The Bills are looking for a new answer at fullback, and Jackson Acker has a real shot to be the guy.
Buffalo’s old fullback, Reggie Gilliam, spent most of his time with the team doing his damage on special teams. He came into the league as an undrafted free agent after the 2020 NFL Draft, and while he lined up at both fullback and tight end at different points, his biggest role was in the third phase. With Gilliam now gone to “the worst possible place he could have gone, at least from this fan’s perspective,” the Bills have to sort out who fills that spot.
Acker is in the mix as a 23-year-old fullback who won’t turn 24 until 11/15/2026. He wears No. 40, stands 6’1”, weighs 247 pounds, and arrived from Wisconsin as an undrafted free agent.
His three-year UDFA deal is worth $3.117 million, and if he makes the 53-man roster in 2026, his cap hit is $890,666. If Buffalo moves on, the dead cap charge is only $17,000.
His final season with the Badgers didn’t make him a headline player, but it did show a little more than just blocking duty. Wisconsin mostly used him as a lead blocker in a three-headed rushing attack, yet he still got 15 carries for 55 yards, both of which matched the second-highest single-season totals of his NCAA career.
Eight of those carries came on third or fourth down, and every one of them moved the chains. He also caught eight passes for 66 yards and a touchdown.
Acker wasn’t invited to the 2026 NFL Scouting Combine, but he helped himself at Wisconsin’s Pro Day. He ran 4.69 seconds in the forty, posted a 4.43-second shuttle, finished the three-cone in 7.34 seconds, put up 20 reps of 225 pounds on the bench, and recorded a 32.5-inch vertical and a 9-foot-7 broad jump.
On Buffalo’s roster, Acker is one of two fullbacks, alongside Ben VanSumeran. The running back group currently includes James Cook III, Ray Davis, Ty Johnon, Ian Wheeler, and Frank Gore Jr.
Acker has been healthy this offseason and has taken part in OTAs. That matters, because his path to the roster is pretty straightforward: he needs to prove he can handle special teams. He may not have VanSumeran’s NFL experience or his special teams background - VanSumeran entered the league as a linebacker - but Acker does bring some offensive upside and better overall athleticism.
There’s also a bigger reason Buffalo could lean his way. The Bills would love to have a better short-yardage option than Josh Allen, who is 30 years old and shouldn’t keep serving as a battering ram every week.
Allen has been outstanding in those situations, but the risk is obvious. One play can change everything.
Buffalo can’t eliminate every hit he takes, but it can look for ways to cut down on them, and a fullback who can handle short-yardage work would help.
Acker’s college production hints at that possibility. In his sophomore year at Wisconsin, he was essentially the backup to Braelon Allen, now with the New York Jets.
That season, Acker ran 72 times for 322 yards and two touchdowns, while also adding 19 receptions for 108 yards and another score. The Bills obviously wouldn’t want to ask him for that kind of volume, and the fact that those numbers make up almost all of his college output suggests Wisconsin didn’t want to lean on him that heavily either.
For Acker, the formula is simple. Win on special teams.
Give Buffalo something useful in short-yardage situations. If he does both, he has a strong chance to open the season as the fullback when the Bills face the Houston Texans on September 13.
If not, the job likely goes to VanSumeran, whose offensive ceiling is lower but whose special teams value is more proven.
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