Who Should I Start? Trevor Lawrence or James Cook

Sunday, January 11, 9:34 AM

Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence was one of the top-scoring fantasy players during the second half of the regular season, and he carries tremendous momentum into Sunday's Wild Card matchup against the Buffalo Bills. Lawrence has 18 passing touchdowns and four rushing touchdowns over his last seven games, ranking as the highest-scoring fantasy quarterback during that span. Although he has been playing at a high level, he'll run into a difficult matchup this weekend. The Bills have allowed the fewest passing yards and fourth-fewest fantasy points to quarterbacks in 2025. On a more positive note, Buffalo has surrendered the fifth-most rushing yards to the position. That bodes well for Lawrence, who has shown a tendency to use his legs, especially against tougher passing defenses. Sunday's game won't be easy, but the former No. 1 pick from Clemson is up for the challenge. His rushing and touchdown upside make him an intriguing DFS play in what could be a higher-scoring game.

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.