Who Should I Start? Breece Hall or James Cook

Friday, January 9, 1:35 PM

New York Jets general manager Darren Mougey said earlier this week that the team would like to re-sign running back Breece Hall, according to Antwan Staley of the New York Daily News. Mougey wouldn't go into specifics, though, on whether the Jets would consider using the franchise tag to retain Hall. In another bad season for the Jets, the 24-year-old was one of the few bright spots on offense. The former second-rounder posted his first career 1,000-yard rushing season on a career-high 243 carries while adding four rushing touchdowns. Hall also had 36 catches on 48 targets for 350 yards and another score in 16 starts. He did not play in the Week 18 regular-season finale against the Buffalo Bills due to a knee injury, but he should be fine going into the 2026 campaign. Hall has proven that he can still be fantasy relevant in New York, but for fantasy purposes, his stock would most certainly improve if he were to leave town.

Tuesday, January 13, 7:00 PM

After finishing the regular season with an NFL-best 1,621 rushing yards, Buffalo Bills running back James Cook had an underwhelming outing in his first game of the postseason. The 26-year-old was held to just 46 rushing yards on 15 carries and five receiving yards on two catches by the Jacksonville Jaguars. Cook's regular-season track record should afford him the benefit of the doubt from fantasy managers. However, he will face another very difficult run defense in the Divisional round when Buffalo travels to Denver to take on the Broncos. The Broncos defense finished the regular season ranked third in the NFL in yards per carry allowed (3.9) and tied for fourth in rushing touchdowns allowed (11). Additionally, Buffalo's already depleted pass-catching corps lost another two wide receivers in Gabe Davis (knee) and Tyrell Shavers (knee), who both suffered season-ending knee injuries in the Wild Card round. As a result, Denver could be even more geared up to stop Cook and take away the run. Cook remains a high-end running back option, but fantasy managers may want to downgrade expectations heading into the Divisional round.