The Buffalo Bills have lost one of their running backs ahead of the 2023 campaign, with Nyheim Hines reportedly suffering what is expected to be a season-ending knee injury.
According to NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero, the injury occurred while Hines was off-site. It isn’t immediately clear exactly what injury Hines suffered, but it is significant. Updated reports say Hines has been lost for the year due to a torn ACL after being struck by a jet ski while he was stationary on another personal watercraft.
The Bills are already looking to add another back to their roster, with the team set to work out former Tennessee Titans third-round pick, Darrynton Evans, but he’s likely to be a camp body, at best.
Normally a PPR asset during his days with the Indianapolis Colts, Hines was nowhere to be found on offense after being traded to the Bills midseason in 2022.
The 26-year-old totaled just six carries for -3 yards and five catches for 53 yards and a score in nine games while working behind fellow backs Devin Singletary and James Cook.
Instead, he did most of his work in the return game, where he was quite effective and found paydirt twice on 19 kickoff returns (29.2 yards per).
Of course, for our purposes here, that means nothing for individual player use.
While Singletary is no longer in Buffalo, the team added Damien Harris and Latavius Murray to the running backs room via free agency this offseason, giving Hines plenty of competition for any semblance of a role on offense.
However, based on what we saw last season, Hines was looking at being no better than the team’s third running back behind Cook and Harris, and quite possibly the No. 4 if he failed to beat out Murray for the No. 3 job.
Fantasy football takeaway
Knowing that, his injury won’t have any impact on fantasy managers like it would have in years past, so there’s really nothing to see here. If anything, Murray’s chances of having a role — albeit a very small one — just increased, and Buffalo will be searching for a pass-catching reserve to cover Cook’s skill set should something happen to the former Georgia Bulldog.
