When Buffalo Bills general manager Brandon Beane mentioned after the 2020 season that his team didn't have any "home-run hitters" at running back, he didn't mean any disrespect. It's not like he was dissatisfied with Zack Moss, drafted in the third round in 2020, or Devin Singletary, drafted in the third round the year before, or anyone else.
He just meant that there was no back with legitimate breakaway speed capable of scoring every time he touched the ball.
Enter Matt Breida, one of the world's fastest humans, stage left.
The former San Francisco 49er and Miami Dolphin has been clocked at a speed as high as 22.3 miles per hour during a touchdown run against Cleveland in 2019. That's breakaway speed.
Now he's in Buffalo and falls in at No. 22 in our day-to-day unveiling of the projected 30 Most Valuable Bills of 2021.
Though not necessarily a lock to even make the team, Breida can hit you those home runs when healthy, which hasn't always been the case. Breida had a poor year last season with career lows in rushing average (4.3), games played (12), rushing attempts (59) and receptions (nine) for the Dolphins.
But in his three seasons with the 49ers before that, he averaged 5.0 yards per rush and scored 10 touchdowns (six rushing, four receiving) in a role that was never more than part-time. His career average of 5.5 yards per touch is better than Singletary (5.1) and Moss (4.6).
He's still young (26) and still fast and likely will be operating behind the best offensive line of his career.
Breida will never be a workhorse, especially for a team like the Bills that likes to rotate its backs. But even with limited touches in this offense, he has a chance to make an enormous impact.
That's why the Bills signed him and that's why he rates so high as someone who is third, at best, on the depth chart at his position as the team heads to training camp.
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