James Cook
vs Malik Nabers

“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.”

“Here’s the thing: Malik Nabers is not back to full health yet. He’s near the bottom of the league in separation score this season and is sitting behind Isaiah Likely in target share. With every passing week, Nabers should be inching closer to his old self.”

“As a result of Winston getting back to slinging it, Malik Nabers had six receptions for 112 yards and a touchdown on seven targets, and Isaiah Likely had seven receptions for 66 scoreless yards on 12 targets. Winston’s showing provides gamers with hope for Nabers and Likely. That said, it may be best to use this as a selling window for Nabers.”

“Winston was trying to keep it simple by going to his first read at the seventh-highest rate, and even though Malik Nabers was the first read on 37% of plays, it counted for nothing because of the poor weather and the crowded area the ball was thrown into. We have to face the fact that this could be another lost season for Nabers, who hasn’t yet reached 10 half-PPR points in any game. The Cardinals’ pass defense ranks 30th in EPA allowed and has given up the 12th-most schedule-adjusted fantasy points to wide receivers.”

“If you drafted Nabers expecting a weekly WR1, there is plenty of reason to panic. I’m not selling him for scraps, and I’m not outright dropping him, but he’s fallen into risky FLEX territory. On the plus side, the Giants have three favorable matchups coming up.”

“Nabers was targeted on four occasions in the loss , missing a handful of snaps due to – what later turned out to be – a dislocated shoulder…and this is what concerns me way more than who happens to be throwing the former first-round pick the ball for the rest of the year. With Dart out, you could be forgiven for proclaiming this an already lost season for John Harbaugh’s men – so would it be crazy to suggest they may just shut down their star WR to save any more damage being done for little to no gain?”

“Stack Idea: Dart + Nabers + Kyren + Mevis Malik Nabers $13,500 Nabers is my lower-owned CPT alternative, as I currently have him at just under 10%. He caught six passes for 69 yards in his return last week, and his projected CPT ownership is less than half Dart’s. I want some lineups where the Giants’ biggest receiving performance belongs to Nabers, with Dart collecting the passing points in FLEX.”

“Nabers ran a route on 24 of those 36 snaps and quickly commanded nine targets.”

“Malik Nabers (WR – NYG) Going as the WR11, around the 27th overall pick, Nabers has shown real positive injury progression, moving out of the no-contact jersey and into full team drills.”

“Malik Nabers completely avoided the PUP list this offseason and has been trending towards starting the season as close to completely healthy as anyone could have hoped for. Nabers is still a potential value at his current ECR and ADP, as it was at this time just a year ago, when he was a popular first round draft target.”

“At the start of the offseason, this was a no-brainer selection for “riskiest player to draft.” After all, Malik Nabers could barely hobble to first base in a friendly kickball game.”