Who Should I Start? Jared Goff or James Cook

Wednesday, January 28, 5:09 PM

Many fantasy managers were worried about Detroit Lions quarterback Jared Goff going into the 2025 season since he'd be without offensive coordinator Ben Johnson. The Lions took a slight step back offensively with Johnson gone and failed to make the playoffs, but it was still a successful fantasy campaign for Goff, who completed 68% of his passes for 4,564 yards, 34 touchdowns, and only eight interceptions in 17 starts. It was Goff's fourth straight season playing in all 17 games and his fourth straight year with over 4,000 passing yards. The 31-year-old veteran signal-caller has had at least 30 touchdown passes in each of the last three years and in four of his 10 NFL seasons. Goff was the QB6 in fantasy scoring, and should have QB1 upside again in 2026 with Drew Petzing as the new OC. Petzing had a pass-happy approach in Arizona and could be a great fit for Goff.

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.