James Cook vs Kenneth Walker

“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.”

“Cook got a new contract last offseason, which was well-earned on the field. He had the best season of his early career, setting career highs in rushing attempts (309), rushing yards (1,621), touches (342), and yards from scrimmage (1,912) to go along with 14 touchdowns.”

“In a PPR league, James Cook is the pick. He led the league in rushing in 2025 and in touchdowns in 2024, so the volume is there and will continue to be in 2026 with Joe Brady at head coach.”

“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.”

“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.”

“The Bills featured James Cook as a bell cow, leaving Davis little opportunity to provide fantasy relevance.”

“James Cook was faded at ADP 39 with a 20% win rate and 71% top 6% finish, and the verdict was Wrong.”

“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.”

“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?”

“If you spent $70 on running back but somehow came away with James Cook and De'Von Achane (which is a bit under our current dollar value calculator), that could be just fine.”

“With Josh Allen still leading one of the NFL's highest-scoring offenses and the offensive line remaining strong, Cook's floor remains extremely high. The hosts also discussed the possibility that Buffalo could finally unlock more of Cook's receiving upside under new leadership, especially given his pass-catching pedigree coming out of Georgia.”

“The most significant offseason addition on offense for the Chiefs was running back Kenneth Walker III, and their offseason actions would suggest they want to improve their running game, possibly leaning on Walker to take some work off Mahomes' plate in his return from knee surgery.”

“With the expectation that the offense could lean more heavily on the running game early in the season, Walker could see a significant touch count right away, and the hosts believe he possesses legitimate top-10 fantasy upside.”

“Walker has struggled to handle a heavy workload throughout his career and has often found himself sharing touches. Walker brings exactly what Kansas City's backfield has been missing: explosiveness, with elite explosive run rate and ability to force missed tackles.”

“With his salivating mix of talent and efficiency, Walker should be an explosive RB1 in 2026.”

“Last year, Walker ranked second in explosive run rate, first in missed tackle rate, ninth in yards per route run, and 12th in first downs per route run. He was a per-touch efficiency marvel.”

“Kenneth Walker arrives in Kansas City as the Chiefs' new lead back. Walker had a disappointing season in 2025 from a fantasy standpoint as the RB28 in fantasy points per game, but it's easy to see why it unfolded that way.”

“The addition of Kenneth Walker III will likely also reduce their reliance on short throws to Rice as a replacement for the traditional run game.”

“Fitzmaurice also sounded extremely optimistic about Kenneth Walker III after selecting him in the third round. The core argument was that Kansas City desperately needed explosiveness in the backfield and finally addressed it. Fitz believes the Chiefs are serious about re-establishing the run game, and Walker's big-play ability gives him league-winning upside in that offense.”

“Kenneth Walker III became a discussion about workload expectations. The issue is whether fantasy managers are now projecting a workhorse role that simply may never exist consistently. The panel highlighted his limited goal-line usage, injury history, and the fact that Seattle carefully managed touches throughout most of his career before finally leaning heavily on him during the playoff run.”

“Kenneth Walker III signed a 3-year, $43.05 million contract with the Kansas City Chiefs to be their lead back and is currently RB9 in dynasty. That is way too high for a running back who had a great playoff run, but otherwise was an average back in a committee system in Seattle. He is stepping in to lead a Kansas City backfield that hasn't produced a 1,000-yard rusher since 2017, and he will be losing pass-catching duties to rookie Emmett Johnson and Emari Demercado.”

“Johnson has a broader skill set than Smith, so the rookie is likely to be Kenneth Walker's primary backup. Johnson carried a big load for Nebraska last season, averaging 20.9 carries and 24.8 touches a game. If Walker were to miss any time in 2026, Johnson could handle a full workload.”

“Kenneth Walker left the team during free agency.”