Who Should I Start? Chuba Hubbard or James Cook

Sunday, January 7, 5:22 PM

Carolina Panthers running back Chuba Hubbard carried the ball 23 times for 83 yards and added two catches for nine yards in a 9-0 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 18. Hubbard easily led the team in rushing in the regular-season finale as Miles Sanders saw just three touches in the loss. Hubbard ultimately turned in a successful season as he wrestled the starting role away from Sanders mid-season and never looked back. His role heading into next season remains up in the air, however, as the Panthers are likely to have a new head coach and general manager in place.

Wednesday, June 12, 4:36 PM

Buffalo Bills running back James Cook dropped five passes last season, which ranked sixth among all qualified running backs. Early in offseason activities, the third-year pro out of Georgia has continued to struggle in that area, according to Bills reporter Alex Brasky. "James Cook allowed a pass to bounce off his hands, high into the air near the start of team drills at Wednesday's mandatory minicamp." Brasky wrote, "Cook encountered issues with drops last season and has done little to ramp down those concerns during offseason activities." While this is somewhat of a concern, it can often be overplayed when analyzing a player's fantasy football value. After catching 44 passes for 445 yards and ranking second among running backs in yards per reception, the team is unlikely to pull back his receiving workload. That said, rookie fourth-rounder Ray Davis caught 62 passes over his final two collegiate seasons in the SEC and could become a factor on third downs.