Fantasy Football Sleeper: James Cook (2022)

This time of year, it’s important to identify value in all fantasy football formats. Whether you’re trading for assets in dynasty leagues or planning your fantasy football redraft strategy, finding players that provide value compared to their average draft position is a great way to build a championship roster.

James Cook has been a name on the rise ever since the Buffalo Bills selected him in the second round of the 2022 NFL Draft. It’s recently been reported that he’s secured at least the No. 2 RB job in Buffalo, including the ever-important receiving opportunities. Let’s take a look at why Cook is a fantasy football sleeper to monitor this draft season.

James Cook expected to be number-two back in 2022

The Bills’ newly drafted RB James Cook is set to be the team’s number-two option in the running game in 2022, getting the majority of receiving work along with a handful of carries, per camp reports. (Source: Sal Capaccio on Twitter)

Fantasy Impact: Cook was drafted in the third round of the 2022 NFL Draft, and has since gotten quite the hype in the fantasy world due to how explosive the Buffalo offense is. Still, it seems that Devin Singletary will keep the starting job to at least start the season and will limit Cook’s overall ceiling as an every-down back. Cook should be drafted as an RB4 in redraft leagues with upside to be an every-week starter in PPR leagues if he sees enough passing work.
– Ethan Biddle

James Cook 2022 Fantasy Football Ranking

Currently, Cook has a consensus fantasy football ranking of RB40 in half-PPR formats.

Andrew Erickson is much higher than the consensus (No. 31 overall) on Cook and thinks he’s worth reaching for a bit in upcoming drafts:

Rookie running back James Cook has immediate sleeper fantasy appeal across all PPR formats based on his second-round draft capital, pass-catching prowess, explosiveness, and offensive situation. The 5-foot-11, 199-pound running back has more than enough heft to manage a decent workload, especially as a receiver out of the backfield. The 5-foot-7, 203-pound Devin Singletary was the RB3 over the last six weeks of the regular season when the Bills entrenched him as the featured guy. Cook with an ECR of RB44 seems priced closer to their floor than his ceiling considering Round 2 running backs have finished as top-36 running backs more than half the time (55%) since 2013.