James Cook has already forced his way into the conversation as one of the NFL’s top running backs, but his Hall of Fame case still has two clear hurdles sitting in front of him.
The first is the one that has followed him throughout his career: ball security. The second is a little more complicated, because it involves how much of Buffalo’s rushing production still runs through Josh Allen.
Cook has been a huge part of changing the Bills’ ground game. Before he became a real force in Buffalo, the team leaned heavily on Allen to carry the rushing load, which was a dangerous way to live. From 2018-2022, Allen averaged 617.4 rushing yards per season, and the Bills were regularly asking their quarterback to handle designed runs.
That approach came with obvious risk. Allen has the size and physicality to take punishment, but all it takes is one bad hit to change everything for the Bills.
Buffalo needed a back who could ease that burden, and Devin Singletary wasn’t the answer. So in 2022, the Bills drafted Cook in the second round out of Georgia, and by 2023 he had taken over as the starter.
Since his sophomore year, Cook has topped 1,000 rushing yards every season. He led the league with 16 rushing touchdowns in 2024, then paced the NFL with 1,621 rushing yards in 2025. Even without being a steady third-down back, he has still averaged more than five yards per carry for his career.
That production has made him more than just a good player in Buffalo. Cook has been the Bills’ best running back since LeSean McCoy, and while McCoy once stood as the league’s top back, Cook has brought a more consistent level of dynamism to the Bills’ offense.
That’s why his name is starting to surface in bigger-picture conversations. ESPN’s Bill Barnwell recently broke down future Hall of Fame possibilities for every team, sorting players into groups like “in,” “on the cusp,” “work to do,” “have to keep it up,” and “may miss it.”
For Buffalo, Josh Allen was the only player in the “in” category, which makes sense given how dominant he’s been. Barnwell put Cook, along with offensive lineman Spencer Brown, in the “Work To Do” group.
Barnwell about James Cook:
" Cook is still only 26 and has three consecutive Pro Bowl appearances under his belt. He's fifth in rushing yards over that span, although he also leads all backs in fumbles over that stretch with 10. Cook has best-back-in-the-league potential if he protects the football and steals a few touchdowns away from Allen, but he'll need to have a couple of seasons at that level to have a shot at the Hall." said Barnwell.
The fumble issue is impossible to ignore. Cook’s first NFL carry, in the 2022 opener against the Los Angeles Rams, ended with a fumble. Over four seasons, he has put the ball on the ground 11 times and lost five of those to the defense.
The touchdown piece is trickier. Cook can’t fully control how often Allen finishes runs near the goal line, and Allen has continued to pile up rushing scores. From 2023-2025, Allen has averaged 544.6 rushing yards per season, and he has scored at least 12 rushing touchdowns in each of the last three seasons.
Cook, meanwhile, has scored 28 rushing touchdowns on the ground over the last two years. It’s fair to wonder how much bigger that number could have been if Allen didn’t keep punching in so many of Buffalo’s rushing scores himself.
For now, Cook has done enough to establish himself as one of the league’s best backs. If he keeps producing at this level and sharpens the areas Barnwell pointed out, the Hall of Fame discussion won’t feel so far-fetched.
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