James Cook ranked No. 20 in NFL’s Top 100 Players
· Yahoo Sports
It’s not just the Josh Allen Show in Buffalo.
James Cook, you know, the Bills running back who led the league in rushing in 2025, is getting his flowers ahead of the 2026 campaign.
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In the summer-long unveiling of the NFL’s Top 100 Players — as voted on by players themselves, Cook has entered the Top 20
No. 20 on the NFL Top 100 Players of 2026…@BuffaloBills RB James Cook! @NFLFilmspic.twitter.com/M6tDPNeOPr
— NFL (@NFL) August 17, 2026
Cook is the latest shining example of the Bills’ tremendous developmental system. He didn’t carry the football even 50 times in any of his first three seasons at Georgia. In his final year with the Bulldogs in 2021, when they won the national title, Cook toted the rock 113 times for 728 yards with seven scores on the ground and was the backup to Zamir White who led the team in carries and rushing yards.
Despite that, the Bills identified him as a three-down, pass-catching back with serious upside that has now been realized as a professional. He was the third running back off the board — after Breece Hall and Kenneth Walker — in the 2022 NFL Draft.
After averaging 5.7 yards per tote in a committee backfield as a rookie, Cook went over 1,100 yards in Year 2, before another 1,000-yard season in 2024 when he averaged 4.9 yards per carry.
Last year, as you may very well remember, his 1,621 yards during the regular season were the most among all running backs, and his 1,912 yards from scrimmage were the sixth-most in team history behind two O.J. Simpson seasons in the 1970s and three from Thurman Thomas in the 1990s.
And Cook has earned the respect of his peers with the No. 20 ranking in the Top 100 Players list. Dion Dawkins was listed at No. 57.
Cook was the fifth running back listed on this year’s Top 100, ahead of Travis Etienne, Kyren Williams, Josh Jacobs, Saquon Barkley, and De’Von Achane.
What do you think about Cook’s ranking here? Too high? Too low?