Bills RB James Cook received 13 carries for 56 yards in Week 7 vs. the Patriots. He also hauled all 3 targets for 46 yards with a receiving TD as a pass-catcher in Sunday’s loss. Veteran back Latavius Murray produced very little as the sole RB2, posting just 28 total yards on 6 touches. With their Week 8 game vs. the Buccaneers coming on Thursday night, it’ll be interesting to see if Buffalo is inclined to more evenly distribute the workload. Regardless, Cook will be a quality RB2 option for lineups.
The Bills placed RB Damien Harris (neck, concussion) on IR. He'll miss at least the next four games and can be dropped in most fantasy leagues. RB Latavius Murray should get an uptick in work with Harris sidelined. Harris' absence can't hurt RB James Cook's volume either.
Bills RB James Cook received 14 carries for 71 yards in Week 6's win vs. the Giants. Surprisingly, the second-year back didn't register a single target or catch in the contest, the first time that's happened in the 2023 season. After Damien Harris left late in the second quarter due to a frightening neck injury, RB Latavius Murray stepped up in spelling Cook and ended Sunday night with 45 rushing yards on 12 carries. It's also worth noting that Murray received 4 red zone carries to Cook's 1 against the Giants. Though the veteran didn't find the end zone, Murray brings some fantasy viability as a decent flex option with TD upside for managers with players on bye weeks. Next week, the Bills will take on the Patriots.
Bills RB James Cook hauled 3 of 4 targets for 25 receiving yards in Week 5’s loss vs. the Jaguars. He was unfortunately not as effective as a runner, totaling -4 yards on 5 carries. His teammate Damien Harris didn't do much better, leading all Bills RBs with 13 yards on 3 carries. The Jaguars’ defense entered Week 5 as the sixth-toughest matchup in adjusted fantasy points allowed to RBs in 2023 and did a tremendous job of stopping runners again this week. We expect Cook and company to have a much better time in Week 6 vs. the Giants.
Bills RB James Cook scored his first TD of the season in Sunday’s win over Miami. He saw three goal line opportunities and covered one from one yard out. It’s a positive development for Cook, who entered with only three goal line carries on the season. He’ll remain a near must-start for Sunday’s home matchup with Jacksonville.
Bills RB James Cook led the backfield with 15 carries and 98 yards in Week 3. He garnered only 3 targets on a day that saw Stefon Diggs dominate (37.5% target share). Cook also watched as Josh Allen and Latavius Murray tallied short-range rushing scores. It’s clear by now that the second-year back won’t carry a high TD ceiling. But his efficiency and overall touch volume suggest he can remain a strong RB2+. He draws the Dolphins at home in Week 4.
Bills RB James Cook looked explosive in Sunday’s win over Las Vegas, totaling 159 yards on 21 touches. Both figures marked career highs. The second-year back also led all early-game RBs in rush yards over expectation (+44), per ESPN’s Seth Walder. He continued to lose out on red zone work to both Damien Harris and Latavius Murray. Still, his receiving work (10 targets in two games) really helps Cook’s floor. He’ll remain an RB2 moving forward.
Bills RB James Cook logged 12 carries for 46 rushing yards to go along with 4 catches and 17 receiving yards in Monday’s OT loss vs. the Jets. The second-year back received 18 of 25 total touch opportunities (72%) among Bills’ RBs in this contest, suggesting that the team is pretty comfortable using him in a workhorse role. While Cook didn’t have any big plays, fantasy managers are assuredly pleased to see the volume he received. He’ll have a chance to progress in Week 2 vs. the Raiders, a team that surrendered a combined 128 total yards to Broncos RBs on Sunday.
Bills RB Damien Harris returned to practice Wednesday after missing a little more than a week with a knee issue. He still has nearly a month to get ready for the regular-season opener but will need to battle Latavius Murray for the No. 2 job behind expected starter James Cook. Harris has moved down our 2023 fantasy football rankings since the beginning of training camp.
Joe Buscaglia of The Athletic says that Bills RB James Cook has "separated himself" from Damien Harris and Latavius Murray in training camp, furthering the notion that Cook is headed for the clear lead role. Buscaglia adds that Murray is pushing Harris for the No. 2 job with a good camp, while Harris has also dealt with injury. Buscaglia also throws in that RB Nyheim Hines was a "borderline favorite" to be the Bills' No. 2 before suffering his ACL tear. That's especially interesting because Hines garnered only six total carries and nine targets across nine games with the Bills last year after arriving from the Colts via trade. The Hines bit plus the Murray praise could signal an iffy outlook for Harris, who signed for less than $2 million on a one-year deal in free agency. Harris has already moved down our RB rankings since the start of training camp.
Bills QB Josh Allen hopped aboard the James Cook hype train in a SiriusXM interview on Wednesday. Cook is "going to take a large portion of the carries and in the pass game, he's going to be kind of a dual threat guy for us," Allen said. We've expected Cook to dominate pass-catching work all along. But a big revelation over the last couple of weeks is that Cook is in line to also lead the Bills in carries. A workload similar to what RB Devin Singletary got over the past four years -- 11.0 carries and 3.2 targets per game -- is within reach for Cook this year.
Bills OC Ken Dorsey called RB James Cook a “three-down back” at practice on Thursday. The Athletic’s Joe Buscaglia believes the Bills have “cleared the deck” for Cook to “take a major leap” in Year 2. Cook has consistently been the first RB up in team drills, ahead of Damien Harris. Don't be surprised if Cook's Underdog Fantasy ADP (RB31) rises quickly.
Bills RB Nyheim Hines is expected to miss the entire 2023 season after suffering a "significant knee injury off-site," according to NFL Network's Tom Pelissero. We'll look for more details on the injury and Hines' rehab timeline. The Bills acquired him via trade last November but used him primarily in a special teams role. Hines handled just six carries and nine targets in nine regular season games -- and then zero carries and three targets in two postseason appearances. There's very little fantasy impact here, besides making RB James Cook a slightly safer bet to handle passing-down snaps.
Update: Pelissero reports that Hines was struck by a jetski. He suffered a torn left ACL, per team reporter Alaina Getzenberg.
Bills beat reporter Sal Capaccio projects RB James Cook to roughly match Devin Singletary’s 2022 workload. The former Bill tallied 177 carries; 38 catches. “He [Cook] is not the biggest guy. He’s 190 pounds…not many running backs are that slight,” Carpaccio said on the Outside the Gridiron podcast. “He can still run between the tackles but you don’t want to do that too much to him. You don’t want him taking a pounding. That’s why the Bills signed Damien Harris.” Per Capaccio, the Bills entered the offseason determined to improve their short-yardage offense – a sentiment confirmed by the signing of Harris. His arrival – and the presence of Josh Allen – brings uncertainty to Cook’s TD outlook. Head to Cook's player page, and you'll see he's projected for only 5 total scores.
Bills RB coach Kelly Skipper gave his assessment of 2nd-year RB James Cook. “Big jump (from first to second year),” Skipper said. “I see it in the classroom. You can see he’s taking control of the playbook. If I ask a question, he’s the first one to answer, where before, he was just really learning. He got that experience, and you saw how much better he got toward the end of the year.” We’ll see how Buffalo breaks down first-team reps at training camp between Cook and Damien Harris. Overall, look for this backfield to see a small uptick in volume. Per beat writer Ryan O’Halloran, the expectation is that the Bills will reduce Josh Allen’s rushing load. (Allen handled nearly 30% of Buffalo’s carries in 2022.) Visit our fantasy football RB rankings to see backfield expectations.
Bills beat writer Matt Parrino came away impressed with RB James Cook at OTAs. “Cook looks bigger and quicker in his second OTAs after the Bills took him in the second round back in 2022,” Parrino wrote. “He’s the odds-on favorite to be the team’s starting running back and he looked the part on Tuesday." That last part is particularly interesting (and debatable). Cook brings more big-play ability than Damien Harris, who signed a low-cost one-year deal in March. But Harris projects as a bigger factor near the goal line. And we know about Josh Allen’s rushing in close. (He carried 15 times inside the 10 last year, scoring five times.) Cook’s receiving performance will be key, and there’s at least an opportunity there. New Texans RB Devin Singletary leaves behind 52 targets -- 20 more than Cook saw as a rookie.
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