James Cook

25-Year-Old Running BackRB

Buffalo Bills

2024 Rush/Rec Stats

ATT

207

YDS

1009

YDS

258

2025 Projections

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YDS

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2025 Fantasy Outlook

The Bills unleashed a new-look rushing attack in 2024, with offensive coordinator Joe Brady tapping into a dominant ground game that for some reason laid largely dormant in the prior years. The player who reaped the greatest benefits of Brady's success was arguably Cook, who went from a two-touchdown runner in 2023 to 16 touchdowns last year, even while attempting 30 fewer carries than in 2023. After seeing five carries inside the five-yard line over his first 326 NFL carries, Cook took 15 carries inside the five-yard line on just 207 carries last year. These developments are at once encouraging for Cook yet numbers plainly marked for regression. Cook is seeking a contract extension from Buffalo and if he receives one it will presumably be costly, at which point Cook's raised pay would be an ongoing incentive for the Bills to maintain Cook's workload despite the promise demonstrated by backup runners Ty Johnson and especially 2024 fourth-round pick Ray Davis. Good as Cook is, he's still a very light running back who is not built for power functions, while by contrast Davis is built dense and low to the ground. An extension would be big for securing Cook's workload projection going forward. Read Past Outlooks

RANKS

Overall

Running Back

Height 5'11"

Weight 190

DOB 9/25/1999

College Georgia

Drafted 2nd Rd 2022 #63 Overall

Wants extension, more playing time

RBBuffalo Bills

February 21, 2025

Cook is seeking a contract extension and said he'd like to get more playing time as well, Ryan Talbot of newyorkupstate.com reports.

ANALYSIS
Cook scored 18 touchdowns during the 2024 regular season despite playing just 48 percent of snaps in his 16 appearances. He got a carry or target on 50.5 percent of his snaps, which helped make up for the modest playing time and allowed for a second straight 1,000-yard rushing season. He's perhaps the most obvious TD regression candidate in the league for 2025, but he can make up for any losses in per-touch productivity if the Bills give him a larger workload. That's far from guaranteed, of course, considering Cook is one of the league's smaller lead backs (listed at 190 pounds) and has 2024 fourth-round pick Ray Davis behind him on the depth chart. Ty Johnson also got a lot of playing time in 2024, mostly in clear passing situations, but he's scheduled for unrestricted free agency, whereas Cook has one year remaining on his rookie contract.

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NFL Stats

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Fantasy/Red Zone Stats

See red zone opportunities inside the 20, 10 and 5-yard lines along with the percentage of time they converted the opportunity into a touchdown.

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Advanced NFL Stats

How do James Cook's 2024 advanced stats compare to other running backs?

This section compares his advanced stats with players at the same position. The bar represents the player's percentile rank. For example, if the bar is halfway across, then the player falls into the 50th percentile for that metric and it would be considered average. The longer the bar, the better it is for the player.

Broken Tackle %
The number of broken tackles divided by rush attempts.
Positive Run %
The percentage of run plays where he was able to gain positive yardage.
% Yds After Contact
The percentage of his rushing yards that came after contact.
Avg Yds After Contact
The average rushing yards he gains after contact.
Rushing TD %
Rushing touchdowns divided by rushing attempts. In other words, how often is he scoring when running the ball.
Touches Per Game
The number of touches (rushing attempts + receptions) he is averaging per game
% Snaps w/Touch
The number of touches (rushing attempts + receptions) divided by offensive snaps played.
Air Yards Per Game
The number of air yards he is averaging per game. Air yards measure how far the ball was thrown downfield for both complete and incomplete passes. Air yards are recorded as a negative value when the pass is targeted behind the line of scrimmage. All air yards data is from Sports Info Solutions and does not include throwaways as targeted passes.
Air Yards Per Snap
The number of air yards he is averaging per offensive snap.
% Team Air Yards
The percentage of the team's total air yards he accounts for.
% Team Targets
The percentage of the team's total targets he accounts for.
Avg Depth of Target
Also known as aDOT, this stat measures the average distance down field he is being targeted at.
Catch Rate
The number of catches made divided by the number of times he was targeted by the quarterback.
Drop Rate
The number of passes he dropped divided by the number of times he was targeted by the quarterback.
Avg Yds After Catch
The number of yards he gains after the catch on his receptions.
% Targeted On Route
Targets divided by total routes run. Also known as TPRR.
Avg Yds Per Route Run
Receiving yards divided by total routes run. Also known as YPRR.

Broken Tackle %

15.0%

Positive Run %

84.1%

% Yds After Contact

60.5%

Avg Yds After Contact

2.9

Rushing TD %

7.7%

Touches Per Game

14.9

% Snaps w/Touch

51.6%

Air Yards Per Game

1.9

Air Yards Per Snap

0.06

% Team Air Yards

0.7%

% Team Targets

7.7%

Avg Depth of Target

0.8 Yds

Catch Rate

84.2%

Drop Rate

7.9%

Avg Yds After Catch

8.1

% Targeted On Route

17.1%

Avg Yds Per Route Run

1.16

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2024

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2022

2024 NFL Game Log

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2023 NFL Game Log

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2022 NFL Game Log

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Snap Distribution / Depth Chart

Snap Counts

Snap %

Bills 2024 RB Snap Distribution See more data like this | See last season's snap counts

J.James Cook

T.Ty Johnson

R.Ray Davis

#% of Team Snaps

55946%

37030%

26822%

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#1 RB

Bills

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Receiving Alignment Breakdown

See where James Cook lined up on the field and how he performed at each spot.

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2024 James Cook Split Stats

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Measurables Review View College Player Page

How do James Cook's measurables compare to other running backs?

This section compares his draft workout metrics with players at the same position. The bar represents the player's percentile rank. For example, if the bar is halfway across, then the player falls into the 50th percentile for that metric and it would be considered average.

Height

5' 11"

Weight

190 lbs

40-Yard Dash

4.42 sec

Vertical Jump

33.0 in

Broad Jump

124 in

Hand Length

9.38 in

Arm Length

30.75 in

Recent RotoWire Articles Featuring James Cook See More

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Jerry Donabedian looks at rookies whose ADPs shifted after the NFL Scouting Combine, including some like Ashton Jeanty who didn't even go through workouts.

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55 days ago

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The popularity of Cincinnati stacks seems to be inflating ADPs for Tee Higgins and Joe Burrow. RW's Jerry Donabedian has the full scoop, looking at early ADP results from two best-ball sites.

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65 days ago

RotoWire's Jerry Donabedian compares his Top 200 to early ADP and finds that most drafters don't share his optimism about Bucky Irving and Courtland Sutton.

NFL DFS Picks: Yahoo Plays and Strategy for The Big Game Baller

72 days ago

The top NFL DFS picks for Sunday's Super Bowl matchup between Kansas City and Philadelphia include Saquon Barkley as he looks to cap a historic season with a championship.

Past Fantasy Outlooks

2024

2023

2022

Power and short-yardage running will probably never be part of Cook's skill set, and with that limitation comes a likely cap on his fantasy production. If he can overrule that limitation, it would have to be via pass-catching production, which was a clear strength last season for the 2022 second-round pick. Whereas Cook's rushing work from 2023 can be imitated easily enough, it's not so easy for an offense to find a running back that can turn 54 targets into 44 catches for 445 yards and four touchdowns. While that type of efficiency is difficult to maintain even for a skilled pass-catching back, Cook can make up for any efficiency losses with a larger target count this upcoming season. It might be necessary in order for him to repeat last year's fantasy production, as QB Josh Allen's dominance of goal-line carries means Cook isn't guaranteed to improve much on last year's total of two rushing touchdowns (on 237 attempts). The addition of rookie fourth-round pick Ray Davis could introduce a short-yardage nuisance and some competition for early down snaps, but as long as Cook maintains his monopoly on Buffalo's RB targets the formula from 2023 should mostly remain in place for 2024.

Cook played a minimal role in the Buffalo offense as a rookie, logging just 257 snaps in 16 games, but the second-round pick out of Georgia was effective when he got the ball. He had six carries of 20 or more yards, averaging 5.7 YPC on 89 attempts, but his receiving production was less encouraging as he caught just 65.6 percent of his targets for 5.6 YPT. Cook largely was prized for his pass catching coming out of Georgia last year -- an important point in a sales pitch that otherwise had to grapple with the fact that Cook was never more than a rotational back in college. Free-agent pickups Damien Harris and Latavius Murray are threats to handle some of the valuable rushing reps near the goal line, but Cook should have a fairly clear path to the passing-down work. Cook is the only member of the backfield with the potential to make an impact as both a runner and receiver, and he's the only one backed by a major investment from the team.

Drafted 63rd overall this year, Cook might be a luxury pick for a Super Bowl contender without many glaring needs, but that doesn't mean he won't have an impact. Dalvin's younger brother doesn't have a path to the same kind of role the elder Cook enjoys in Minnesota, but the Georgia product did show a well-rounded skill set last year, producing 1,012 yards and 11 TDs on only 140 touches as part of a backfield committee with fellow NFL draft pick Zamir White (fourth round). Cook lacks ideal size to grind out yards between the tackles, but that's not really the Bills' strength anyway, and his strong receiving production last season (284 yards, four TDs) suggests he could be a good fit in one of the NFL's more pass-happy offenses. Buffalo brings back Devin Singletary as the likely lead runner and still has Duke Johnson and Zack Moss as depth options, but Cook might ultimately prove to be the best of the bunch.

More Fantasy News

Finishes season with 19 rushing TDs

RBBuffalo Bills

January 26, 2025

Cook rushed 13 times for 85 yards and two touchdowns while catching all three of his targets for 49 yards in Sunday's 32-29 loss to the Chiefs in the AFC Championship Game.