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The Ringer Fantasy Football Show fantasy football takes on James Cook
Every source-backed podcast insight STACKED has extracted from The Ringer Fantasy Football Show about James Cook.
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All The Ringer Fantasy Football Show insights about James Cook
PositiveValueJul 28, 2026
Cook is a proven first-round pick where you know what he can do based on past performance. The question is whether Saquon and Derrick Henry should bump up to be in the same tier as Cook, suggesting he's a tier-one running back.PositiveProjectionJul 28, 2026
Cook is a tier-two candidate who deserves inclusion despite being perceived as boring and small. He has 32 touchdowns in the last 33 games, which is an elite touchdown rate. He came out of the NFL at 190 pounds (sub-200), which was part of the reason he did not go earlier in the draft. Cook is weirdly similar to Jonathan Taylor in that he gets a ton of carries and scores a ton of touchdowns when the offense is rolling, though he is not heavily involved in the passing game. However, he is a good pass catcher, which is ironic given his limited receiving usage.PositiveProjectionJul 23, 2026
The source identifies James Cook as part of a top tier of running backs (James Cook, Saquon Barkley, Ashton Gentile, Marion Hampton, Ken Walker, Chase Brown, Devon Henry, Derek Henry) that should be drafted before AJ Brown and other wide receivers. The source notes these running backs "have such upside" and are "guys that can just carry you to a title," particularly the second-year running backs that went in the first round.