Buffalo Bills and James Cook one of the best fits from the 2022 NFL Draft

The Buffalo Bills addressed the running back position early in the 2022 NFL Draft and may have added the best player they could at the position for their offense

In the first round, the Buffalo Bills selected cornerback Kaiir Elam out of the University of Florida. The Bills have had one of the best secondaries in the NFL over the years but the starting spot opposite Tre’Davious White has been a position that has been considered an area to upgrade.

On Day 2, the Buffalo Bills went to the other side of the ball with their first pick of the day and selected running back James Cook, after trading back twice. The offense was one of the best in the league but again if there was an area to upgrade it was there.

However, Cook is not the traditional running back as he excels more as a pass catcher than running the ball out of the backfield.

Greg Cossell names the Buffalo Bills’ selection of James Cook as one of the top team/player fits in this year’s draft class

After the NFL Draft, Greg Cossell at The 33rd Team put together his list of the five best draft fits and included James Cook to the Buffalo Bills as one of those five.

"“This was one of my favorite picks in the entire draft,” Cosell began, “[Buffalo] kept trading back in the second round. I don’t know if James Cook was the guy they wanted, or it just played out that way, but they drafted [him] and this to me is a perfect example of a player and team [fit] in the NFL. We know that buffalo is a past first team. They’re not going to change. It’s going to be a Josh Allen based offense. So, they’re not looking for a volume runner. They’re not looking for their offense to start with the run.”"

Cossell went on to draw comparisons of Cook to New Orleans Saints’ Alvin Kamara, which was a player that came to mind for me after the selection. Cook is a dynamic playmaker and the Bills should try to get him 10-15 touches a game but a portion of those touches should come in the passing game.

As a rookie, Kamara averaged 12.5 touches per game with just over five receptions and seven rushing attempts per game. If the Bills coaching staff can gameplan for a similar workload, it would make the offense much tougher to defend due to Cook’s ability to be moved around pre-snap.

While there are questions about how much James Cook can contribute on the ground, this really shouldn’t be a concern for the Buffalo Bills. As long as Josh Allen is under center, the passing game is going to be the strength of this offense and Cook should be a big factor moving forward.