James Cook vs Brock Bowers
2026 draft comparison · half-PPR
Updated Jul 7, 2026
Should you draft James Cook or Brock Bowers?
The matchup
Cook enters 2026 with almost nothing around him changed: he re-signed with Buffalo, no back was added behind him, and he's coming off a league-leading 309 carries and 1,621 rushing yards as the goal-line runner. Ty Johnson still handles third-down passing work, so Cook's receiving ceiling stays capped even as new OC Pete Carmichael talks about expanding it. Bowers is harder to project. He's already the top receiving option on his team, and a thin Raiders receiver room leaves the targets there for him. But the passing game itself is being rebuilt around a new coaching staff and a rookie-or-Cousins quarterback question, and he's coming off 64 catches for 680 yards in 12 games played through a knee injury that needed no surgery but hasn't been tested over a full season.
AI-written, fact-checked summary. Neutral — no pick implied.
Last season — 2025, per game
Full game log & past seasons
| WK | OPP | FPTS | RANK | ATT | YD | TD | TGT | REC | RYD | RTD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | BAL | 18.7 | RB4 | 13 | 44 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 58 | 0 |
2 | NYJ | 26.0 | RB2 | 21 | 132 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 0 |
3 | MIA | 19.3 | RB7 | 19 | 108 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 10 | 0 |
4 | NO | 21.0 | RB10 | 22 | 117 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 18 | 0 |
5 | NE | 4.9 | RB38 | 15 | 49 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
6 | ATL | 8.7 | RB18 | 17 | 87 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
7 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
8 | CAR | 33.6 | RB2 | 19 | 216 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
9 | KC | 13.0 | RB13 | 27 | 114 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 11 | 0 |
10 | MIA | 8.2 | RB31 | 13 | 53 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 24 | 0 |
11 | TB | 18.9 | RB9 | 16 | 48 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 66 | 1 |
12 | HOU | 20.4 | RB6 | 17 | 116 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 13 | 0 |
13 | PIT | 17.2 | RB9 | 32 | 144 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 33 | 0 |
14 | CIN | 10.1 | RB24 | 18 | 80 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 31 | 0 |
15 | NE | 30.1 | RB1 | 22 | 107 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 1 |
16 | CLE | 25.9 | RB6 | 16 | 117 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 17 | 0 |
17 | PHI | 8.2 | RB23 | 20 | 74 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 0 |
18 | NYJ | 1.5 | RB69 | 2 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| WK | OPP | FPTS | RANK | TGT | REC | YD | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | NE | 12.8 | TE2 | 8 | 5 | 103 | 0 |
2 | LAC | 6.3 | TE16 | 8 | 5 | 38 | 0 |
3 | WAS | 7.8 | TE14 | 5 | 4 | 38 | 0 |
4 | CHI | 7.1 | TE19 | 6 | 5 | 46 | 0 |
5 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
6 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
7 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
8 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
9 | JAX | 37.3 | TE1 | 13 | 12 | 127 | 3 |
10 | DEN | 3.2 | TE29 | 3 | 1 | 31 | 0 |
11 | DAL | 10.7 | TE6 | 12 | 7 | 72 | 0 |
12 | CLE | 8.5 | TE10 | 9 | 6 | 55 | 0 |
13 | LAC | 20.3 | TE1 | 4 | 4 | 63 | 2 |
14 | DEN | 12.6 | TE5 | 5 | 4 | 46 | 1 |
15 | PHI | 5.8 | TE21 | 8 | 6 | 28 | 0 |
16 | HOU | 11.8 | TE12 | 5 | 5 | 33 | 1 |
Latest takes
“With the Bills' offense under Joe Brady never finding a dominant receiver, Cook has had to stand up and lead the offense, and there's no reason to think that can't continue this season. While the passing offense will be spread around, Cook remains the safest and strongest bet outside of Josh Allen.”
Tom Strachan· Jun 30“In 2024, James Cook dominated, scoring 16 touchdowns and rushing for 1,009 yards. In 2025, he recorded 1,621 rushing yards and 12 touchdowns, and gave us even more reason to be confident.”
Tom Strachan· Jun 30“With the Bills' offense under Joe Brady never finding a dominant receiver, Cook has had to stand up and lead the offense, and there's no reason to think that can't continue this season. Cook remains the safest and strongest bet outside of Josh Allen.”
Tom Strachan· Jun 29
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“In 2024, James Cook dominated, scoring 16 touchdowns and rushing for 1,009 yards. That production seemed unsustainable. In 2025, he recorded 1,621 rushing yards and 12 touchdowns, and gave us even more reason to be confident.”
Tom Strachan· Jun 29“In 2024, James Cook dominated, scoring 16 touchdowns and rushing for 1,009 yards. That production seemed unsustainable. In 2025, he recorded 1,621 rushing yards and 12 touchdowns, and gave us even more reason to be confident. With the Bills' offense under Joe Brady never finding a dominant receiver, Cook has had to stand up and lead the offense, and there's no reason to think that can't continue this season.”
Tom Strachan· Jun 28“Cook is coming off a season where he set career highs in carries (309), rushing yards (1,621), yards per carry (5.3) and fantasy points per game (17.8). Cook is a little older than most realize as he heads into his age-27 season, but he doesn't have a lot of mileage on him, and he's tied to Josh Allen for the next few years in what should continue being an explosive offense.”
Wolf Trelles-Heard· Jun 27“Cook caught just 33 passes on 40 targets despite a career-high 1,621 rushing yards. A quick glance at Cook's career confirms that Buffalo is comfortable forcing passing targets elsewhere, as during his four seasons with the Bills, Cook surpassed 35 receptions just once.”
Evan Tarracciano· Jun 25“In 2024, James Cook dominated, scoring 16 touchdowns and rushing for 1,009 yards. In 2025, he recorded 1,621 rushing yards and 12 touchdowns, and gave us even more reason to be confident. However, the counter to this would be that Josh Allen is coming off his lowest passing yardage total since 2019 (3,668), and hasn't thrown for more than 30 touchdowns in the last three seasons.”
Tom Strachan· Jun 25“Running back James Cook won the rushing title with 1,621 yards, but in PFF's view, Torrence didn't help his cause.”
Connor Byrne· Jun 24“The Bills featured James Cook as a bell cow, leaving Davis little opportunity to provide fantasy relevance.”
Edward DeLauter· Jun 23“In 2024, James Cook dominated, scoring 16 touchdowns and rushing for 1,009 yards. That production seemed unsustainable. In 2025, he recorded 1,621 rushing yards and 12 touchdowns, and gave us even more reason to be confident.”
Tom Strachan· Jun 21“James Cook was faded at ADP 39 with a 20% win rate and 71% top 6% finish, and the verdict was Wrong.”
Chris Cash· Jun 20“In 2024, James Cook dominated, scoring 16 touchdowns and rushing for 1,009 yards, and in 2025 he recorded 1,621 rushing yards and 12 touchdowns. However, the counter to this consistency would be that Josh Allen is coming off his lowest passing yardage total since 2019 (3,668), and hasn't thrown for more than 30 touchdowns in the last three seasons.”
Tom Strachan· Jun 19“Cook profiled as a high-upside pass-catcher out of the backfield when he entered the league in 2022, but that upside never materialized, as he has averaged just 41 targets per season over his first four years.”
Aaron Larson· Jun 18“The counter to this would be that Josh Allen is coming off his lowest passing yardage total since 2019 (3,668), and hasn't thrown for more than 30 touchdowns in the last three seasons. However, the Bills seem positive their offense will take a step forward this year with the addition of DJ Moore under new head coach Joe Brady. That remains to be seen. If it does happen, and the team scores more passing touchdowns and moves the ball better, could it come at the expense of Cook's ceiling?”
Tom Strachan· Jun 17
“Brock Bowers lead the way as the top candidates to finish above 200 fantasy points (half-PPR). With the league shifting towards TE-heavy offensive sets, we could see snaps across the position skyrocket.”
FantasyPros Staff· Jul 2“Managers consistently overpay for superstars early (the curse of Brock Bowers in 2025). A star player like Bowers is going to cost a lot early in the season, especially if you are playing with inexperienced or uninformed chopped players.”
Colt Williams· Jul 1“The passing game will also get a lift from a healthier Brock Bowers. The team's top pass-catching weapon suffered a PCL injury and a bone bruise in his knee in Week 1 and played through the injury for three weeks before shutting it down until Week 9.”
Josh Shepardson· Jul 1
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“Bowers, meanwhile, is onto his third quarterback in three years and will be hoping that Fernando Mendoza adjusts quickly to the NFL.”
Tom Strachan· Jun 30“I've had the best results getting my starting RBs from this stage, a solid, back-end top 12 WR, and Brock Bowers if he's going for somewhere near the mid $30s.”
Evan Hoovler· Jun 29“Bowers was plagued by injuries last season. He played through a couple of lingering injuries at the start of the season, and ultimately ended his season after 12 games.”
Ellis Johnson· Jun 29“As a rookie, Bowers set the rookie record for most receptions and yards at the position. These stats will knock your socks off: 153 targets, 112 receptions, 1,149 yards, five touchdowns.”
Ellis Johnson· Jun 29“Whether you prefer Brock Bowers or Trey McBride doesn't really matter. Neither should be drafted this high. Bowers, meanwhile, is onto his third quarterback in three years and will be hoping that Fernando Mendoza adjusts quickly to the NFL.”
Tom Strachan· Jun 28“Everyone is expecting the Raiders' rookie QB to pepper Bowers as he gets his feet wet. Expect to pay a premium for the top-ranked TE, this year.”
Evan Hoovler· Jun 25“Bowers is worth a look in the back half of the second round or early in the third round of 12-team fantasy drafts.”
FantasyPros Staff· Jun 25“Widely considered one of the best TE prospects to ever enter the league, Bowers had 112 catches for 1,194 yards and five touchdowns on 153 targets as a rookie. With better health in 2026, he has a chance to match or exceed his rookie numbers.”
FantasyPros Staff· Jun 25“Pat Fitzmaurice compared Bowers' potential fantasy edge to the advantage Travis Kelce provided during his peak seasons. Even as a rookie, Bowers posted elite receiving numbers and finished among the league leaders in targets, receptions, and receiving yards across all pass catchers.”
FantasyPros Staff· Jun 24“Brock Bowers, Raiders (24) was the highest rated Tight End in the NFL Top 100 for 2025.”
Sharp Football Staff· Jun 21“Bowers, meanwhile, is onto his third quarterback in three years and will be hoping that Fernando Mendoza adjusts quickly to the NFL.”
Tom Strachan· Jun 21“I am taking the post-injury discount on Brock Bowers after he missed five games in 2025. Despite missing those games, he actually scored more touchdowns (seven) than he did in his phenomenal rookie season.”
Jason Kamlowsky· Jun 14
So who do you have — Cook or Bowers?
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