A lot of the positive focus usually tends to land on Josh Allen when you think about the Buffalo Bills, and rightfully so. Allen isn’t just the best quarterback in the league, he is the franchise. He is Buffalo. Without him, the Bills are nowhere near the contender status that they have established themselves to be this decade.
While no one can deny that Allen has been phenomenal for the Bills, other playmakers have been overlooked in the process, just simply because of how great Allen has been. However, no one can deny that James Cook has established himself as one of the best backs in the NFL the last two seasons.
James Cook provides major support for Josh Allen, Bills' offense
First, he has rushed for three consecutive 1,000+ yard seasons from 2023-2025. In 2024, he led the league in rushing touchdowns (16), and he only fumbled once. Last season in 2025, Cook led the league in rushing yards (1,621 yards), while still managing to rush for 12 scores on the ground. He also finished second in the league with 5.2 yards per carry.
For someone that doesn't play a ton on third-downs, that's pretty impressive. The only down part about his game last year was that he did fumble eight times, two of those games against Pittsburgh and Cincinnati, fumbling twice in each game. That is inexcusable. However, fans remember more of the dynamic play of Cook rather than those fumbles.
The last two years have been great for Cook, and while no one is ever perfect, it is hard to ask him to do more than he already is. But if you ask head coach Joe Brady, there is an expectation that Cook should take another step forward.
Joe Brady expects James Cook to take another step forward in 2026
Brady talked with the media ahead of Buffalo’s fourth day of training camp, and according to Jay Skurski from The Buffalo News, Brady stated “You saw the best running back in the league last year…Everything he’s gotten, he deserves…I expect him to take another step this year.”
“You saw the best running back in the league last year. … Everything he’s gotten, he’s deserved. … I expect him to take another step this year.” — Joe Brady on James Cook
— Jay Skurski (@JaySkurski) August 3, 2026
Now, it may not be worth looking to much into this comment from Brady. But if he truly does think that Cook should be taking another step forward in 2026, it makes you wonder how much more Cook can do.
Maybe he expects Cook to do more in the passing attack where he can catch passes out of the backfield. Maybe the focus is on the security of the ball and not losing it. Heck, maybe it’s making a push at the 2,000+ rushing yard club.
Either way, it’s going to be up to Brady to help Cook take that next step forward. Brady has already helped bring back the rushing attack in Buffalo with Cook, and it’s shown the last two years. Now that Brady is in charge of the whole operation, he will have the ability to do anything that he wants to help Cook be set up for success.
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