Throughout the summer leading up to the regular season, we will go through the entire 2024 Cincinnati Bengals roster. Every single day until the season opener against the New England Patriots , we will break down a player on the roster including his background, contract status, and path towards making the team.
Today, we talk about new starting running back Zack Moss. A lot of attention has been given to Moss' new running mate in the Bengals' backfield, but the former third-round pick signed a multi-year deal with Cincinnati for a reason. Let's go over how he became a Bengal in the first place.
Zack Moss
- Age: 26
- Year: 5th
- Position: Running back
- College: Utah
- Previous Teams: Buffalo Bills, Indianapolis Colts
- Jersey Number: 31
Moss was drafted by the Bills with the 86th overall pick in the third round of the 2020 NFL Draft. He spent four years at Utah and played every single season including 10 appearances as a true freshman in 2016 with three very productive starts in which he averaged nearly 84 yards per game. He earned the starting job in 2017 and led the team in rushing with 1,173 yards (5.5 yards per carry) and 10 touchdowns. He was on pace for an even better season in 2018 before missing the last five games with an injury. He was still named Second Team All-PAC 12 after posting 1,096 yards and 11 touchdowns. He ended his college career on a high note, posting career-highs in rushing yards (1,416) and touchdowns (15) as a senior in 2019. He averaged nearly 109 yards per contest on his way to PAC-12 Offensive Player of the Year honors.
No one could downplay Moss' production out of college, but 712 career carries is a lot entering the NFL. Eight running backs went before him in the 2020 draft before Buffalo picked him in the third round. He earned a role splitting carries with starter Devin Singletary as a rookie, which carried over to the 2021 season. He racked up 826 yards and eight touchdowns on 208 carries during those two years. The Bills ended up trading him to the Colts for another running back, Nyheim Hines, in the middle of the 2022 season upon deeming Moss expendable. Moss ended up playing eight games for Indy to close the year out, rushing for 365 yards and a touchdown.
The Colts would rely heavily on Moss in 2023 as Jonathan Taylor missed the first four games of the season due to an ankle injury/contract holdout. Moss missed Week 1 but was the lead back for the next five games. He put up 466 yards and four touchdowns during those weeks before Taylor returned as the starter. Moss was called on to start again from Week 13-15 and wasn't nearly as effective, rushing for just 92 yards and averaging 2.6 yards per attempt. One of those games was a loss to the Bengals. He would be inactive for two of the final three games.
Moss' tape against Cincinnati certainly wasn't the reason the Bengals targeted him to replace Joe Mixon. He emerged as an ideal fit due to his comfort in running out of shotgun and experience in pass protection. His skillset matched with second-year back Chase Brown became the vision for a new-look run game.
Contract details
Moss signed a two-year, $8 million contract this offseason. He will earn a base salary of $1.125 million for the 2024 season. He's already earned a guaranteed $3 million as a signing bonus, along with $100,000 as a workout bonus. He can earn up to $300,000 in per game roster bonuses as well.
Because Moss missed three games last season, $52,941 of his per game roster bonuses are considered not likely to be earned, which drops his cap number to $2,972,059 for the season.
Roster outlook
Moss got a taste of being a starter last season in Indianapolis, but his time in Cincinnati will look similar to how his Bills tenure went. Moss and Brown are set to split time in the backfield pretty equally this season, and it wouldn't shocking if Brown ends up with more touches by the end of the year.
The order in which you list the two doesn't really matter. Moss may start some weeks, Brown may start others. Both will see the field plenty as a 1A-1B combo. For now, we'll list the veteran as 1A.
Projected role: 1A running back
Previous player breakdowns
Related: Bengals Roster Breakdown: Chase Brown has a full head of steam towards a larger role in the backfield
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