The Buffalo Bills were looking to grab a running back early in 2022 NFL Draft. So, with the 63rd pick in the second round, they selected James Cook from the University of Georgia.
Last year was Cook’s most productive season — he had 728 rushing yards, seven touchdowns and 284 receiving yards with four touchdowns. In the NCAA national championship game, he led Georgia in rushing with 77 yards on six carries and set the record for the longest run in a championship game (67 yards). Cook’s ability to catch in the open field and make guys miss at the line of scrimmage was a perfect fit for the pass-first Bills.
Bills GM Brandon Beane, when asked about his new running back: “This was a guy that really stood out to us with the ball in his hands. You can split him out, he can run routes similar to a receiver, obviously he’s a good guy to hand the ball to in the backfield.”
Let’s dive deeper into the film to help figure out why Cook is a perfect scheme fit for the Bills!
Trust in your backfield
Not only was the Bills backfield underwhelming in the playoffs, but they also didn’t provide any help throughout the season. In each loss the team had, the backfield only reached 70 rushing yards in two of them. The Bills totaled 2209 yards on the ground this season and Josh Allen had 763 of them.
In their 9-6 loss against the Jacksonville Jaguars, Buffalo’s backfield was only able to get 22 yards on the ground. In the clip below, there were five minutes to go in the fourth quarter and the Bills were down by three. Instead of handing it off to the running back, Allen decides to keep it and the play ends in a turnover.
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If the offense isn’t able to have success in the run game, that affects the play-action and any offense pass-play sets made to deceive the…
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