Josh Allen may still be the face of the Buffalo Bills, but James Cook has spent the last three seasons making a loud case that he belongs in the same conversation as one of the team’s most important engines.
That hasn’t translated into the national respect you’d expect. In a recent ESPN piece, Jeremy Fowler asked NFL coaches, executives, scouts and decision-makers to rank the league’s top 10 running backs heading into the 2026 season, and Cook landed at No.
- That’s after he led the NFL with 1,621 rushing yards and scored 14 touchdowns last year, which was only enough to bump him up one spot from his 2025 ranking.
One anonymous AFC executive summed up Cook’s game this way: "He has a three-down skill set, pass-game value, inside run ability and a speed threat on the outside. He has has become a complete player."
The production backs that up. Over the last three seasons, Cook has piled up 4,746 yards from scrimmage, which ranks fifth in the NFL.
His 38 touchdowns in that span are sixth among all players leaguewide. Even with that kind of output, he still can’t break into the top five at his position.
Part of the disconnect seems to come from the way NFL evaluators continue to lean toward older veterans, even when the numbers don’t match Cook’s. There also appears to be some lingering hesitation tied to the quarterback he plays beside in Buffalo.
Cook doesn’t carry the same name recognition as Derrick Henry, Christian McCaffrey or Saquon Barkley, but he outproduced all three in 2025. With how much younger he is than those backs, there’s every reason to think he can do it again in 2026.
So while the national conversation keeps circling back to Allen, Cook keeps doing the work that makes Buffalo go. He’s still one of the league’s most underappreciated players, and if the Bills do get back to the Super Bowl in 2026, his workhorse ability will be a major reason why.
Based on what he’s done over the last three seasons, the expectation in Buffalo should be clear: at least 1,600 yards from scrimmage and double-digit touchdowns. That’s the bar now for James Cook.
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