.3 | 10 |
| Rico Dowdle, Dall.-Car. | 79 | 62 | 446 | 7.2 | 4 |
| Kenneth Walker, Sea. | 68 | 60 | 426 | 7.1 | 1 |
| Devin Singletary, NYG | 34 | 30 | 211 | 7.0 | 0 |
| RJ Harvey, Den. | 32 | 28 | 195 | 7.0 | 4 |
| Rhamondre Stevenson, N.E. | 60 | 49 | 337 | 6.9 | 1 |
| Rachaad White, T.B. | 89 | 79 | 537 | 6.8 | 6 |
| Brian Robinson, Was.-S.F. | 33 | 26 | 174 | 6.7 | 0 |
| Ameer Abdullah, L.V.-Ind. | 52 | 45 | 291 | 6.5 | 3 |
| Travis Etienne, Jac. | 85 | 60 | 384 | 6.4 | 1 |
| Kyren Williams, LAR | 71 | 57 | 364 | 6.4 | 5 |
| TreVeyon Henderson, N.E. | 30 | 26 | 165 | 6.3 | 1 |
| Chase Brown, Cin. | 118 | 93 | 589 | 6.3 | 5 |
| Michael Carter, Ari. | 30 | 25 | 156 | 6.2 | 0 |
| Kenneth Gainwell, Phi.-Pitt. | 64 | 52 | 320 | 6.2 | 2 |
| Tony Pollard, Ten. | 84 | 63 | 385 | 6.1 | 0 |
| Javonte Williams, Den.-Dall. | 106 | 78 | 439 | 5.6 | 1 |
| Ashton Jeanty, L.V. | 38 | 29 | 163 | 5.6 | 3 |
| Miles Sanders, Car.-Den. | 38 | 32 | 178 | 5.6 | 1 |
| Jerome Ford, Cle. | 69 | 58 | 301 | 5.2 | 0 |
| Chuba Hubbard, Car. | 80 | 60 | 297 | 5.0 | 3 |
| J.K. Dobbins, LAC-Den. | 52 | 43 | 190 | 4.4 | 0 |
| Jaleel McLaughlin, Den. | 29 | 25 | 71 | 2.8 | 2 |
—Ian Allan