The Buffalo Bills entered the season with some questions surrounding their ground game after the departure of running back Devin Singletary in free agency.
But it seems that the Bills may have found a solution: second-year halfback James Cook.
Cook broke through with a big performance in Buffalo’s Week 2 win over the Las Vegas Raiders, carrying the ball 17 times for 123 yards while also logging four catches for 36 yards.
The performance certainly caught the attention of legendary Bills running back Thurman Thomas, who was thrilled to see Cook make an impact last weekend.
“I just love the fact that he was there, got over 100 yards, and really came out,” Thomas said on this week’s episode of One Bills Live. “He snapped off a big run and I was like, ‘This is it!’.”
If anyone knows about impressive running, it’s Thomas, who spent 12 of his 13 NFL seasons with the Bills and made five Pro Bowls while earning a pair of First-Team All-Pro selections. Between 1989 and 1996, Thomas registered eight straight 1,000-yard seasons. He was later elected to the Hall of Fame.
The outing by Cook came on the heels of a rather mediocre game for the youngster in Week 1, when he carried the ball 12 times for 46 yards in a 22-16 overtime loss to the New York Jets.
James Cook, who played his collegiate football at the University of Georgia, was selected by the Bills in the second round of the 2022 NFL Draft.
The 23-year-old played in every game during his rookie campaign, totaling 507 yards and a couple of touchdowns while averaging a robust 5.7 yards per carry as the No. 2 back behind Singletary.
Buffalo will aim to jump over the .500 mark when it heads on the road to battle the Washington Redskins on Sunday.
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