James Cook profile: Why the Buffalo Bills drafted the running back in the 2022 NFL Draft
The Buffalo Bills picked running back James Cook with the 63rd pick in the 2022 NFL draft.
Once a top-50 overall recruit in 2018, this brother of Vikings superstar running back Dalvin Cook never quite became a featured option in the backfield for the Bulldogs because of all the other talented guys they had there. However, on 157 touches through his first three years, he amassed 1,221 yards and nine touchdowns from scrimmage, And then in 2021, when he finally did receive more work, he turned 113 carries and 27 more receptions into 1,012 yards and 11 TDs on 7.2 yards per touch, while playing a key role in Georgia winning the National Championship.
James Cook's strengths:
Cook will remind most observers of his brother with the way he can kill linebackers, who flow a little too hard and leave the gap behind them uncovered for a split-second, because he can shoot through it. When he has a defender flashing in the hole, he can add a little head-nod that way and slip underneath, to not allow that guy to get a hand on him. He can incorporate those small hops to get over trash and fluidly play with his acceleration almost. Cook is very efficient with his footwork behind the line of scrimmage and can slice through the crease between the furthest blocker on the backside and the edge defender, who he tries to stay home on zone schemes against boots or guys sneaking into the flats. At times, it seems this guy has greased up his hips, when you see tacklers slip off him, and he’s very elusive once he gets out into space.
Watching Cook’s burst through the line of scrimmage is scary for defenders. He has the speed to get out to the edge and defeat secondary pursuits consistently. That’s why Georgia had him aim outside on some invert veer plays, where even if the end played it pretty well and looked to have a shot at him, Cook was able to bubble around and get wide. You see plenty of defenders not take conservative enough angles to get to him at the sideline. Yet when someone in pursuit overruns it, he can also cross that guy up and completely make him whiff. It’s kind of crazy how often you see defenders land flat on their faces that way. If the play-side linebacker leverages himself outside a little too much and backside stays home, you better hope your deep safety is a great open-field tackler, because Cook will cut underneath the backer and may just bang his head on the goal-post. There was a 29-yard touchdown run at the end of the first half in the 2020 South Carolina game, where the defense has two stack linebackers and a two-high safety look out there, Cook goes right through the middle and literally splits the entire defense so to speak.
Over the last couple of years, Cook was the ying to the steady yang of Zamir White, as more of the receiving option and big-play guy. He is so natural at catching the ball on the run with those soft hands and not having to slow down at all, as well as staying focused on higher-arcing balls on routes down the sideline, as he provided some big play on wheels. That is backed up by having dropped just one of 68 career catchable targets. When catching the ball with his back to the defenses, Cook quickly IDs defenders around him and gets past them effectively. He has innate feel for how guys try to leverage him and dip the other way. His coaches really liked using him as a jet sweep threat and on swing routes/screens. Georgia legitimately put Cook out wide in empty sets and had him run fades, where he attacks straight and then slightly widens, to avoid contact. He was kind of the Alabama killer these last two year, catching an 82-yard touchdown in 2020 against linebacker Christian Harris on one of those go routes, and then ripping off a season-long 67-yard run against them in the ’21 Natty, to set up the first touchdown of the day.
James Cook's weaknesses:
Unfortunately, Cook simply doesn’t have the build to be something like a workhorse back. His brother was 20 pounds heavier coming into the league for example. James will have to add some more muscle to his frame, which may come at the cost of some ease in his movement skills. While he does extend forward routinely, there’s not a ton of power to actually gain yards through contact. In particular when the B-gap on the front side of zone runs is open, but his only real option is to power through the linebacker in it, too often it’s just a one- or two-yard gain. Cook only carried the ball more than seven times once until this past season and even than his highest total was 12. While you like the ability to get to blitzers across the front, Cook is rather timid as a pass-protector and he just doesn’t have the natural girth to really anchor down against 240+ pound linebackers.
Conclusion on James Cook:
Even though he wasn’t heavily utilized at Georgia, Cook always displayed fresh legs and plenty of juice when he was on the field. You always want to see more of a power aspect to his game, but he has that slashing running style and can make those one-step cuts in the open field, to punish pursuing defenders, who have to take respect his speed. He might not ever handle the ball 18-20 times a game, but if you give low double-digit touches and allow him to operate in space, with the way he can catch the ball and run with it, he can add a very dynamic element to your offense. And he actually bested Dalvin with a 4.42 at the combine.
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