James Cook
vs Josh Allen

“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.”

“Josh Allen should meet little resistance, and James Cook can gash them on the ground, too.”

“Bills Fantasy Quarterback Preview Josh Allen (TRUST) We could be seeing the best season of Allen's career, which is saying something. We are only two weeks in, so we will keep things in check, but Allen is averaging career-highs in touchdown rate (8.3%), yards per pass attempt (9.7), and yards per completion (14.6). The Bills are throwing more, and they are throwing it downfield, something we were betting on this offseason.”

“Last Thursday, Allen ran in Buffalo’s first TD himself , then proceeded to spread the love to Joshua Palmer , Dawson Knox , and Dalton Kincaid before running in another TD himself for good measure. Only then did he finally hand it off to Cook for Buffalo’s sixth and final trip to the end zone. But this was ultimately the Josh Allen show, which is exactly why he lands among our overachievers this week.”

“Josh Allen remains a two-way scoring threat for the second straight week — 2 rushing TDs again. Another dual-threat scoring day (20-of-31 for 248, 3 TD passes, plus 14 carries for 69 yards with the aforementioned scores). Buffalo opened with a notable heavy package: three tight ends on the field to start.”

“Houston Texans Hot take alert: Josh Allen is good at football. The Bills quarterback supermanned his squad to a win over the vaunted Texans defense, creating big play after big play and frustrating an extremely talented unit on the other side. Offseason acquisition D.J.”

“Josh Allen led Buffalo to a 36-31 victory on the road against Houston, finally able to shake the monkey from his back at Reliant Stadium. A 34-yard touchdown pass to Joshua Palmer with 1:36 remaining in the game proved to be the decisive score and the cherry on top of Allen’s four-touchdown masterpiece. Houston’s typically stingy defense surrendered 334 passing yards and was unable to contain Allen on the ground as a runner, allowing him to score two rushing touchdowns.”

“BUF @ HOU (BUF-1.5, O/U 44.5) Josh Allen ranks as the Ballers consensus QB9 behind some names that may be on your waiver wire. However, the Ballers recommend starting Allen over names like Stafford and Goff, who rank above him this week. DJ Moore ranks as a potential FLEX play, but lower your expectations against Houston’s defense.”

“1 — Josh Allen , Buffalo Bills Allen is a model of consistency. In two of the last three years, his adjusted completion rate was above 76 percent. His big-time throw rate went from 6.1 percent in 2023 to 7.0 percent in 2024 to 5.1 percent in 2025, all while keeping his turnover-worthy play rate below three percent.”

“Josh Allen is always startable, but temper expectations slightly. The Rams play the 49ers in East Melbourne on Thursday night (Netflix), a marquee international matchup between two top-10 offenses. Both SF (+0.09) and LA (+0.14) have the firepower to put up big numbers – your Rams and 49ers skill players are strong plays.”

“Patrick Mahomes has led the league in passing yards once, and Josh Allen has yet to do it at all.”