The Buffalo Bills backfield has been a one-man show all season long in any competitive setting but that may have changed at the NFL trade deadline as the team dealt for Colts running back, Nyheim Hines.

We know Hines’ specialty is his ability to catch passes out of the backfield, and Devin Singletary has averaged 4.3 targets per game out of the backfield, which is a big shift in what it’s been for Buffalo running backs in years past. Singletary has played 73% of the snaps or more in four of his last five games and the only one he didn’t it was a blowout and he didn’t play the fourth quarter.

 

What the Nyheim Hines Trade Means for Fantasy Football and the Indianapolis Colts

We saw Jonathan Taylor be heavily involved in the passing game two weeks ago, but with the team turning to Sam Ehlinger, Taylor saw just one target. Hines saw just two, so naturally, removing Hines would help Taylor’s situation but it’s one to monitor because Ehlinger can keep a lot of plays alive with his legs and that doesn’t always translate to a lot of dump-offs. Taylor should – keyword should – contribute more across the board with Hines gone and has been impactful in the passing game as he’s notched three five-target games on his resume this season.

What the Nyheim Hines Trade Means for Fantasy Football and the Buffalo Bills

With Devin Singletary being a three-down back for most of the year, that role will seemingly be altered a bit with the addition of Hines. Hines has never been a guy that has been able to handle a full workload as a running back, but he’s elite on third down and in two-minute situations, both spots we should expect Buffalo to use him in. Hines has only played north of 38% of his team snaps once this year and did so just three times last year. He can provide teams in 14-team settings some FLEX appeal in game-script-dependent spots.

The acquisition of Hines obviously hurts Singletary’s fantasy value. His snap share presumably will drop because Hines is the better pass catcher of the two. He’s still the lead back, and he’s still the starter, but all passing work will swap hands to Hines. The best case scenario is a FLEX option for the remainder of the season for Singletary. It’s worth monitoring how Buffalo approaches it’s running back situation in the red zone, too. If they lean towards Hines, Singletary’s value takes an even bigger hit than it already has.

 


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