FFW Micro - James Cook

You found Fantasy Football Weekly Micro a deep dive on one player in just five to ten minutes. Now, here's your host, Paul Chargian. It's a Thursday edition of Fantasy Football Weekly Micro edition on Paul Chargian. We've got a deep dive on James Cook coming up for you. My co host is Tyler Cannabilee. You can reach Tyler on Twitter at Tyler Cannabiley. Can a e b L E kN a e b L E Guillotine leagues dot com writer. Let's dive into James Cook. He had the big finish

Well, he finishes the RB forty four last season, definitely not ideal. But he's going off the board as RB thirty two right now, so you still have to pay a little bit more form than what he produced last year. But ye, he's kind of projected to have a bigger role just because he's going into year two.

He's with the Bills, which is kind of the.

Whatever bill point we want to have a part of the Bills offense.

Yeah, and if you look at him as just like the player and some of the stuff that he was doing in Buffalo last year, among guys with seventy five attempts, James Cook was seconding yards per carry, averaging five point eight yards per carry, only behind Priest Hall.

Yeah.

So that's a great stat And the big stat that I really liked.

Was, by the way, five point eight yards per carry.

Yes, that is a.

Very very healthy that's just a season long per carry basis. That's excellent.

And what really helped that was his breakaway percentage. He was first in a breakaway breakaway runs which are runs of fifteen plus yards, among all running backs with seventy five plus carries, and he was with a forty eight percent rate the other guys on fo okay stop there.

Yeah, forty eight percent of his carries were breakaways. Insane, which is fifty That is insane for James Cook. Unbelievable number.

Yeah, I mean you look at the other that list too, is a nice list to be on. Kenneth Walker to Tony Pollard.

Breesehall, Okay, stop there. Kenneth Walker and Breesehall, who are near him in breakaway percentage, their seasons ended early, and you know that's you know, that's a good part of why they were able to maintain that high percentage of breakaway runs. Pollard is just really good. He got the franchise tag. So you know, the fact that James Cook did it on a full season, granted a limited workload, but on a full season is really impressive.

Yeah, I will say I think he did. I think he did have the least amount of carries of any guy on this list. Okay, so I think that did help him a little bit. It does help so but but like I said, it's still a nice list to be on. So I think the only potential problem is that he really couldn't be out Devin Singletary last year. Throughout the course of the season, Devin Singletary was was getting all of the touches pretty much.

Yeah.

Well, but that's a rookie year thing, see to me, And that's not the only problem. I'm gonna give you another bigger problem in a minute here. I think with James Cook, but you know, he's a rookie, he's got to learn pass protection. He's got to you know, be able to know where to run. I mean there's you know, it's not the most sophisticated position in the NFL, but there are things you have to learn to be a trusted NFL running back who's not going to get his

Yeah, And I mean if we just just real quick kind of break it down games with fifteen plus touches last season, Singletary had seven, James Cook had won. And then in the full season, uh, Singletary had two hundred and fifteen touches.

Cook had one hundred and ten.

Okay, that was during the that was during the regular season, yes, and then but that's a two to one ratio of touches leaning towards Singletary in the regular season exactly.

And then in the playoffs though it kind of it did kind of get closer where Singletary at twenty one, Cook had seventeen. It's almost like a one to one ratio, right, which is so like to see that.

And in the playoffs, these are high leverage games, single elimination, and they trusted James Cook in the playoffs to be basically even with singletary on touches. That's a very good sign. It's not a good sign. Damien Harris.

I'm with you on this one.

So he is an issue. Harris is a goal line star. Over the course of his career, he's been given twenty four rushing attempts from inside the five yard line and he's turned that into twelve touchdowns. As we often say in the show, a very good touchdown back is at a fifty percent conversion rate. And that's Harris's career, twenty four rushing attempts, twelve touchdowns, fifty percent conversion rate. And

And who else is gonna steal those touchdowns is Josh Allen, who like in the red zone if really can just pure rushing ability, like who's gonna get touches? James Cook's third on that list, and he's the second best running back because you got Damien Harris Josh Allen both above him.

And that's why.

I'm kind of out on James Cook because that touchdown potential just does not seem like it's there, doesn't seem like he can even hit. Like if he got five touchdowns this season, that would be I would say, pretty good considering where he falls on kind of the pecking order in this Bill's offense.

That worries me as well. The other thing worries me, so Damien Harris was hurt almost all last year. The year before that, Damian Harris was really really good, really good, and he rolled into this season as the team's number one running back until he got hurt. So through the first month of the season, Damien Harris was getting more work than Lewandre Stevenson and he was starting those games. And then he got hurt and then the rest of the year was a watch for Harris. I'm I just

I think that's even kind of projecting on like the high side that he gets three six.

Or seven touchdown total is high.

Yeah. I feel like that's high for him because where are they gonna come from?

Because he's not gonna be I mean, he might get like a red zone kind of swing pass four touchdown, but he's gonna We're saying he's gonna break away.

I mean, we talked about the breakaway.

Wait, right, that's how he's gonna score.

I know it's good, but I.

Think it's you're kind of getting those mucky waters. If you're trying to project like four fifty yard touchdowns, Yeah, you just can't project very.

It's hard to do exactly.

Although Cook does look he looks pretty good and I know he'll get He'll find his way to three or four rushing touchdowns, three or four receiving touchdowns in my opinion, and that makes him fair, it makes him startable. I feel like James Cook is a flex player.

Yeah, he's definitely a flex player.

I just don't think it's kind of one of those things where he doesn't have that like top twelve running back upside, where like if Damien Harris finishes a top twelve running back with just the amount of touchdowns that he could have in this offense, like, I wouldn't be shocked. I don't think it's likely, but I wouldn't be shocked. I would be shocked if James Cook finishes a top twelve running back.

Damien Harris could be uh eight to ten touchdowns because I think they're pull back on some of Josh Allen's touchdown runs. Eventually, I feel like they're gonna go at the one. He's always gonna be the guy. But like at the three yard line, I think they're gonna just give the ball to Damien Harris.

Yeah, Oh that's what they definitely should do you mean, yeah, you're.

A franchise guy, Damon Harris. No, Josh Allens protecting your friends exactly.

He's your a franchise guy. You need to protect him.

And I mean they were talking about that all last season, like Sean mcdorns like, I want to see him run more next game.

Josh Allen is fifteen carries.

So it's funny how that works. Yeah, So for Dynasty, I'm selling James Cook right now. Oh yeah, because I think there's so much interest in a young, second year running back. But I just feel in the Bills offense. But for the reasons we've talked about touchdowns usage, Damien Harris being a bigger fact than people think. I think you can get a What do you think you can get for him in Dynasty?

If I could get how.

About pick seven of the first round.

Oh that's a smash. I don't think you're gonna get pick seven, though.

I think I think it now is the time to sell because I think people remember him kind of finishing out the season a little better, so that now is definitely the time to sell because before the NFL, especially before the NFL Draft, because they could draft somebody like that and then James Cook value goes down even more.

I don't think they're gonna they might they might not, But if.

They do, not good for James No, clearly.

And it's a deep running back draft exactly.

That's why I'm so scared, because they could draft somebody in the fifth round. You're like, oh, this guy's actually could be a good player. Yeah, so that's something that scares me. But if I could get like a late first for him, I definitely do that, even like a two oh four to two five.

I think I would do that still too.

Like I said, a lot of good running backs in this draft, I think I could get kind of the same type of player at the two five range.

So the funny thing, he's going off the board at running back thirty two, but I don't like him. I still like James Cook. The other running backs that are going off the board in the thirties, it's not great. So let's talk through some of those guys.

Okay, James Connor RB thirty right now, totally out, totally out, Yeah.

Don't I don't like I've never liked James Connor as a runner. I love his personal story, of course, but just I just think he's just a guy. I think he's utterly replaceable, just a guy runner.

Okay, so I'd rather up James Cook or Shot Penny RB thirty one.

Not risking the injury.

Yeah.

Out.

It's funny though. It's like he's on the Eagles and it's like we sell he could be.

Miles Sanders from last season if I had that's his best case in the arrow for a shot Penny is, if he's Miles Sanders.

Who's next?

Alvin Kamara RB thirty three. You're right, it's very mucky waters here. It is.

Car's gonna miss some time. Probably you should have missed time last year. But we'll probably finally get spended. But this is a weirdly low spot for Alvin Kamara running back thirty three.

Do you still think Alvin Kamara is like the guy in New Orleans? Like? Do you still believe in Alvin Alvin Kamara the player.

Uh pre draft?

Yeah?

Kind maybe not to ever be what he was two years ago, three years ago, but I still think he until until they draft some the draft, a real threat.

Yeah.

I think they believe that he's that guy. Yeah, So I take Kamera all right. Khlil Herbert RB thirty four. I think this is a sneaky guy.

I really like.

I like Herbert a lot too.

I think he'd be the starting running back, oh will I think it will be. And he's Yeah, we saw what he was.

He was.

He was split in time with Dave Montgomery there at the end when they were both healthy. It was kind of a fifty to fifty backfield. And Herbert was a great runs man.

Yeah, he looked. He looked good. I'm with you on Herbert. Now, many people think Chicago is going to go running back in this draft, and I would not be surprised that. We'll see if that happens too.

But even if they do, I mean, it's still clill Herbert like he's a good running back, correct, Yep?

All right. Jamal Williams RB thirty.

Five, another Saint, so the two Saints, you know, and presumably they brought him in to be a goal line runner, which Kamara never was. And that's the downside in Kamara is like James Cook could be sitting on it could be sitting on just a six touchdown season, which is about what Kamara had last year. Yeah, so that's your downside. So still I don't want to I can't pin my hopes to a goal line runner, So yeah, I'd rather have James.

I'm gonna go James Cook as well, just because I mean, is Jamal Williams even the main goal line back on that team? When you got Taysom Hill vulturing touchdowns left and.

Right, I hope they just cut that guy.

You only Taysom Hill. Oh. I love Taysom Hill.

He's a great tight end play every week because he could have like twenty five points from as a running back. He's a running back at tight end, which I absolutely love. I love his tight end eligibility.

Don't do it in guillotine, I can tell you that much. We got to go, all right, all right, thanks for listening, everybody. Full edition of Fantasy Football Weekly coming up tomorrow as we recap the first round of the NFL Draft.

Bye Bye,