By Peter Gleason
Shady McCoy has been popping off lately about how little he thinks of Eagles Supreme Leader Chip Kelly’s decision to trade him to the Buffalo Bills.
Now, let’s see how he likes it when he is the butt of trash talk.
The Bills gave up a very valuable asset in linebacker Kiko Alonso earlier this offseason in order to acquire McCoy to breathe new life into their running game. Soon after, the Bills handed McCoy a big contract extension that guaranteed him a lot more money, over a longer period of time, than he was previously due. McCoy is now the fifth-highest paid running back based on the average annual value of his deal, and he’s second to only Adrian Peterson in guaranteed money, per Spotrac.
One man who’s not ready to bow and scrape to Sir Shady is Fred Jackson.
Jackson’s split carries with C.J. Spiller the last few years, and he wants to retain a sizable role even with McCoy in town. “They say (McCoy) is going to be the bell cow, but I’m not going to make it easy for him,” Jackson said, according to Vic Carucci of the Buffalo News. “I’m not going to just hand him the job,” he also said.
In order to get bang for their buck, McCoy will have to dominate touches out of the backfield. It wouldn’t be out of line to say he’ll get around 350 or so per year, as he did the last few seasons in Philly.
Even if McCoy does get 350 or so touches, there should be at least 150-200 remaining for Jackson to grab, or to split with Bryce Brown, who is also still in Buffalo after previously backing up McCoy with the Eagles. Jackson’s been a productive back in what’s seemed like alternating years, with his yards per carry varying from 4.5 to 4.2 to 5.5. to 3.8 to 4.3 to 3.7 over the last six seasons. He’s 34 now, but he doesn’t have quite as much tread on his tires as a typical back his age thanks to a late start to his NFL career and the timeshare he’s been in throughout his Buffalo tenure. If his workload is managed and he’s given good blocking, Jackson should still be an asset for new offensive coordinator Greg Roman.
