James Cook eeks out late TD in win over Lions

Bills RB James Cook totaled 57 yards on just 13 rushing attempts last week, adding three catches for 12 yards. Per Fowler, the Bills plan to use him a lot more in primetime this evening. Cook can be treated as a locked-in RB1 in what should be a fantasy-friendly game environment on Thursday Night Football. The Bills notably elevated RB Frank Gore Jr. from the practice squad, which could indicate that RB Ty Johnson (hamstring) will be inactive tonight.

Cook had twenty yards on the game’s first drive, but the game eventually skewed pass-heavy for the Bills and Josh Allen had the game’s only two rushing touchdowns. Per PFF’s early charting data, Cook had 41 of the 57 snaps and almost all the work ahead of Ray Davis and Frank Gore Jr. Assuming Ty Johnson remains out on a short week against the Lions in Week 2, Cook will remain a touch-dominator on the RB1 line and will have a chance for a better touchdown runout.

It sure looks like the hamstring strain that Johnson suffered more than a month ago is going to keep him sidelined for the Bills’ season opener against the Texans. Starting RB James Cook was expected to play a larger role in the passing game this year. With Johnson sidelined, Cook could hog passing down snaps.

Johnson went down while running a route on August 9th. He resumed running roughly two weeks ago, but has not yet rejoined his teammates in drills. Although Johnson is not on the fantasy radar himself, he has hogged passing down snaps in recent seasons. Starting RB James Cook has been expected to take on a larger receiving role this season, and Johnson’s potential absence adds credence to that idea.

Johnson went down while running a route in practice on Saturday and immediately grabbed at the back of his right leg. He appeared to be grabbing at the lowest section of his hamstring, but both the back of his knee and the highest point of his calf are possible. Johnson logged a 65 percent third-down snap share and a 56 percent two-minute-drill snap share last season. Starting RB James Cook (19 percent and 31 percent) and fellow backup RB Ray Davis (16 percent and 13 percent) were also involved in both scenarios. If this is a serious injury that causes Johnson to miss time, it could meaningfully raise Cook’s fantasy-scoring ceiling.

That could be very interesting news for James Cook’s value in PPR leagues. Cook caught 33 passes last year and has broken 40 catches once in four seasons. Ty Johnson has been the team’s third-down back for most of the last two years when healthy, but probably won’t get enough receptions for this to make him more fantasy-interesting.

Cook also added 24 receiving yards on two carries. He looked tremendous for much of the game against the second-best run defense in the NFL. Unfortunately, he was held in check for much of the fourth quarter, and he lost a crucial fumble in the first quarter as the Bills were driving to go up 14-3 and take a stranglehold on the game. The Broncos then drove down the field for a go-ahead score, and the dynamic of the game changed drastically. It was a tremendous season for Cook, who led the NFL with 1,621 rushing yards on 5.2 yards per carry. He also had 12 rushing touchdowns and 291 receiving yards with another two touchdowns. He was clearly the second most important player on the Bills offense and is an RB1 for fantasy next season.

No team allowed fewer rushing yards in the regular season than Jacksonville. Their front seven lived up to the hype in the Wild Card Round, limiting Cook to 3.1 yards per carry. Week 18 aside, it was Cook’s lowest rushing output since Week 1. Cook’s fantasy backers also got to watch Josh Allen steal two rushing touchdowns. Cook should fare better next week, no matter who the Bills face in the Divisional Round. He will still be one of the best DFS options on next week’s slate.

The shifty pass catcher and change-of-pace player has been a valuable contributor this season. He still has a few days to get back on track for Sunday, but if Johnson were to sit out the Bills’ Wild Card Round game against the Jaguars, it would likely add passing down work to RB James Cook’s workload.

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