The moment has arrived for many fans: it is officially game day week for the Buffalo Bills and all 31 other football teams in the NFL. That means locking in on the regular season with game day rituals, fantasy drafts, and enjoying every Thursday, Sunday, and Monday with exciting games from September to February. This also means looking at each week's matchups and predicting what we could see from each player. So that is what we are going to do with James Cook and how he could perform against the Arizona Cardinals in Week 1.
Some important stats for each team that will help this prediction are how good Arizona is at stopping the run, and how good the Bills are at running the ball. Specifically with Cook toting the rock. This will be a little difficult considering each team is different from last year, and not each ranking is indicative of each team this year.
Per NFL.com, the Arizona Cardinals were the worst rushing defense in the NFL in 2023, allowing 2,434 rushing yards in 17 games. That's an average of 143.2 yards per game. With how the Cardinals off-season has come and went, there most likely was an emphasis at getting better in this area.
On the other side, the Bills were 7th in the NFL, rushing for 2,212 yards. This is an average of 130.1 yards per game. As for the Bills, they are returning most of the offensive linemen that helped make this one of the league's best, also with their lead running back in Cook. Although Cook will be the main running back they lean on, Ray Davis is looking good this off-season. This could mean that Davis will eat into some of Cook's carries for this game and the rest of the 2024 season.
Considering all of these stats, Cook could certainly have a pretty good game. With how well the Bills offense is at running the ball, and with how poor the Cardinals have been at defending it, Cook could be in for a pretty good game. Also, with the new weapons in the passing game for Josh Allen, they might want to lean into the run game early and often, along with Cook's familiarity with Allen as a pass catcher.