Only two players in NFL history have had 1,000 yards rushing and 1,000 yards receiving in the same season. Bills coach Rex Ryan thinks LeSean McCoy may be the third.
Ryan said on NFL Network that the Bills have big plans for McCoy, and they think he can be a dominant player in all phases of the game.
“LeSean McCoy is a special back, a very talented guy. His merits stand up for themselves, he’s led the league in rushing, but he’s a multi-dimensional guy,” Ryan said. “He can dominate a game in the passing game and the running game, so that’s what we’re going to use him for, that Marshall Faulk -- does he have 1,000 receiving and 1,000 rushing? That’s a real possibility.”
McCoy has four 1,000-yard rushing seasons in his NFL career, and it wouldn’t be at all surprising to see him have a fifth this year in Buffalo. The Bills plan to run the ball a lot, and McCoy will be their primary ball carrier. In fact, given that the Bills traded a good young player in Kiko Alonso to get McCoy, and then gave McCoy a big contract, it would be a major disappointment if McCoy isn’t a 1,000-yard rusher.
But 1,000 yards receiving? That’s farfetched. McCoy has never even had 600 receiving yards in a season. And the Bills don’t exactly have the kind of passing game that’s going to make it likely for McCoy to generate big numbers through the air. The only two players ever to go for 1,000 yards rushing and receiving were Roger Craig on the Joe Montana/Bill Walsh 1985 49ers, and Marshall Faulk with the Greatest Show on Turf 1999 Rams. The Bills, who are choosing among Matt Cassel, Tyrod Taylor and EJ Manuel in their three-way quarterback battle, are a far cry from either of those teams.
So expect McCoy to hit the 1,000-yard rushing mark. The 1,000-yard receiving mark, however, sounds like a classic case of Ryan talking up his team in training camp.