Derrick Henry or James Cook III: who should I start?

Where the draft room stands

Drafters have formed no consensus on Derrick Henry: he carries no ADP, and the board ranks him 5th overall on the rest of his evidence.

In 2QB drafts he goes at ADP 11.

Drafters have formed no consensus on James Cook III: he carries no ADP, and the board ranks him 187th overall on the rest of his evidence.

By format he goes standard: ADP 2; 2QB: ADP 13.

What the sportsbooks price

The player markets price Derrick Henry at 18.4 PPR points a game, built from 5 markets across 17 books. That is the 11th highest figure of the 183 players the books price.

No sportsbook has posted a season market for James Cook III, so the only market pricing him on this page is the draft room.

This season through Week 1

Through Week 1, Derrick Henry has been on the field for 54 percent of BAL snaps, taken 71 percent of the carries, drawn 4 percent of the targets and had 55 percent of the red zone chances.

He has taken 0 of the offence's 6 third down targets, had 2 of its 4 chances inside the five and seen 0 of its 4 two minute targets.

His 1 target have come 1.0 yards behind the line of scrimmage on average.

In Week 1 against IND he carried 24 times for 144 yards, caught 1 of 1 target for 19 yards and scored 3 touchdowns.

Through Week 1, James Cook III has been on the field for 72 percent of BUF snaps, taken 65 percent of the carries, drawn 14 percent of the targets and had 43 percent of the red zone chances.

He has taken 0 of the offence's 8 third down targets, had 0 of its 2 chances inside the five and seen 0 of its 6 two minute targets.

His 4 targets have come 1.0 yards behind the line of scrimmage on average.

In Week 1 against HOU he carried 13 times for 57 yards, caught 3 of 4 targets for 12 yards and did not score.

Their 2025 seasons

In 2025 Derrick Henry played 17 games and scored 279.5 PPR points, 16.4 a game, finishing RB8.

He carried 307 times for 1595 yards and 16 touchdowns, and caught 15 of 21 targets for 150 more yards.

That came to 18.1 carries a game at 5.2 yards a carry and 0.9 catches a game.

He was on the field for 54 percent of the snaps in the games he played.

In 2025 James Cook III played 17 games and scored 302.2 PPR points, 17.8 a game, finishing RB6.

He carried 309 times for 1621 yards and 12 touchdowns, and caught 33 of 40 targets for 291 more yards.

That came to 18.2 carries a game at 5.2 yards a carry and 1.9 catches a game.

He was on the field for 60 percent of the snaps in the games he played.

Both were available for 17 games that season.

Head to head

In 2025 James Cook III scored 17.8 PPR points a game and Derrick Henry 16.4, 1.3 a game between them.

Derrick Henry finished RB8 that year and James Cook III RB6.

James Cook III had 2 more carries than Derrick Henry, 309 to 307.

James Cook III had 18 more catches than Derrick Henry, 33 to 15.

This season James Cook III holds the bigger snap share, 72 percent against 54 percent.

This season Derrick Henry holds the bigger share of the carries, 71 percent against 65 percent.

Byes and availability

Derrick Henry is off in Week 13 and James Cook III in Week 7, so either can cover the other's bye.

What would change the answer

James Cook III has no posted market, so one half of the evidence on this page exists for only one of them.