Buffalo Bills star running back James Cook just received a backhanded compliment from the NFL Players Association
The Buffalo Bills already have a star on their hands with running back James Cook when looking at his production during the 2025 NFL season. But if you ask the NFLPA, Cook still has more room to grow.
The NFLPA released its rising stars list ahead of the 2026 NFL season, and Buffalo Bills running back James Cook landed among the veterans selected. On the surface, that should be a good sign for Cook and the Bills. The problem? I’m not sure how a player who led the NFL in rushing yards qualifies as “rising.”
Cook rushed for over 1,600 yards last season on 300-plus carries, added nearly 300 receiving yards, and ripped off a rushing long of more than 60 yards. That is not a rising star. That is a star, full stop. He’s already one of the better backs in the league. Fantasy football players will already be drafting him extremely high this summer. He’s in the prime of his career, and he doesn’t plan on slowing down.
James Cook 2025 stats
- 309 carries.
- 1,621 rushing yards.
- 5.2 yards per carry.
What Cook needs to do to reach superstar status
The one thing Cook has left to prove is that he can make the leap from star to superstar. In order for that to happen, he needs to take a Christian McCaffrey-like step forward in the passing game. That means turning those 290-something receiving yards into something closer to 800 receiving yards.
If Cook can become close to a 1,000-1,000 player, meaning 1,000 yards on the ground and 1,000 yards through the air, the Bills’ offense will reach another level entirely. To think about what he already provides as a runner and then layer in the possibility of him becoming a true weapon in the passing game alongside that skill set is a frightening combination for opposing defenses.
The ‘rising star’ label doesn’t fit
The bottom line is that the NFLPA’s designation feels like a misnomer. Cook isn’t on the rise. He arrived last season when he led the league in rushing. The question now isn’t whether he belongs among the NFL’s best running backs. It’s whether he can separate himself from the pack by developing McCaffrey-level versatility.
Buffalo already knows what it has in Cook as a between-the-tackles workhorse. The next chapter of his career will be defined by whether the Bills scheme him into more routes and whether he can sustain that kind of dual-threat production over a full 17-game season. That is the difference between being a very good back and being a game-changing offensive centerpiece.
Cook has the talent and the opportunity, and whether he makes that jump will go a long way toward determining how far the Bills can go in 2026.