Who Should I Start? Travis Etienne Jr. or James Cook

Tuesday, July 29, 12:51 PM

Jacksonville Jaguars running back Travis Etienne Jr. was seemingly the focus of the day in the backfield on Tuesday, getting plenty of work and busting a few impressive runs, according to SI.com's John Shipley. Meanwhile, Shipley says that fellow RB Tank Bigsby continued his strong training camp and made it to the second level of the defense a few times. Most folks are expecting Bigsby to take over Jacksonville's backfield in 2025 after running for a career-low 558 yards and two touchdowns in 15 starts in 2024 after going over the 1,000-yard rushing mark in his first two seasons. That could very well be the case, but Etienne also isn't going away anytime soon as long as he remains with the Jags. The former first-rounder should be a better scheme fit in head coach Liam Coen's offense, but the presence of Bigsby also probably caps his fantasy upside as an RB3/flex.

Wednesday, July 30, 8:35 AM

Buffalo Bills running back James Cook has been pushing for a larger role during the first week of training camp. Cook wants to play more on third downs this season after the team mostly turned to Ty Johnson on passing downs in 2024. Thus far in camp, the Bills haven't appeared interested in changing their offense after getting excellent production from their rushing attack last year. Cook will be a free agent after the season, so he likely wants to show that he can be a three-down back as he has an eye on securing a long-term deal for 2026 and beyond. Cook finished as a low-end RB1 in fantasy in 2024, although he benefited from 16 rushing touchdowns. Fantasy managers can continue to draft Cook as a high-end RB2 in upcoming drafts with the possibility for more if the Buffalo coaching staff decides to throw him the ball a bit more frequently.