Why James Cook’s ceiling may not justify a top-10 pick
Yahoo Fantasy's Josh Norris and Hayden Winks discuss why they are hesitant to select James Cook early in fantasy drafts. Check out the full conversation on "Yahoo Fantasy Football with Josh and Hayden" - and subscribe on Apple Podcasts , Spotify , YouTube or wherever you listen .
Video Transcript
James Cook I've not been drafting all that much.
He was the RB6 per game last year.
He led the NFL in rush yards and carries per game.
His 16 half PPR points per game were two to five points behind the top five running backs.
So even though he was the RB6, there was a pretty substantial back, or difference between CMC, Taylor, Bijan, Gibbs, and Devon Achane.
Just because he didn't catch the ball enough.
That could change.
Yeah.
That seems a, like a, asking a lot to change when Dalton Kincaid's actually healthy, and you just add DJ Moore.
Like, are you really gonna throw the ball to your running back more, in that, scenario?
He was the RB39 receptions per game.
So I just don't see, like, that crazy ceiling to compete with, like, the, the top five, top six picks, in the draft.
So I've been kind of, like, doing some funky things at the end of round one.
I'll do Devon Achane with Kenneth Walker, Derrick Henry with Chase Brown.
I'll get unique i- at the end of the round.
And I think James Cook will be a sh- very, very strong RB1.
I just don't see the pathway for him to, like, really be the guy that you needed this year.
Yeah.
I don't wanna press you too much on round one guys, because again, they're very good players, and it's not like you dislike James Cook.
You just simply tend to prefer some other names that are typically going after him and select him above.
Yeah.
Which is- Yeah totally fine.
You know, you, me, 10 other people at Yahoo have, you know, an expert draft that is gonna be streamed for, like, three hours next Tuesday.
Obviously you and I are selecting back to back.
You have the ninth pick and I have the 10th pick.
I'm kind of open to James Cook at the 10th overall pick.
Mm-hmm.
Yeah.
You know, he just did an interview with our buddy Matt Harmon, and Harmon directly asked him, "Hey, you're gonna catch more passes this year.
Is Joe Brady going to expand the passing offense?"
And he basically refused to answer and said, "You just have to watch."
And so, you know, James Cook's game has totally transformed over the last few years now that he owns the inside of the 10 yard line work.
He had eight in the rate of runs of 10 plus yards last year, we know, and then second in yards per rush and all that type of stuff.
So if he gets the passing volume on top of that, that's how this goes to the next level.
But at the same time, if it's just the rushing aspect, you know, he can be a very solid pick for you in the back half of rounds.
