James Cook vs Lamar Jackson

“In this draft, I started with James Cook as my anchor running back, and then hammered wide receiver with my next three selections.”

“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.”

“Fantasy players that want to draft a safe first-round running back should target James Cook. He doesn’t have overall RB1 upside with Josh Allen ‘s role at the goal line.”

“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.”

“Repeat Seasons It should be more of the same for James Cook and Chase Brown , who saw little change in their offenses this offseason.”

“31 10 21 James Cook 13 5 8 Josh Jacobs 7 15 -8 Saquon Barkley 2 13 -11 Bucky Irving 10 33 -23 In past years, so many top RBs have gotten hurt that the Zero (or hero) RB draft strategies have become popular.”

“I recently gushed about James Cook and Ray Davis as players to target at Underdog at their ADPs .”

“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.”

“Well, so much for all of the regression talk about James Cook last year. Cook crushed all of the haters, improving his stock as the RB6 in fantasy points per game. He led the NFL in rushing yards (1,621) while finishing third in rushing attempts and sixth in rushing touchdowns (tied).”

“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.”

“Round 14: Kyler Murray (QB – MIN) Kyler Murray is one of my favorite quarterbacks this season, and with the additional bench slots, I wanted to get him on the team behind Lamar Jackson.”

“Round 4: Lamar Jackson (QB – BAL) I don’t find myself in many positions to take someone like Lamar Jackson, but I pulled the trigger here.”

“But when Jackson fell to the back end of the sixth round, it was too hard to pass up. I will only draft elite QBs or TEs when they slip past ADP 90% of the time, and this was one of those spots.”

“Unfortunately, Jackson had arguably his worst season as a starter in 2025. He missed four games because of injury and played part of the year hurt. The superstar finished as the QB14 on a points-per-game basis among qualifying quarterbacks, averaging 19.8 fantasy points per contest. However, I expect a bounce-back season for Jackson, especially with Declan Doyle taking over as Baltimore’s offensive coordinator.”

“The Ravens dealt with Lamar Jackson being injured on and off for the year, and he still had that finish.”

“Declan Doyle is the new offensive coordinator and early returns are favorable. He comes from the Ben Johnson coaching tree, so I think we will see them use Jackson in ways we haven’t seen before.”

“Lamar Jackson – 0.58 Most rushing TDs on fewer than 200 carries in 2025: 1”

“Lamar Jackson , Jayden Daniels , Joe Burrow , Baker Mayfield , and Kyler Murray all were selected as top-12 players at the position and finished double-digit slots behind expectations in terms of points per game.”

“If Lamar Jackson can bounce back, Henry could inch back closer to his 2024 production (RB4 in fantasy points per game).”

“Injuries and a steep decline in rushing production cratered Lamar Jackson ‘s fantasy value in 2025. After finishing QB1 in fantasy scoring in 2024, Jackson plummeted to a QB20 fantasy finish last season and was QB16 in fantasy points per game at the position. Jackson lost three games to an early-season hamstring injury and one game to a late-season back injury.”

“Lamar Jackson cratered many fantasy rosters in 2025. Before an early October hamstring injury, he was on pace for 3,700 passing yards, 437 rushing yards, and 47 total TDs.”

“The most obvious thing to consider is your positional strengths and weaknesses — trading for Lamar Jackson when you already have Josh Allen probably isn’t a good idea.”