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March 16 update: McKissic has changed his mind, and is heading back to Washington on the same deal he signed with the Bills. He’s expected to be the secondary running back for the Commanders as he was a season ago, with Antonio Gibson taking on the main role. McKissic has flex upside in fantasy football, especially in PPR leagues.
The Buffalo Bills and free agent running back J.D. McKissic came to an agreement on a two-year, $7 million deal with upside of $8 million on Tuesday, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter. The versatile running back will now head to Buffalo to compete for carries and reps with Zack Moss and Devin Singeltary.
Fantasy football analysis: J.D. McKissic
March 16 update: McKissic is heading back to Washington. He was a decent play in last year’s leagues as a flex option, and likely keeps the same role this upcoming season.
McKissic wasn’t a highly sought after option in fantasy football over the last two seasons with Washington, but you knew he could be a solid FLEX option on any given week. Last season with the Football Team, he had 212 yards on 48 carries and two touchdowns, along with 43 receptions (53 targets) for 397 yards and two touchdowns.
In Washington, McKissic was the No. 2/No. 3 running back behind starting running back Antonio Gibson, who got the lion share of the carries. In Buffalo, there is no lead running back, which could lead to more of an expansive role for the 28-year-old running back.
How signing impacts Antonio Gibson
March 16 update: McKissic is heading back to Washington and likely maintains his role as the secondary back. He saw a lot of time even with Gibson as the lead rusher, so fantasy football managers can add McKissic as a fringe flex play with upside in PPR formats.
When it comes to the Bills, McKissic will be competing with Singletary for those catches out of the backfield. Singletary emerged as the Bills’ lead running back in the second half of the regular season and had the fourth-most catches on the team (40). If McKissic can be that change of pace running back, while Singletary gets a majority of carries, then that could be the end for Moss.
As for Washington, they will miss McKissic, but we’ve seen Gibson thrive running the ball and catching it out of the backfield. To replace McKissic, the Commanders could opt to go with second-year running back Jaret Patterson. The former UDFA standout from the Univ. of Buffalo played well in spurts last season and was always picking up positive yards. Look out for him to be on the radar in that FLEX spot this upcoming season.