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RB James Cook, BUF (2 Viewers)

I'm not expecting a ton of TD's. I'll put the over/under at 6 for the year, but He looks like a sure fire bet 1,500 YFS guy that will probably catch 50+ passes this year. A locked in solid top tier RB2 and if he ever gets those GL touches an immediate RB1
 
Drafting Cook in the 6th round and getting weeks like this out of him, TD or no TD, are what wins fantasy leagues. Dunno how any owner at his ADP can't be happy right now. In fact I'd say it's impressive that he's putting up the points he is without having to rely on TDs. They will come, but not having to rely on them for RB2 weekly scoring is a blessing, not a curse.
 
lol that after this great game the Cook thread is all negative. I don’t get it, this was the perfect showcase for why he was a good value for fantasy.
Yep.

If he gets his 4-6 catches a week most games and it looks like he will based on the first two games, he’s gold for someone who was a 5th/6th round pick. Plus, he will get some longer TD runs.

I’m happy so far anyway.
 
Through 2 weeks, only Christian McCaffrey has more yards after contact.
One of my top targets and got him in a few of my leagues. Super happy with the usage so far. Only thing missing are the TDs and they will come. He’s looked great and they are using him a lot. Super value.
 
Update since some of you took the time to postulate when I was still contemplating, but I traded Cook for Pickens on the eve if week 1 in a full PPR league. Still feeling optimistic about that deal, despite Cooks very nice day against the super sad Raiders D. They definitely forgot that he weighs 190.
 
Update since some of you took the time to postulate when I was still contemplating, but I traded Cook for Pickens on the eve if week 1 in a full PPR league. Still feeling optimistic about that deal, despite Cooks very nice day against the super sad Raiders D. They definitely forgot that he weighs 190.
Sounds kind of bitter melony and trying to feel better about trading this BEAST. "Sad Raiders D" "weights 190" :wink:
 
Cook isn't highlighted specifically, but this thought-provoking analysis also applies to him.

 
Cook isn't highlighted specifically, but this thought-provoking analysis also applies to him.

we've heard. In all seriousness though, the game is changing and RBs are being utilized in ways they weren't years ago. Cook is not a between the tackles 20+ touch guy and never will be.
 
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Cook isn't highlighted specifically, but this thought-provoking analysis also applies to him.

Have you ever heard of selection bias?

Give that some thought. This is a great example of it.
 
Cook isn't highlighted specifically, but this thought-provoking analysis also applies to him.

Have you ever heard of selection bias?

Give that some thought. This is a great example of it.

Unpack, please. Which type of selection bias are you seeing? He included every sub-200 RB from the last ten years of combines, no? Seems like a fairly robust sample.
 
Cook isn't highlighted specifically, but this thought-provoking analysis also applies to him.

Have you ever heard of selection bias?

Give that some thought. This is a great example of it.

Unpack, please. Which type of selection bias are you seeing? He included every sub-200 RB from the last ten years of combines, no? Seems like a fairly robust sample.
The cut off of 200 lbs is one form of selection bias. It conviently does not include players whos weight is only 2 lbs different in the sample because that would not fit the narrative and concushion.

Another form of selection bias is not including players who were not drafted, such as Austin Eckler who was listed at 195 lbs as a prospect by draft scout and other sources.

There are other forms of selection bias from the time frame of the sample size that does not include players like Warrick Dunn and others from previous seasons.

It seems to me that if one is going to claim that this is rigurous analysis, as its presented to be and people interpret it as, that these types of things would be considered.

The author has access to this information and took some time to put together the article, so I can only assume they are aware of these issues with what they presented yet purposefully chose to omit these outliers such as Christian McCaffrey, Austin Eckler ect to make their conclushion seem more cut and dried than it actually is.

Chris Johnson who had 2K yard rushing season was 195 lbs.
 
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I'll be the 1st to admit height and weight are one of the first things I look at when analyzing rbs. For some reason I also have that 200 lb marker in my head. Don't know why or when it started.
 
I'll be the 1st to admit height and weight are one of the first things I look at when analyzing rbs. For some reason I also have that 200 lb marker in my head. Don't know why or when it started.
There has been a form of moving the chains over time.

Not that long ago people were saying 210 lbs was too light. The bar keeps getting lowered as the NFL evolves I think.
 
James Cook rushed 15 times for 98 yards while catching 2-of-3 targets for 14 yards receiving in Buffalo’s win over Washington in Week 3.

Cook looked great against a strong Commanders’ defensive front. He was making defenders miss in the backfield and hitting the hole hard when he got to the line of scrimmage. On his second-to-last run of the day, he broke off a 36-yarder but was dragged down at the two-yard line, costing himself a 100-yard day and a touchdown. Even though he didn’t score, he did get a few red zone opportunities and remains an extremely high upside option in this Buffalo offense.

- Rotoworld
I was worried about Harris/Murray/Allen vulturing all the short yardage work going into the year, but if James Cook is goign to get 17-19 touches every week (especially with Buffalo dialing Allen back a little) he's going to put up big numbers.
 
Pretty pissed that I KNEW he was the draft target this year, and ended up with none of him. Hate when that happens. Looks like a YFS beast. Perfect RB2.
 
I love this guy, but think I'll be benching him in favor of Joshua Kelley this week
hope you got cold feet on that move
Nope, and I hope it doesn’t cost me. I’m up by 1 with Kyren tonight while he has Puca. I’ll never make that stupid mistake again. Fingers crossed.
Not to pile on when you surely regret this decision enough already.

I can sort of understand this decision based on how poorly the Vikings defense played the previous week. Match up seemed in Kelleys favor.

But Kelley is teh suck and sometimes you just need to start the better player regardless of match up. Especially this early in the season when match ups havent had enough games to gel yet.

Dont get me wrong I think the Vikings defense will be a plus match up all year, but this just proves how bad Kelley is.
 
Hes clearly a very talented running back. 5.7 YPC last year, 6.1 YPC this year. Its a shame his TDs will be extremely limited. I cant imagine him having more than 5 total. I think hes a good sell high if you can.
 
Hes clearly a very talented running back. 5.7 YPC last year, 6.1 YPC this year. It’s a shame his TDs will be extremely limited. I cant imagine him having more than 5 total. I think hes a good sell high if you can.
TDs are variable…he’s getting receptions, running very well and is on a top offense. He’ll get some tds and when he does he’s a top 10 back
 
Hes clearly a very talented running back. 5.7 YPC last year, 6.1 YPC this year. It’s a shame his TDs will be extremely limited. I cant imagine him having more than 5 total. I think hes a good sell high if you can.
TDs are variable…he’s getting receptions, running very well and is on a top offense. He’ll get some tds and when he does he’s a top 10 back
I believe hes already a top 13 back and I agree TDs are variable TO A POINT though. You actually have to be on the field to score TDs and the fact of the matter is this guy comes off the field pretty regularly once they get in the red zone. So basically he needs long TDs to score and those dont come often. Even when he is on the field in the red zone, Allen is always more of a threat to score than Cook. Its not a good path for fantasy upside. Thats why I call him a sell high. Sell him to the guy who thinks TDs are variable and are coming (because they aint).
 
He's already outpacing his RB ADP by about 10 spots, creeping into RB1 territory and hasn't even scored a TD. Top 15 RB in non-PPR, right now. That's impressive and he will undoubtedly get some long TDs through the air and on the ground and most likely even get a few from in close. If there is still such a thing as buy low here (TD anxiety?), now is the time. Arrow pointing up.
 
James Cook played on 23-of-58 snaps in the Bills’ Week 4 win over the Dolphins.

Cook was in on only 39.7 percent of the Bills’ snaps this weekend — a season-low for the team’s RB1. Perhaps more alarming for fantasy managers is the fact that Cook played on just 2-of-6 third downs, and was second in routes run behind Latavius Murray. As PFF.com’s Nathan Jahnke also points out in his weekly recap article, Cook has seen a decline in targets every game this season, drawing just one look from Josh Allen on Sunday. Cook has been a top fantasy back through the first four weeks of the season, but pass-catching has always been baked into his ceiling. A continued decline in targets could have a negative impact on him in games like we saw in Week 4, where he was held to just 29 rushing yards on 12 carries.
 
Yeah bizarre game. I think Harris or Murray were on the field immediately to start the game (if not first snap then right after). And to top it off they give Cook a goalline carry. I wonder if it was matchup thing (does Miami have a fast, smallish defense?). If so, makes sense to hammer them with Murray and Harris. Hopefully its not a trend especially since hes been playing so well.
 
James Cook played on 23-of-58 snaps in the Bills’ Week 4 win over the Dolphins.

Cook was in on only 39.7 percent of the Bills’ snaps this weekend — a season-low for the team’s RB1. Perhaps more alarming for fantasy managers is the fact that Cook played on just 2-of-6 third downs, and was second in routes run behind Latavius Murray. As PFF.com’s Nathan Jahnke also points out in his weekly recap article, Cook has seen a decline in targets every game this season, drawing just one look from Josh Allen on Sunday. Cook has been a top fantasy back through the first four weeks of the season, but pass-catching has always been baked into his ceiling. A continued decline in targets could have a negative impact on him in games like we saw in Week 4, where he was held to just 29 rushing yards on 12 carries.
Side note on this: the Bills have had the game well in hand and took out starters in the 4th quarter each of the last 3 weeks. Not sure where they’re getting their numbers from either because I count 10 third down plays. 8 if you exclude the last drive.

He had over 100 total yards Weeks 2 and 3 and the talk was that he didn’t have value because he doesn’t score TDs. The Bills ran him twice in a row inside the 5 this week and he got a 1 yard TD plunge and now it’s that he isn’t being targeted.

I’d say this analysis seems pretty lazy.

Cook is their #1 RB. But they have a lot of weapons and both Murray and Harris are pretty darn good backs too. But Cook is an all around weapon and can put up nice numbers in a script calling for more passing as well as a script calling for more running. He’s a very good #2 RB you can count on
 
James Cook played on 23-of-58 snaps in the Bills’ Week 4 win over the Dolphins.

Cook was in on only 39.7 percent of the Bills’ snaps this weekend — a season-low for the team’s RB1. Perhaps more alarming for fantasy managers is the fact that Cook played on just 2-of-6 third downs, and was second in routes run behind Latavius Murray. As PFF.com’s Nathan Jahnke also points out in his weekly recap article, Cook has seen a decline in targets every game this season, drawing just one look from Josh Allen on Sunday. Cook has been a top fantasy back through the first four weeks of the season, but pass-catching has always been baked into his ceiling. A continued decline in targets could have a negative impact on him in games like we saw in Week 4, where he was held to just 29 rushing yards on 12 carries.
This is a bad take IMO and where statistics can be misleading. Game was a blow out, converted on a GL opportunity, had a 48 yard reception (showing big play ability)...not concerned at all with him. He's not going to be a bell cow getting 30 touches a game but I never thought that was the case...very solid #2 / borderline #1 back
 
James Cook played on 23-of-58 snaps in the Bills’ Week 4 win over the Dolphins.

Cook was in on only 39.7 percent of the Bills’ snaps this weekend — a season-low for the team’s RB1. Perhaps more alarming for fantasy managers is the fact that Cook played on just 2-of-6 third downs, and was second in routes run behind Latavius Murray. As PFF.com’s Nathan Jahnke also points out in his weekly recap article, Cook has seen a decline in targets every game this season, drawing just one look from Josh Allen on Sunday. Cook has been a top fantasy back through the first four weeks of the season, but pass-catching has always been baked into his ceiling. A continued decline in targets could have a negative impact on him in games like we saw in Week 4, where he was held to just 29 rushing yards on 12 carries.
Side note on this: the Bills have had the game well in hand and took out starters in the 4th quarter each of the last 3 weeks. Not sure where they’re getting their numbers from either because I count 10 third down plays. 8 if you exclude the last drive.

He had over 100 total yards Weeks 2 and 3 and the talk was that he didn’t have value because he doesn’t score TDs. The Bills ran him twice in a row inside the 5 this week and he got a 1 yard TD plunge and now it’s that he isn’t being targeted.

I’d say this analysis seems pretty lazy.

Cook is their #1 RB. But they have a lot of weapons and both Murray and Harris are pretty darn good backs too. But Cook is an all around weapon and can put up nice numbers in a script calling for more passing as well as a script calling for more running. He’s a very good #2 RB you can count on
ya, basically my exact take. This is where data nerds can lose the big picture....numbers often time have context and if you don't take it into account it can give you misleading information.
 
James Cook played on 23-of-58 snaps in the Bills’ Week 4 win over the Dolphins.

Cook was in on only 39.7 percent of the Bills’ snaps this weekend — a season-low for the team’s RB1. Perhaps more alarming for fantasy managers is the fact that Cook played on just 2-of-6 third downs, and was second in routes run behind Latavius Murray. As PFF.com’s Nathan Jahnke also points out in his weekly recap article, Cook has seen a decline in targets every game this season, drawing just one look from Josh Allen on Sunday. Cook has been a top fantasy back through the first four weeks of the season, but pass-catching has always been baked into his ceiling. A continued decline in targets could have a negative impact on him in games like we saw in Week 4, where he was held to just 29 rushing yards on 12 carries.
I'm not sure how concerned to be about this.
Cook's snap %: 59, 59, 62, 40. Targets 6, 4, 3, 1. Rush attempts:12, 17, 15, 12
Murray's snap %: 23, 23, 25, 33. Targets: 2, 2, 1, 2. Rush attempts: 2, 6, 5, 4.
Harris' snap %: 13, 18, 13, 28. Targets: 2, 0, 0, 0. Rush attempts: 1, 7, 5, 6.

Until we see more of a trend his drop in usage this week could be attributed to simple game script/situation. On the other hand Cook got the goal-line TD, so...
 

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