Is James Cook poised to elevate to superstar mode in 2024?

Is James Cook poised to elevate to superstar mode in 2024?

what’s up everybody Welcome in to shout at Buffalo Bills football podcast he’s Ryan Talbot I’m Matt Pino and this is the start of our positional preview series of the podcast that’ll take you all the way up until the start of training camp we’re going to look at every single position group and for each one we’re GNA have three big questions we’re going to try to answer them on this episode of the podcast we’re starting with the running back position one of the most intriguing positions Ryan that I think are on the Bills roster because of the potential impact and also the uncertainty with maybe a little bit of a lack of depth we’ll get to all that how are you my friend I’m doing great excited to get into this positional preview all right so let’s start with can James Cook take that next step and I think like how we frame this is this is a guy that was fourth in the league in rushing last season uh had six total touchdowns took a a pretty significant step and became one of the significant drivers of this offense last year what does the next step for you feel like and do you feel like he’s poised to make it yeah so I I I think the next step is a larger workload possibly first and foremost Matt and we saw glimpses of that once Joe Brady came in and became the interim offensive coordinator they leaned on the Run game more they s you saw James Cook’s production go up you saw the bills um and I guess opposing defenses maybe struggle to figure out the bills offense a little bit more because they were relying more on the run in terms of when they were running the ball how often they were running the ball look at that Dallas game for instance so one larger workload can he hold up that was maybe one of the biggest concerns about him in the draft class A few years ago did he have the frame to be a a true three down back look great last year can he build off of what he did and then the other part to that is the drops can he limit the frustrating drops the drops where he had touchdowns bounce off of his hands on multiple occasions one year ago sureh handedness was something that was credit credited to him in the draft class A few years back and he had some really untimely drops that cost him and cost this team in big moments you know it’s crazy to look at the top tier of running backs last year I mean James Cook was amongst the best in a number of categories I mean you look at yards per Rush last year at 4.7 the only top 10 running back in terms of carries he had 237 cook was number 10 the only running back that averaged more yards per carry was Christian mcaffrey I mean if you want to talk about a season that was really tremendous last year for cook he really had it I think under the radar and and I think like to take the next step you talked about a a a greater workload I’m almost wondering if you want to keep keep him at about the same workload and ask for more from behind him like you know Ty Johnson Ray Davis maybe keeping him fresher down the stretch because he had those two really really good games and I’m going to talk about one of them in a minute that I went back and watched today um it’s just part of a practice for each of these positional uh previews I want to kind of you know stoke the fires if you will uh remember a few things from last season and you know once you got to the playoffs I felt like James Cook maybe wasn’t as fresh as he could have been and maybe that workload weighed on him during the season do you think that the bills offense can be as effective as it could be if he ends up being under 200 carries this year or do you think it’s one of those situations where he has to carry the load because you have questions about what’s behind him well I’m gonna say right now he’d have to carry the load because we just don’t know enough about Ray Davis and what he can truly do at the NFL level he he certainly has all the attributes that you look for uh but right now it’s just there’s so much Unknown about his game Ty Johnson’s never been someone that uh has had to carry large workload so I I think if he goes under 200 carries that would be a concern I understand keeping him fresh and the importance of that I mean you can look at latavius Murray from one season ago and what he looked like at the beginning of the year to the end of the year and how he ran out of gas that definitely happens at the running back position uh based on their workload based on the amount of hits that they take so there is a care care ful balance that the bills need to manage here you just hope that another year of you know you hope the offensive line takes another step and if that happens that opens up more running lanes for Cook and Cook can kind of build off of that campaign from one year ago you know you mentioned the drops and that’s something that it’s going to continue to be a storyline we talked about it in the spring but you know going back and watching this Chiefs game I I went back through his um his game log from last season and I wanted to kind of pick out one game that really stuck out and to me it was the Chiefs even more so than the Dallas game where you know he he just ran all over the Cowboys in a really special performance but it was the the Chiefs game that St stood out because it was five catches on five targets for 80 some 83 yards and a touchdown that touchdown was spectacular I tweeted it out to our Insider text line today you know just because of what I think those kinds of plays can do for this offense I know everybody’s worried about losing digs losing Gabriel Davis where are they going to like replace certain players but in that game against a elite opponent James Cook in a lot of ways carried the offense in the passing game he has the capability to do that Ryan and so I think that they’re going to Le have to lean more into him I think that the running game in Joe Brady’s kind of augmented system where he’s going to probably utilize play action a little bit more they’re going to continue to lean on the Run game I think that sets up James Cook to to be really successful this year and honestly the more reps that he gets I I’ve been thinking a lot about this the more reps that he gets in the passing game to me the better off he’s going to be handling the drops like that’s something that I think you have to work through as a player and these targets over the last couple uh game I don’t the numbers in front of me uh Seasons dwarf what he probably was able to do in the Georgia offense in college so assuming this this major role in the passing game has been something that maybe he had to adjust to a little bit I think the sky’s the limit for cook this year yeah I completely agree and listen going back to your previous question if he is under 200 carries I hope that means that there’s a significant spike in his past uh re you know receiving production if that’s the case that might be okay then yeah definitely and he finished last year with a 20 target jump up into the 50s is it out of the realm of possibilities that we’re sitting here talking about a 70 Target running back in Jame cook in this offense this season especially with what they want to do in the passing game or the play action game and the screen game we saw Joe Brady last year executed tons in the wide receiver screen game we know what they’re gonna probably try to do with Samuel can you we’ve always talked about it year after year going back to Devin sleary and Zach Moss can you imagine the twin back backfield when they put Samuel back there potentially with James Cook yeah I think that’s pretty exciting that’s another you know look at maybe this depth you don’t really consider Samuel obviously a running back but he’s going to get his fair share of carries in this system and uh he still has that Elite Speed he has really good Vision obviously played some of the running back position back in college so uh has that experience it’s another kind of little noted factor that you have to consider with this running back position all right let’s head on to question two actually before we do I I mentioned The Insider text line we’re going position by position and The Insider text line giving everybody our thoughts on each position going through almost every player if not every player on this roster and you could become an Insider today and it’s perfect time because we’re under two weeks until training cam so if you sign up right now you get a two-e free trial you’ll get the you know the the preview series over the next couple days the first couple days of training camp and then just 3.99 a month after that I got a text from somebody today Ryan uh from a text I think you sent out and said this has been the best bargain uh that I found in a long time which I thought was super cool um the shout text lines brought to you uh let me tell you how to you sign up first 716 528 6727 text that number you’ll get the directions from there or go to joins sub tex.com shout Buffalo Bills put in your cell phone number and the rest takes care of itself the shout text line is brought to you by Carrie C buer attorney with the law offices of Francis M lro located 237 Main Street in Buffalo New York if you or someone you know is seriously injured give Carrie a call 71685 21234 or check out LR law.com all right Ryan let’s get to this next question we talked about the starting running back in this stable we got to talk about the depth here and we have a position battle on our hands Beyond James Cook for running back two heading into training camp Ray Davis the rookie you talked about him a little bit here Ty Johnson somebody that really came on strong last season play a little bit of what’s going to happen with me and tell me September 1st leading up to the first game who’s who ends up being running back too Ty Johnson uh this coaching staff especially sea mcder he seems to reward his veterans guys that have been in the system and he slow plays his rookies more times than not so I I’m not closing the door on Ray Davis but minus a really strong summer and preseason in which he shows that he can be trusted in Block he can be trusted to uh protect the football catch the football all of those intangibles I see it being Ty Johnson rewarding someone that came in last year late in the summer played in one preseason game gets put on the practice squad eventually makes the main roster and by the way looks great in doing so shows that he can run inside the tackles outside of the tackles catch the football uh block as well play on special teams he kind of checked every box that this coaching staff looks for in those uh Reserve running backs so opening the season I have Ty Johnson is running back number two what about you yeah I’m right there with you and I and I think the the ray Davis piece for me is there’s a lot of parts of his game that I think the bills like there’s a reason they went and got him in the fourth round but we know the history of this regime with rookie players and I just don’t know if you’re willing to mess around with you know the the math that that played out soti ly at the end of last season James Cook rb1 Ty Johnson rb2 I mean I I mentioned going back and watching the Chiefs game man with Ty Johnson was a great compliment to James Cook in there you know tough four five yard runs that keep the chains moving that keep drives moving that’s like to me one of the keys I mean listen Walter’s up there can you hear him barking up there for running back two Ray Davis needs a little bit more time to develop or or a little bit more time now could we get to train camp and could we see Ray Davis come on come on the pads come on and him start to really establish himself as a real VI viable option in the Run game and maybe eat into some of those snaps for Tai Johnson sure of course I just don’t think that that’s the odds on favor to be what happens here no I agree with that completely and I I will say Davis is unlike typical rookies in terms of his age he’s 23 uh he he has some rep under his belt he’s a little bit stronger a little bit bigger than a lot of uh rookie backs that come into this league so there’s a chance but based on everything we know about Shawn mcder and the way that he plays his rookies and slow plays them I think Johnson’s the odds on favorite the Davis thing is weird too because like I worry about rookies with the size of this Playbook and and how complicated they all talk about it being like for running backs it’s even harder because you have to spend I remember Devon single ter talking me about this years ago you got to spend time in the running back’s room the offensive line room the quarterbacks like you’re you’re constantly communicating with all of these different positions the checks at the line of scrimmage the UH responsibilities in pass blocking it’s there’s just so much that goes into being a viable player at this spot that I just think that to be able to watch Tai Johnson do it here at the beginning of the Season not put too much on his plate maybe focus a little bit more on special teams we’ll see and Tai Johnson play some special teams as well so we’ll see how that kind of works out and how much uh Davis can kind of assert himself in that department um but yeah I think we end up getting to week one and it’s it’s Tai Johnson here’s another question another part two of this though is Ray Davis rb2 by the time we get to December I’m gonna say yes I I think by that time he’s able to digest The Playbook uh he’s had multiple months to get comfortable with that multip practices where he’s been evaluated by this coaching staff some live game reps as maybe running back three where maybe he starts to outshine Ty Johnson a little bit he shows why they drafted him uh early on day three in this draft in terms of what he can do catching the ball running the ball blocking Etc and at that point he does unseat Tai Johnson as running back too so yes by the end of the season early December I do have him as running back too what do you think Matt I’m a little concerned for Davis that he already showed up on the injury report in the spring like all right how much is that going to be something that nags him as we get into the year and is he gonna be starting the season 100% like that’s just a little bit of a question mark it’s hard to be an NFL rookie it’s even harder when you’re dealing with an injury so we’ll we’ll track that we’ll probably get a better idea of what that is when we get to the start of training camp but the thing too that to consider is like Tai Johnson hasn’t been um a guy that’s consistently stayed healthy you know he was dinged up at the end of last year I thought gave way to to more latavius Murray than probably should have happened down the stretch because of how bang up he got and so that to me is is the race who can stay healthier over the course of the Season how quickly can Ray Davis Kind of assimilate into all of this can prove to the coaching staff that he understands everything uh no lapses out on the field and then you’re got have to watch it you know September October are there big mistakes in game are there situations where um you know there’s coaching points in game and you got to go back to the well we’re gonna get to our last question here go ahead what you’re kind of like can we can you pause real quick well Ryan funny enough in the middle of taping this thing and who ends up calling our good buddy Jean Baga from uh the fan in Rochester he had a hit there so you knock act it out we’re professional so we’re going to get we’re going to pick this thing up keep the train rolling depth is it a concern here because we talked so much about James Cook Tai Johnson a rookie in um Ray Davis Beyond that it’s darington Evans who I think is intrigued in his own way he had a really good preseason last year I mean this is a guy that’s kind of bounced around the league a little bit he was a former day two pick if I’m not mistaken uh maybe Dave three pick but he was behind Derrick Henry for a while there in Tennessee early on speed smaller kind of guy um and then Frank Gore Jr who I mean I put it in our our positional preview uh text out to the Insiders and I I just think it’s a very steep uphill climb for him to try to make this roster How concerned are you about this depth I’m not sure the depth is any worse now than it was one year ago at this time where they had an much older veteran in latavius Murray in here and uh I I think it’s going to be okay because of a player that we’ve already mentioned that isn’t a true running back but you throwing a Curtis Samuel into that mix in in terms of a guy that’s you know he had over 40 carries in 2020 with Joe Brady and Carolina and I think some of that had to do with Christian mcaffrey getting injured early That season but you’re gonna find ways to get him the ball you’re gonna find ways to get James Cook the ball they have some faith in Ty Johnson and Ray Davis was a guy that Brandon Bean really wanted to get based on that embedded series that we saw um a guy that they were very hot on is a person and a player so I think if you ask them they’re feeling pretty good going into this season about the running back depth and when you throw in the Curtis Samuel factor in it I think it’s a pretty decent running back room from top to bottom in terms of guys who could get regularly get carries for this offense and I think like latavius Murray still on the street right like he has not committed to retiring he’s somebody that you can maybe bring back and honestly the way it worked last year I felt like it would have been more beneficial to the bills had they brought him in as the Leonard forette maybe like flip them like forette was somebody you brought to camp and Murray somebody that you brought in because his first eight games Murray looked fresh he looked like he was a real weapon in the red zone and it just kind of faded over time he was less and less effective as the season went along and I’m not saying that he’s going to be any more effective this season maybe it is time for him to call it a career but if he’s hanging out for like maybe a playoff run in November if you’re not happy with the depth that’s an area you can go there’s still probably a bunch of names out there uh on the free agent Market that we could talk about um but that’s the one thing about this position is depth isn’t a concern only because there’s always going to be kind of darts that you could throw at that spot we’ve seen it year after year yeah absolutely there’s always guys that come in off the street and produce one called upon for teams in this league Murray could be a great practice squad option for that one of those veteran spots like you said if he’s open to that if the bills are open to that if they have any question marks after this training camping this summer so there’s always guys out there that you can add to the mix Frank Gore Jr does he remind you at all of uh Austin PRL like maybe a a handshake agreement where you know you’re you’re friendly with a family member you bring them in I don’t know it’s just like I don’t see an NFL player the borderline NFL player reminds me a little bit got something in the news the last couple weeks bronny James like it it kind of reminds me of that and I have all respect in the world for Frank Gore and Frank Gore Jr I mean he may come on and be a real player but at this stage after watching him in person over the couple weeks you don’t want to overreact to mini camp and in the spring I just I don’t see it there yeah and that’s fair and you know we’ll reassess once the pads come on but there was a reason that teams passed on him and you know you would think with Frank Gore’s name alone the 49ers might have shown interest or tried to take him uh later in the draft or udfa priority type player so he he went undrafted for a reason that’s not to say that he won’t ever emerge as an NFL player or contributor or depth type of player uh but like you said we need to see it before we believe it all right so that’s going to put a bow on the running back preview show here three big questions uh you can check out all the episodes in the series on all of our platforms YouTube um Facebook X for the video side uh Stitcher Apple Spotify all the audio platforms as well August 4th we’re coming to Dorado right at the uh near the end the closing uh of training camp we’ll be at Dorado on Park AV in Rochester uh we’re bringing Wing nuts out to Rochester for the second straight year live episode of shout Ryan it’s gonna be awesome yeah we cannot wait last year was a blast this year is going to be even better uh we’re going to have better weather I’m predicting it now we’re going to crush over 2,000 wings that day I have a good feeling Matt Wing nuts is going to come and and produce more Wings than ever before all right that’ll do it we’ll see you on the next one take care everybody

Matt Parrino and Ryan Talbot bring you their Buffalo Bills season preview series focusing on one position per day in the lead-up to the 2024 training camp. Today, the guys discuss the running back position and whether James Cook could elevate his game to superstar status to help replace Stefon Diggs. They also discuss the team’s depth at the position and whether rookie Ray Davis could emerge as a contributor in year one.

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