Who Should I Start? James Cook or C.J. Stroud

Sunday, October 26, 5:51 PM

Buffalo Bills running back James Cook rushed for 216 yards and two touchdowns on 19 carries during Sunday's Week 8 victory over the Carolina Panthers. Cook had struggled in his two games prior to the Bills' bye week, but he returned from the hiatus with one of the best games of his career. He now has 753 rushing yards, 89 receiving yards, and seven touchdowns through seven games this year. It's safe to say that offseason speculation about Cook regressing was misguided. The 26-year-old continues to showcase elite rushing skills, as well as a tendency to score plenty of touchdowns. His ceiling might be a little lower next week in a neutral game script against the Kansas City Chiefs, but he's still a very strong RB1 option.

Tuesday, October 28, 11:59 AM

Houston Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud has played some of his best football in recent weeks. Across his team's last three games, Stroud has thrown for 791 yards, seven touchdowns, and two interceptions. Perhaps most importantly for his fantasy outlook, Stroud has attempted 88 passes over his last two games alone. That marks a notable shift in the Houston offense, as Stroud cracked 28 pass attempts just once over his first five games. If the Texans' game plan on offense is shifting to a more pass-heavy approach, Stroud could be a more viable streaming option for fantasy managers in single-quarterback formats going forward. Houston has a difficult matchup in Week 9 against the Denver Broncos, so Stroud may not be a player to target specifically for this week. However, his uptick in pass attempts is still a trend worth monitoring for fantasy managers as the Texans hit the second half of their season.