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Is James Cook a Top-Five All Time Bills Running Back?


Shaw66

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12 hours ago, BringMetheHeadofLeonLett said:

Dude, he's been off to a great start, but I'm sorry, I want actual difference-makers to be talked about.  
 

How do I have to be stuck arguing AGAINST a player I really like. 
 

But he hasn't done ***** yet.  
 

Tell me I'm wrong. 

ONE BIG pike of DOODOO

 

If Cook had same amount of snaps Thurman had his first year....... I am not saying hes top 5 YET... Just stop looking at yards and START looking at how many carries the dude has and his average... 

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6 hours ago, boyst said:

Travis Henry

McCoy

 

Travis Henry does not get enough respect for how good he was in the 2 or 3 seasons he was in his prime.

Cookie, Joe Cribbs, Kenny Davis,etc. Etc.

 

Let me know when he stops dropping lob touchdowns before we think about asking this question again.

 

He is fine but at this point I don't see him getting a big money second contract. Part of that is the value of the position but part is him as well 

 

If he proves it this year and ahows out great.

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37 minutes ago, PrimeTime101 said:

ONE BIG pike of DOODOO

 

If Cook had same amount of snaps Thurman had his first year....... I am not saying hes top 5 YET... Just stop looking at yards and START looking at how many carries the dude has and his average... 

I'll put on my flame suit and say two words Devin Singletary .............. the guy never got 200 carries in a season.  We gave Cook 237 last year.  I'm not saying Singletary is better than Cook but more that people never gave Singletary much credit for being a decent back.  Still don't.

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1 hour ago, Warcodered said:

Said at the end of the season he needed to buy a jugs machine, it is indescribably frustrating to see him drop an easy pass when he's got a bunch of open field right in front of him, hurts the soul. And it is exactly how a guy like Ray Davis would steal reps from him.

 

Agree, and Davis is a very good receiver out of the backfield.  Now, he has to demonstrate he can replicate that in the NFL...but if Davis shows those good hands here and Cook keeps dropping would be gimme TD's (believe he had 4 dropped TD's), then Davis may cut more into his reps earlier than expected.  

 

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1 hour ago, Figster said:

 James Cook fits the Bill for Buffalo's current O/ Josh Allen IMO.

 

Ask this question again after Buffalo wins its 1st championship...

I have a couple of things to say.  First, this is a really good point.  Cook does fit the offense very nicely.  Drops and fumbles are a problem, but he fits nicely.  If the Bills win in the next few years, we'll probably be praising him.

 

Second, unrelated to you post, is that many people here responded about stats.  They said he hasn't been playing long enough, as though in a few more years he'll have more total yards, and then he'll look better.   I wasn't talking about that.  I was talking the eyeball test.   I don't doubt that he'll put up nice numbers if he stays healthy, but I don't care about that.  

 

I was talking about how useful a weapon he is, and I know that regardless of stats, he's not as useful as most the guys we've talked about in Bills history.  He's not a weapon who takes over games.  Take most of those other guys and put them in place of Cook, and the offense would be better.   And put Cook in the place of most of those guys, and those offenses would get worse.  You could count on McCoy and Lynch and Thomas and Simpson to carry you in games when nothing else was working.   Not Cook.  

 

But having said that, you're correct, for this QB in this offense, he's a pretty effective guy to have. 

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To answer the main question posed, I don't believe Cook is in the Bills top five, and likely not yet in their top 10 either. That said...

I've had the "does any team's top five all time Running Backs depth chart match the Bills'" discussion many times.

While someone else already mentioned the Browns, Cowboys, Oilers/Titans, and others, I think the all time top five running back depth chart belongs to the Chicago Bears.

Walter Payton
Gale Sayers
Bronco Nagurski
Red Grange
George McAfee

All five are Hall of Famers, and Payton is firmly in the conversation for greatest running back of all time.

To my knowledge, no other team boasts five Hall of Fame running backs.

Edited by Logic
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On 6/11/2024 at 5:18 PM, Shaw66 said:

Pro Football Reference has an interesting metric where they measure Hall of Fame worthiness.  Running backs who deserve to be in Hall of Fame.   Some observations on their list:

 

Top 10, in order:  Payton, Brown, Sanders, Smith, Tomlinson, Simpson, Dickerson, Peterson, Faulk, Terrell Davis.  Peterson is a lock, as is Gore, who is 11th.  Thomas is 14.  McCoy is the next guy on the list who isn't in.  He's 20th, ahead of Curtis Martin, Leroy Kelly, and Tony Dorsett, who all are in.  

 

The next guys on the list are Roger Craig (not in), Bettis and Riggins (both in), Lynch ( a lock), Hornung (in), and - get this -are you ready? - Cookie Gilchrist. 

 

Simpson, Thomas, McCoy, Lynch, Gilchrist.  Two absolute sure-fire Hall of Famers, two on the bubble, and Cookie.  Damn good. 

 

I'm going to strongly disagree with their Hall of Fame worthiness metric. I see they have Emmitt Smith listed as their 4th most Hall of Fame worthy RB ever. Eyeball test: he was a good player, but not a special player. He averaged 4.2 yards per carry, while playing behind one of the two best offensive lines in NFL history. A guy like Eric Dickerson averaged 4.4 yards per carry, while playing behind an OL which was significantly inferior to the one the Cowboys had. The one special thing about Emmitt was his longevity. That, and nothing else. A good player who hangs around a long time is not more worthy of Hall of Fame induction than a great player. Period, end of story.

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10 hours ago, Shaw66 said:

I have a couple of things to say.  First, this is a really good point.  Cook does fit the offense very nicely.  Drops and fumbles are a problem, but he fits nicely.  If the Bills win in the next few years, we'll probably be praising him.

 

Second, unrelated to you post, is that many people here responded about stats.  They said he hasn't been playing long enough, as though in a few more years he'll have more total yards, and then he'll look better.   I wasn't talking about that.  I was talking the eyeball test.   I don't doubt that he'll put up nice numbers if he stays healthy, but I don't care about that.  

 

I was talking about how useful a weapon he is, and I know that regardless of stats, he's not as useful as most the guys we've talked about in Bills history.  He's not a weapon who takes over games.  Take most of those other guys and put them in place of Cook, and the offense would be better.   And put Cook in the place of most of those guys, and those offenses would get worse.  You could count on McCoy and Lynch and Thomas and Simpson to carry you in games when nothing else was working.   Not Cook.  

 

But having said that, you're correct, for this QB in this offense, he's a pretty effective guy to have. 

Thanks for the reply Shaw,

 

Its no secret Joe Brady wants to run the football. More from the RB position and I'm assuming less with Josh Allen IMO. Play complementary football. Rest the D, control the clock. Makes McD a happy clapper. We watched this winning formula transform the Bills as Buffalo surged forward for a playoff birth last season. The Bills are fielding a different kind of animal on O this coming up season. New identity. Keon Coleman is a beast. James Cook / production is going to benefit from the change in philosophy/ OC in my humble opinion. I'm expecting a break out season.   

Edited by Figster
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4 hours ago, Logic said:

To answer the main question posed, I don't believe Cook is in the Bills top five, and likely not yet in their top 10 either. That said...

I've had the "does any team's top five all time Running Backs depth chart match the Bills'" discussion many times.

While someone else already mentioned the Browns, Cowboys, Oilers/Titans, and others, I think the all time top five running back depth chart belongs to the Chicago Bears.

Walter Payton
Gale Sayers
Bronco Nagurski
Red Grange
George McAfee

All five are Hall of Famers, and Payton is firmly in the conversation for greatest running back of all time.

To my knowledge, no other team boasts five Hall of Fame running backs.

 

Matt Forte was exceptional too. 

 

I think the Steelers are pretty good:

Franco, Bus, Willie Parker, Bell and Mendenhall (though Mendenhall's career was shorter)

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6 minutes ago, LABILLBACKER said:

He's a nice runner between the 20's but his lack of focus on the drops/fumbles will keep him from ever being legendary like Thurman.

but has he lost his helmet ...................

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  • BuffaloBill changed the title to Is James Cook a Top-Five All Time Bills Running Back?

Im not 100 years old so the earliest I got to see was Thurman Thomas. 

 

So for my eyes only cause of my unawareness

 

Thurman Thomas

Shady Mccoy

Fred Jackson

Travis Henry

Marshawn Lynch ( I think we just didnt have the blocking to make him as good as he ended up being while he was here)

 

So i got Cook currently in the same level as Mcgahee I guess. Need more Cookin to move him up.

 

 

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