One running back we seem to be higher on others than, based on the drafts I've seen thus far, is Buffalo's James Cook. I get it, sort of. He's a smaller back, at just 5-foot-11 and 190 pounds, and the Bills might want to work in a larger complement. But we'll see.
The Bills selected Ray Davis in the fourth round; he's a bowling-ball like 5-foot-8 and 220 pounds. But Davis has some work to do before he can be considered a factor or a threat. First he needs to get by Ty Johnson, who's missed some time due to a hamstring injury. I think that will happen eventually (especially if Johnson's hamstring continues to be an issue), but not a given.
And in the first exhibition game, Cook played all the snaps with the starters; Davis didn't step on the field until Cook was out of the game, and (just as important) until Josh Allen was out of the game. There might be some pass protection concerns with the rookie, or at least they're more comfortable leaving Cook on the field with Allen at quarterback.
So I don't know if they want to make Cook a workhorse (last year they used several different complementary backs, including Latavius Murray and Johnson), but I do know he was better than many will remember late last year. In the second half of the season, Cook averaged over 106 total yards per game. That was more than any running back (5-plus starts) besides Christian McCaffrey and Kyren Williams.
| RUNNING BACKS PER GAME, 2023 (2ND HALF) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | G | Run | No | Rec | Tot | TD |
| Christian McCaffrey, S.F. | 8 | 100.9 | 4.4 | 34.0 | 134.9 | 1.00 |
| Kyren Williams, LAR | 6 | 114.7 | 3.2 | 16.8 | 131.5 | 1.39 |
| James Cook, Buff. | 8 | 77.0 | 2.8 | 29.3 | 106.3 | .50 |
| Jonathan Taylor, Ind. | 5 | 97.4 | .8 | 4.4 | 101.8 | 1.20 |
| James Conner, Ari. | 8 | 84.5 | 2.4 | 16.9 | 101.4 | .88 |
| Breece Hall, NYJ | 9 | 55.7 | 5.9 | 43.6 | 99.2 | .70 |
| Isiah Pacheco, K.C. | 5 | 82.0 | 4.0 | 16.8 | 98.8 | 1.00 |
| Rachaad White, T.B. | 9 | 68.0 | 3.4 | 30.0 | 98.0 | .67 |
| Bijan Robinson, Atl. | 8 | 57.4 | 3.8 | 36.3 | 93.6 | .63 |
| Devin Singletary, Hou. | 9 | 76.6 | 2.3 | 16.8 | 93.3 | .44 |
| Aaron Jones, G.B. | 6 | 76.7 | 2.7 | 14.3 | 91.0 | .00 |
| Brian Robinson, Was. | 6 | 47.7 | 3.7 | 38.5 | 86.2 | .33 |
| Joe Mixon, Cin. | 9 | 60.4 | 3.1 | 24.2 | 84.7 | 1.04 |
| Najee Harris, Pitt. | 9 | 72.6 | 1.6 | 7.7 | 80.2 | .67 |
| Chuba Hubbard, Car. | 9 | 63.8 | 2.2 | 15.4 | 79.2 | .44 |
| Saquon Barkley, NYG | 8 | 57.5 | 2.4 | 21.3 | 78.8 | .92 |
| Jahmyr Gibbs (C), Det. | 9 | 60.7 | 2.7 | 16.8 | 77.4 | 1.00 |
| Alvin Kamara, N.O. | 7 | 49.7 | 4.6 | 27.7 | 77.4 | .52 |
| Jaylen Warren (C), Pitt. | 9 | 57.9 | 3.6 | 17.9 | 75.8 | .33 |
| David Montgomery, Det. | 9 | 70.0 | 1.1 | 5.7 | 75.7 | .81 |
| Kenneth Walker, Sea. | 7 | 53.3 | 2.0 | 21.1 | 74.4 | .43 |
| Ezekiel Elliott, N.E. | 5 | 42.6 | 5.4 | 31.8 | 74.4 | .60 |
| Tony Pollard, Dall. | 9 | 59.0 | 2.9 | 13.4 | 72.4 | .44 |
| Raheem Mostert, Mia. | 6 | 67.8 | 1.0 | 4.0 | 71.8 | 1.33 |
| Travis Etienne, Jac. | 9 | 47.2 | 3.4 | 23.3 | 70.6 | .44 |
| Keaton Mitchell (C), Balt. | 5 | 51.6 | 1.4 | 17.6 | 69.2 | .20 |
| D'Andre Swift, Phil. | 7 | 62.1 | 1.3 | 6.9 | 69.0 | .29 |
| Derrick Henry, Ten. | 9 | 62.9 | 1.1 | 5.4 | 68.3 | .89 |
| DeVon Achane (C), Mia. | 7 | 48.6 | 2.6 | 18.6 | 67.1 | .57 |
| Austin Ekeler, LAC | 9 | 40.3 | 3.7 | 26.2 | 66.6 | .22 |
| Jerome Ford, Cle. | 9 | 43.1 | 2.7 | 20.0 | 63.1 | .56 |
| Javonte Williams, Den. | 9 | 46.3 | 3.3 | 16.7 | 63.0 | .48 |
Cook isn't perfect. Not enough touchdowns (Josh Allen), and they probably will try to incorporate either Johnson or Davis as the season goes on.
But currently coming off the board in the third round, according to ADP? I'll take him.
--Andy Richardson