Bills rusher James Cook is ranked extremely low in NFL RB rankings

The running back position – although it hasn’t quite gone the way of the dodo – is not as valued in the contemporary NFL as it was in the past; Historically, offenses had to run through the running back, but given the economic principle of supply and demand and the fact that many teams now believe that success in the ground game comes from the offensive line rather than the ball carrier, the position is no longer one that the vast majority of franchises are comfortable investing significant capital into.

That said, the trend and belief may have been reversed a bit in recent years as several running backs have emerged and shown how valuable a dynamic runner can be to an offense. San Francisco 49ers running back Chrisitan McCaffrey was considered NFL MVP last year, with him, alongside players like Derrick Henry and Jonathan Taylor, showing how important the position still is. There is now a group of young running backs, headlined by the likes of Bijan Robinson, Jahmyr Gibbs and Breece Hall, who are perhaps the position’s best hope to return to his former position, who can potentially make the running back position a commodity rather than a commodity. to a carousel.

Some around the league feel like Buffalo Bills running back James Cook is at that tier. He put together an incredible sophomore season with the Bills, racking up 1,122 rushing yards while tallying the sixth-highest scrimmage yardage total in the league (1,567). Offensive coordinator Joe Brady leaned on his back to establish a new offensive identity after taking over playmaking duties in Week 11, getting Cook about 20 touches per game and allowing the offense to become a multi-faceted unit rather than a pass-heavy unit. single note attack.

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While putting Cook on the level of Robinson, Gibbs, Hall or even Kenneth Walker and Travis Etienne may be steep, it’s not egregious given his production. That’s at least a more justifiable ranking than putting him among the Joe Mixons, Chuba Hubbards, and Austin Ekelers of the world.

This sentiment is not at all shared by Pro Football Focus writer Thomas Valentine; In a recent article ranking the NFL’s top 32 running backs, the analyst ranked the Buffalo Rusher 24th.

“James Cook excelled in his second NFL season, finally giving the Buffalo Bills a credible rushing attack,” Valentine wrote. “Cook finished fourth in total rushing yards in 2023, totaling 1,122 rushing yards with a rate of 4.7 yards per carry and scoring twice while earning a grade of 71.8. His yards after contact per attempt were lower than his rookie season, but Cook forced more missed tackles, had more explosive runs and racked up more catches and receiving yards.

That’s right, the player who finished sixth in the NFL in yards from scrimmage last season is not a top 20 running back.

We’re not mathematicians, but this doesn’t seem to add up. Even if you want to take scrimmage yards out of the equation, Cook still ran for the fourth-highest rushing total of the 2023 season, racking up more yards than the 19 backs who appear above him on this list (we omitted Nick Chubb, who is ranked No. 4 on PFF’s list, because he missed the vast majority of the 2023 season due to a significant injury).

Related: Where does the Bills backfield stack up among the rest of the NFL?

Box score stats obviously aren’t the end all be all, but they, in cases like this, effectively show how extremely low Cook is ranked. He finished fourth in rushing yards and sixth in scrimmage yards, and he’s ranked below two Pittsburgh Steelers backs (Jaylen Warren at No. 19 and Najee Harris at No. 22)? He’s almost 10 places lower than Isiah Pacheco?

We can’t even argue that Cook did less with more opportunities than these guards, because he was more effective than Harris and Pacheco. He ranked 11th among running backs last year in yards per carry with 4.6; Harris averages 4.0 while Pacheco averages 4.4

The logic just doesn’t follow; it’s fair to be behind Cook and not feel like he’s in the upper ranks of young rushers, but to say he’s not a top 20 running back – When several the statistics say it’s–is strange. The now third-year guard will look to solidify his status as one of the best backs in the league with another strong outing in the 2024 NFL season.