Zack Moss, referred to endearingly by me as my small son, has finally been offered the chance to realize his potential as a running back by fellow Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen. I am so infatuated with Moss that I’d like to convince every person of his excellence, regardless of sports knowledge, so this article is for sports fans and non-sports fans alike. Here’s why Zack Moss should be your small son, too. I’ve even coined our fan name, the Mossians, to get the fandom started.
Moss is number 20 on the Buffalo Bills in case you’d like to keep an eye out for him in the games. So, without any condescension or bemusement, let’s break it all the way down for anybody who wants to be a Mossian but doesn’t have adequate football knowledge. As a running back, Moss is on the offense. This part of the team attempts to attain first downs, keep the ball in the hands of the Bills, run touchdowns and—if all else fails—score field goals.
Running backs are in the backfield of the offense, which means they don’t line up right at the line of scrimmage—an imaginary line at which the teams face off—face-to-face with the opposite team’s defense. The running back, or Moss in this case, is best friends with the quarterback—Allen. Moss has to stay open in order for Allen to pass him the ball in what is known as a “handoff,” which could lead to Moss running into the endzone and scoring a touchdown for the Bills. The other primary jobs of the running back are remaining open on the field in order to receive, or catch, the football. The running back can also block players on the defense from catching the ball.
During the game played on Nov. 1, Moss scored a touchdown against the Patriots. Technically, it was the first “rushing score” of his NFL career, which means it was the first time that Moss was handed the ball by Allen before running into the endzone. Moss scored a second touchdown that game when a handful of Bills’ offensive linemen, who start each play face-to-face with the opposite team’s defense, pushed him into the endzone. Be proud of our big, strong man! By any standard, this is an impressive landmark for Moss and his supportive Mossians.
Against the Seahawks on Nov. 8, Moss was able to carve a path through defensive linemen to get to the endzone and score a touchdown. Moss only needed to cross one yard of the field to do so, which is why the touchdown counts as a “one-yard touchdown.” This touchdown constituted Moss’s third touchdown in two weeks.
We’re going to get into the nitty-gritty now, but I’ll define some terms to keep everything as clear as possible so we can focus on Moss. To start, in a ranked list of running backs in the NFL, Zack Moss comes in at number 19 out of 50. The qualifications for high rankings are based on past and projected statistics. These statistics fall into a few key categories: number of games played (GP), rushing, receiving, two-point conversions, and fumbles (fum).
Moss has played six games this season out of nine but is projected by NFL Fantasy to play 11 games. That’s a pretty self-explanatory stat. Moss missed three games due to a toe injury earlier in the season. Rushing is simply running with the ball. The alternatives to rushing are kicking or passing the ball. Moss has successfully rushed 204 yards. NFL Fantasy predicts that Moss will run around 421.26 yards total this season, but also predicts he’ll only score around four to five rushing touchdowns. Interestingly, Moss has already scored three rushing touchdowns, which might indicate that he could exceed this NFL Fantasy prediction.
Receiving is another basic football term to know; a reception occurs when a player on offense catches the ball from the quarterback. Moss has eight receptions, one of those was for a touchdown. NFL Fantasy has low hopes for more of these reception touchdowns, predicting only one to two reception touchdowns total for the entire season.
A two-point conversion is one of the more confusing ways to earn points in football. Let’s take it step-by-step. First, a team must score a touchdown. Typically, teams decide to utilize their kickers after a touchdown to score a one-point conversion or an “extra point” on top of their touchdown points. To do this, a kicker must kick the ball through the goal. If a team plans to attempt to score a two-point conversion, the team does not utilize its kicker. Instead, the teams line up again two yards away from the endzone—the two-yard line—and attempt to get the ball into the endzone once more, as if to score a second touchdown. If successful, the team earns two points in addition to their six touchdown points. Zack Moss has yet to score in this manner, but hopes are high for his future. Even NFL Fantasy predicts that Moss has a chance to gain points via two-point conversion.
Fumbles are obvious—if the player touches or is holding the ball and loses possession of this ball before being tackled, that player has fumbled. Zack Moss has zero fumbles. This bodes incredibly well for the running back and promises him more opportunities for receptions in the future since he’s proven capable of catching the ball.
If you’re not a Mossian by now, I have very little hope for you. The least you could do is turn on the next Bills game and give him a chance. Watch this short-yet-mighty king push his way to the endzone to score many, many more touchdowns. That’s my small son! We’re all rooting for you, Zack.