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Fantasy Alert: Bills' James Cook Has 'Opened Some Eyes,' Sean McDermott Says

Scott Polacek

Attention fantasy football managers: James Cook is apparently turning heads at Buffalo Bills training camp.

Head coach Sean McDermott said the rookie running back has "opened some eyes" heading into the 2022 season, per Joe Buscaglia of The Athletic. Buffalo selected Cook, who is the younger brother of Dalvin, with a second-round pick in the 2022 draft.

It isn't hard to find reasons to take a flier on the younger Cook in the middle to late rounds of a fantasy draft.

For one, the Bills likely wouldn't have drafted him as high as the second round if they weren't going to use him as a rookie. The team is also on the shortlist of realistic Super Bowl contenders and will likely win plenty of games, which could lead to a reliance on the rushing attack and plenty of red-zone opportunities.

Cook ran for 728 yards and seven touchdowns while adding 284 yards and four scores through the air in his final collegiate season with Georgia. He had 112 receiving yards and a touchdown catch in the College Football Playoff win over Michigan and ran for 77 yards on six carries in the national title game victory over Alabama.

Despite the potential and the production for the champion Bulldogs, there is also a clear fantasy ceiling on Cook in terms of his rookie season.

Devin Singletary is the surefire starter and was a fantasy football force down the stretch of the 2021 campaign with six touchdowns in the final four games of the regular season. He also found the end zone in the dramatic playoff loss to the Kansas City Chiefs and is in the middle of his prime at 24 years old.

Zack Moss is also a factor after he carried it 112 times as a rookie in 2020 and 96 times last year.

Moss averaged just 3.6 yards per carry last season, so it wouldn't be a shock if Cook played his way above him on the depth chart. That would make him more of a fantasy weapon than perhaps anticipated, at least in his first season, but the presence of Singletary means he will still likely be a secondary option.

   

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