Who Should I Start? James Cook or Ashton Jeanty

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.

Friday, January 30, 3:21 PM

Given his status as the number six overall selection in the 2025 NFL Draft, expectations were high for Las Vegas Raiders running back Ashton Jeanty coming into his rookie season. Despite having a miserable supporting cast around him in Las Vegas, the 22-year-old managed to rack up 1,321 scrimmage yards and 10 touchdowns on 321 touches. Still, he left a lot to be desired from an efficiency perspective. Jeanty averaged just 3.7 yards per carry and 4.1 yards per touch in 2025. Heading into 2026, the Raiders will have a new coaching staff and potentially a new quarterback in place, which could help to maximize Jeanty's talent. However, the team may struggle to completely overhaul its offensive line, which profiled as one of the league's worst this past season. Jeanty remains an ultra-high-upside fantasy running back in dynasty formats, but both he and his organization will enter 2026 with plenty to prove.