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James Cook #4 of the Buffalo Bills carries the ball against Dondrea Tillman #92 of the Denver Broncos defends during the AFC Wild Card Playoffs.
Buffalo Bills RB James Cook finished tied for the league lead in rushing touchdowns 16 scores on the ground in 2024. By most metrics, that is a truly outstanding year for a leading ball carrier on one of the most productive offenses in the league.
Yet, one recent ESPN rankings of the top 100 players in the NFL didn’t include the Bills RB after his career year.
Bills RB James Cook Snubbed from ESPN Top 100
If you are someone who appreciates rankings, then it could be taken as an insult that Buffalo Bills RB James Cook did not crack the list when ESPN named the top 100 players — which was a list compiled from 10 different analysts and insiders ahead of the 2025 NFL season.
Cook’s omission from this list is noteworthy considering he finished with 1,009 rushing yards and 16 rushing touchdowns with an additional 258 yards and two scores over his 32 receptions in 2024.
Perhaps Cook’s relatively light workload of 207 carries in direct comparison to his bell cow back counterparts was a reason some don’t view him amongst the elite ball carriers in the NFL, but his 4.87 yards per carry combined with his rushing touchdown production feels irresponsible to dismiss.
Will James Cook Duplicate his Insane Production from the 2024 NFL Season in 2025?
Most Bills’ fans were holding their breath while Cook was in a bit of a contract squabble with his employer this offseason, which finally resolved earlier this month when the Georgia product signed a four-year deal worth up to $48 million.
This has made opinions about his projected production in 2025 a bit all over the place with Jason Katz of Pro Football Sports Network seeing both sides of the coin.
“The most predictive stat for running back fantasy production is volume. Cook’s 2023 performance was more in line with his volume than in 2024, as evidenced by him averaging 0.8 fantasy points per opportunity two years ago compared to 1.09 last season. That’s 31st in the league vs. 8th,” wrote Katz. “I came into this writeup expecting to be calling for a full fade on Cook. Now, having done the research, he’s actually shaping up to be a bit of a value. Even though I don’t think the 16-PPG upside is really there, as he won’t score enough, Cook would merely have to replicate his low-scoring 2023 season to return par value.
The Bills’ offense could be forced to rely more on Cook if Khalil Shakir’s ankle sprain costs him time early in the season.
Could the Bills have some reservations about deploying Cook at a feature back rate? Yes, it certainly seems possible. The former Bulldog saw more than 60% of the offensive snaps in just one contest in 2024 last season.
Additionally, players like Dalton Kincaid and Keon Coleman haven’t exactly lived up to the high expectations the organization had for them when they spent early NFL Draft captial on them over the last two years.
Cook’s contract extension makes him the clear-cut leading back for Buffalo in 2025, but expecting him to produce more than the 18 total touchdowns we saw from him last year could be a tough assignment if he doesn’t return to his 2023 volume of 281 total touches in 2025.
Derek Tate covered the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for Heavy.com from 2022 to 2023. His bylines include Pro Football Network, The Athletic, Dr. Roto, Fantasy Focused and NewsNet. More about Derek Tate
