Who Should I Start? Damien Harris or James Cook

Friday, September 22, 2:24 PM

Running back Damien Harris managed to find the end zone amid Week 2's smackdown of the Las Vegas Raiders for the first touchdown of his Buffalo Bills career. The 26-year-old finds himself in an intimidating matchup on deck against the Washington Commanders' stud nose-tackle combination of Jonathan Allen and Daron Payne. Harris has played behind Latavius Murray for scraps behind lead back James Cook in the opening two weeks, so fantasy managers would really be grasping at straws by inserting Harris into Week 3 lineups. Murray has siphoned five of Buffalo's nine red-zone touches among the three RBs. The power back, Harris, is at least a better bet to hit paydirt than Cook after out-touching him in the red zone 4-0 to this point. Harris probably needs Sunday's meeting to get out of hand in favor of Buffalo to return value as a TD-or-bust RB4/FLEX.

Friday, September 22, 2:08 PM

Buffalo Bills running back James Cook excited fantasy managers with a huge 159-yard showing in Week 2's dismantling of the Las Vegas Raiders. The 23-year-old next challenges the Washington Commanders, who have held James Conner and Javonte Williams to scoreless 14/62 and 12/44 rushing lines respectively in the opening two games. Washington's defense has proven to be slightly more vulnerable in the backend, if anything, with their ravenous defensive line, so Cook will likely need to break away for some explosive runs on the outside to penetrate this unit. Buffalo has constantly utilized him on counter plays, so expect that usage to persist in an effort to get the dynamic Cook to the second level of the field. Due to zero red-zone touches on the young season, however, the 2022 second-rounder is stuck as a high-floor RB2 in Week 3 and until further notice.