James Cook
vs Christian McCaffrey

“While the outcome was mild against a Houston defense we still buy as one of the best defensive fronts, Cook got the usage we wanted to see. He played 69.2% of the snaps (RB11) and saw 88.9% of the backfield touches (RB4). The one element that left more to be desired was the passing-game usage that was talked up this preseason.”

“James Cook (RB – BUF) 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.”

“While Cook does not have the pass-catching profile that usually benefits from a full PPR format, he has been one of the absolute best assets to have on a fantasy roster over the past few seasons, finishing as a top-12 RB each of the last three years. There is hope that Cook may become more involved in the passing game for the Bills, which would only give his fantasy ceiling a boost.”

“James Cook (RB – BUF) has already shown flashes of every skill needed to be the overall RB1: a big receiving season, an 18-touchdown season, and a 1,600-yard rushing season, just never all in the same year.”

“James Cook was picked as the best value on the board at 11th overall, priced almost entirely off last year’s production rather than his upside. The case for a top-three running back season rests on four pillars, and Cook checks every one.”

“James Cook was a no-brainer pick, and it came down to Derrick Henry and Ashton Jeanty for the RB2 slot.”

“The Bills put their money where their mouth is by giving James Cook a ton of money, then followed that up with a bunch of touches (349, to be exact), and brought the rushing title back to Buffalo. James Cook led the NFL in 2025 with 11 games of 80+ rushing yards.”

“James Cook is expected to be more involved in the passing game under new offensive coordinator Pete Carmichael, whose running backs have been heavily involved in the passing attack throughout his coaching history. Cook had a career-high 309 rush attempts in the regular season en route to the NFL rushing title last season, and shifting some of his carries into targets could be a wise move given his excellent receiving skills demonstrated at the NFL level.”

“Unlike Saquon Barkley, who also plays with a quarterback used heavily near the end zone, the Bills do mix in Cook near the end zone, instead of strictly relying on Josh Allen moving the pile. Cook had 14 rushing attempts inside the 5-yard line in 2025 (tied for 8th in the NFL) with 6 touchdowns on those runs.”

“If we could turn injuries off like in the Madden video game, McCaffrey would be the clear-cut 1.01 pick in every non-superflex draft.”

“Andrew Erickson’s Draft Landmines of 2026 Christian McCaffrey (RB – SF) Christian McCaffrey led the NFL with 413 touches in 2025 and reached 450 when including the playoffs.”

“Going as the RB3, roughly the eighth overall pick, McCaffrey is coming off a season that led all players in total touches. Historically, that’s a dangerous signal: over the last 13 years, only one running back who saw 400-plus touches in a season finished as a top-five back the next year, and running backs age 27 or older who led the league in touches have never finished top five the following season across six such occurrences.”

“He’s entering his age-30 season with a lot of miles on the tread. McCaffrey is absolutely capable of smashing, but he could also miss some games. Since 2020, he’s missed half the season or more three times.”

“In a full PPR format, CMC represents one of the few RBs in the league who really benefits from the extra bump per reception. McCaffrey had a whopping 102 receptions last season and could very well be one of the main receiving weapons in San Francisco again in 2026.”

“Christian McCaffrey | RB, San Francisco 49ers Heading into what will be his 10th season in the NFL, Christian McCaffrey is coming off another season of monstrous volume.”

“McCaffrey is coming off a season where he touched the ball 400+ times and finished all but one week of the season as a top-24 RB. The biggest “if” with CMC is his health, but when he is on the field, he is a fantasy league winner.”

“2 Something to note is that while Christian McCaffrey did not reach the total rushing attempts needed to hit this criterion last season, he did have 311 carries, along with 102 receptions, putting his total workload at a similar number.”

“The last time McCaffrey had over 400 touches in a year, the superstar missed 69.7% of the games over the next two seasons because of injury.”

“McCaffrey was the RB1 in points per game, scoring 2.5 points more than the RB2. Once again, the 49ers did very little to persuade us that they don’t believe in McCaffrey’s ability to be a workhorse, instead continuing their habit of talking up a later-round dart throw at the position, who’ll likely struggle to see any involvement.”