James Cook is coming off his best season of his three-year career. Coming out of Georgia, he was always considered a solid option, but now he is emerging as one of the elite, if not sub-elite, running backs in the league. As a result, his ADP is higher than ever, too, but is it possible that people are taking Cook a little too high for his production?
James Cook 2024 Stats and Fantasy Production
There is plenty to be happy about with James Cook’s 2024 production. He had 16 total touchdowns on the year as well as four games with over 20 fantasy points. Unfortunately, the stats show that Cook was also a very touchdown-dependent running back.
In every game where Cook scored above 20 fantasy points, he reached the end zone twice. Looking at the games where he didn’t score two touchdowns, his numbers look much worse. In fact, there was a seven-game stretch at the beginning of the season where Cook didn’t get over 83 yards on the ground, including back-to-back games with only 39 yards. Many fantasy football players were impressed last year with Cook’s big games, but he didn’t have that much production each week.
James Cook 2025 Fantasy Outlook
While Cook is still a talented runner, he might be splitting lots of snaps with Ty Johnson and Ray Davis. That is not good for a running back who needs to get red zone opportunities to be successful. Also, because of the way Josh Allen plays, there’s always a chance the quarterback runs the ball into the end zone instead of the running back.
With all that being said, Cook wouldn’t be considered an RB1 option, and he is nudging RB2 status. As for now, his ADP is 14th among running backs, placing him around where Chubba Hubbard and Kenneth Walker III are being drafted. Those players have more upside, though. Therefore, it might not be a good idea to take James Cook in the fourth round where he is projected. If other players hype him up, let them take Cook; otherwise, he can be a good pick-up later in the draft. Teams will likely lose out on value if they rely on Cook as one of their top two running backs, however.
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