At some point, the fantasy football community was going to have to accept James Cook as an elite RB1. The fact that he entered the NFL with a limited collegiate production profile and joined a team with a quarterback who serves as his team’s goal-line back resulted in hesitation, but Cook has finally earned his flowers. The question for fantasy managers is whether the Buffalo Bills RB1 is worth his elite price tag.
Should You Draft Bills RB James Cook in Fantasy Football?
Why exactly did the Bills spend a second-round pick on Cook in 2022? It’s hard to say. He entered the NFL with 230 college carries and fewer than 300 total touches. Most elite running backs clear that in a single season. Cook’s heaviest usage on the ground was 113 carries in his senior year, which just about matched his rushing attempts total from his first three years combined. Backs like that don’t succeed.
As a rookie, Cook flashed upside, averaging 5.8 yards per carry, but that doesn’t mean a whole lot for a backup. He only handled 91 carries. We’ve seen plenty of backup running backs be efficient on limited usage, only to struggle when given more work. That was not the case with Cook, though.
Immediately, in his second NFL season, he blew past the level of usage he had in any college season. Cook turned 237 carries into 1,122 yards and caught 44 passes for 445 yards. The problem is that he only scored six touchdowns, as Josh Allen remains the team’s primary goal-line back. How was Cook going to elevate himself? The answer, as we came to learn, was to earn some of those goal-line looks.
In 2024, Cook had a relatively similar season to the year before, except instead of scoring six times, he tripled that. Despite the top-12 finish, averaging 16.7 fantasy points per game, fantasy managers were reluctant to truly buy into Cook as an RB1, believing the 18 touchdowns to be unsustainable. Cook proved everyone wrong again.
In 2025, Cook leveled up again. He handled 309 carries, proving he can be a true feature back, and averaged an impressive 5.3 yards per carry while doing so. He also scored 14 times, leading to a career-best 17.8 PPG.
Since entering the NFL, Cook’s trajectory has been exclusively upwards. He’s been efficient on the ground. His fantasy PPG average has gone up every season. Cook proved he can handle heavy volume. What’s not to like?
Cook’s Redraft Fantasy Football Value
If you select Cook in the late first round of 2026 fantasy drafts, he is unlikely to fail you. At this point, we should accept that Cook is the clear lead back on one of the best offenses in football that wants to run the ball as much as possible. But can he really pay off at his elevated RB5 price tag? That seems awfully expensive for a player who just had the best season of his career and finished RB6.
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Of course, no one is complaining about 17.8 PPG. If your first-round pick posts 17-19 PPG, that’s not going to be the reason you lose. But will it be the reason you win?
Therein lies the issue with Cook. It feels very much like his ceiling is capped, and we’ve already seen it. Yet, it feels like he’s being drafted at his ceiling…right?
Yes, Cook’s production has gone up every year of his career. So, how does it get any higher? Can Cook really score more touchdowns? 14-18 feels like the best he’s going to do. But is it?
Increased rushing production isn’t really going to move the needle by a meaningful amount. But even that is capped. How much more can we ask from Cook than 300+ carries while averaging over 5.0 yards per carry?
The only area in which Cook can realistically improve is as a receiver. He’s a good pass catcher, averaging 1.31 yards per route run last season. That ranked 13th in the league. The problem is the volume.
The Bills averaged 29.1 pass attempts per game last season. That was 25th in the league in passing volume. Cook saw an 8.4% target share last season and 8.1% the year before. This is the degree to which he is used in the passing game, and that’s in an offense that is near the bottom in pass attempts.
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With that said, there have been reports that Cook is being used more in the passing game. I must say, I am warning to the idea that he could actually see an increase in receiving, especially in light of my fade on DJ Moore.
We have Cook as our consensus RB5, and I am strongly coming around on him as not just a fine pick, but a target. He has a floor around 16 PPG, and I’m beginning to buy that 20 PPG is possible.
Cook’s Dynasty Fantasy Football Value
As is often the case, dynasty is different than redraft. The fact that Cook may have a capped ceiling doesn’t matter as much when we’re talking about a 27-year-old player in the prime of his career.
Cook should have at least three more high-end seasons in him, if not more. As the RB1 tied to arguably the league’s best quarterback in an offense that consistently is at the top of the league in scoring, even if he’s capped at 17-18 PPG, that’s fine.
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What Cook lacks in upside, he makes up for in reliability. You know you’re getting at least low-end RB1 production. He always plays, having missed just a single game in his four-year career. There’s no threat to Cook’s role. He has the same two backs behind him in Ray Davis and Ty Johnson. Each serves a purpose and has his own role in the offense that does not conflict with Cook’s.
We have Cook as our dynasty RB6 and feel very confident in him as a fantasy RB1 for the next three-ish years.
This article originally appeared on Pro Football Network.