ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — Fort Hill graduate Ty Johnson appears to have solidified himself as the Buffalo Bills’ No. 2 back, gaining nearly 80 yards in the teams’ rout of the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday.
The 5-foot-10, 210-pound running back had nine rushes for 54 yards, a 21-yard kick return and a four-yard reception in the 31-10 victory.
James Cook is the Bills’ feature back and he showed it Sunday gaining 179 ground yards on 25 carries and scoring a pair of touchdowns; however, Johnson’s rushing total dwarfed Latavius Murray’s 11 yards on five carries — though he did score a short-yardage touchdown.
Johnson scored his first touchdown with the Bills on Nov. 19 on a 28-yard reception against the New York Jets, his former team.
Johnson was cut by the Bills during their final 53-man roster cuts back in August and spent six weeks on the practice squad before being elevated to the active roster on Oct. 20.
Johnson had spent the majority of the last three seasons with the New York Jets. Last year, he ran 30 times for 160 yards and a touchdown. He also caught 12 passes for 88 yards.
A sixth-round pick in 2019, Johnson entered the year with 925 career rushing yards, 668 receiving yards and 248 return yards.
At Fort Hill, Johnson was the first two-time Area Player of the Year. He rushed for 3,363 yards and 43 touchdowns in his career. The 33 touchdowns he scored in 2014 still stand as the school’s single-season record.
In four years at the University of Maryland, he rushed for 2,635 yards on 348 attempts (7.6 yards per carry), good for fourth all-time on the Terrapins’ rushing yards leaderboard.
He’s one of four players to have 4,000 all-purpose yards at Maryland, joining Stefon Diggs, Torrey Smith and all-time leading rusher LaMont Jordan.