James Cook vs Omarion Hampton

“Check out all of Fitz’s top fantasy football draft picks to target >> James Cook (BUF) James Cook led the NFL in rushing yards in 2025 (1,621).”

“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.”

“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.”

“32 receptions in 9 games on a 57% snap share The Omarion Hampton doubters , rebutted:”

“man - top 5 among power-conference WRs last year The case for Omarion Hampton as a late first-rounder:”

“The other AFC West breakout candidate at RB is Omarion Hampton .”

“Round 2: Omarion Hampton (RB – LAC) At the tail-end of the second round, I shored up my other running back slot with Omarion Hampton.”

“Hampton should be a rock-solid RB1 with massive upside in 2026.”

“I have spent a lot of time pumping up Justin Herbert getting to play with Mike McDaniel , but there is no doubt that Omarion Hampton is going to see a huge spike.”

“Hampton should be the biggest benefactor of the hire, as De'Von Achane was a fantasy superstar with McDaniel in Miami. More importantly, the second-year pro was outstanding as a rookie despite missing half the season with an injury, averaging 15.1 PPR fantasy points per game despite playing behind arguably the most injury-plagued offensive line.”

“In Year 2, Hampton will surely benefit from the arrival of offensive coordinator Mike McDaniel, a wizard at designing a run game. He'll get the bruising back into space, where Hampton can employ that 4.46 speed to zoom past defenders.”

“Omarion Hampton played only nine games as a rookie, but we got a glimpse of how good he can be. In those contests, he averaged 15.1 fantasy points per game (FPPG), good for RB12. He rushed for 545 yards and added another 192 through the air on 32 receptions.”

“Andrew Erickson expects a healthy Chargers offense and Mike McDaniel's arrival as offensive coordinator to unlock Hampton's ceiling. He highlighted McDaniel's history of involving running backs heavily in the passing game while also pointing to Justin Herbert's previous success targeting backs. Combined with Hampton's projected workload and favorable early schedule, Erickson believes he offers legitimate RB1 upside despite being drafted outside the first round.”

“A healthier offensive line could help the team score touchdowns at a higher rate in the red zone, but so could better health from Omarion Hampton, who played in only nine games as a rookie.”

“Omarion Hampton and the Chargers are very much the target of offseason hype, and it's worth remembering there have been plenty of times in the past that the Chargers haven't paid off that hype.”