James Cook III or Mike Washington Jr.: who should I start?
Neither man carries a posted season price right now, so this is their usage this season and their last full season's numbers, side by side.
Updated Sep 20, 2026 at 12:26 PM ET
Neither is in the consensus draft sample any more, and no sportsbook prices either of them this season, so there is no current market order to give between these two. What follows is what each of them has already done.
More fantasy football tools and rankings, all priced from the same board.
RB51 · BUF · bye 7
2025 vs anytime td line 9-8
- Overall rank
- 184
- Draft pick
- no consensus
- Tier
- 10
RB54 · LV · bye 13
- Overall rank
- 206
- Draft pick
- no consensus
- Tier
- 10
The gap
- Pick differencenot comparable without a consensus on both
- Board size236 draftable players
Consensus average draft position has stopped updating on these two, so the figures that depend on it are left out rather than printed stale. The verdict line above restates the sportsbooks' price and nothing else.
Where the draft room stands
Drafters have formed no consensus on James Cook III: he carries no ADP, and the board ranks him 184th overall on the rest of his evidence.
By format he goes standard: ADP 2; 2QB: ADP 13.
Drafters have formed no consensus on Mike Washington Jr.: he carries no ADP, and the board ranks him 206th overall on the rest of his evidence.
In 2QB drafts he goes at ADP 177.
What the sportsbooks 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.
No sportsbook has posted a season market for Mike Washington Jr., so the only market pricing him on this page is the draft room.
Neither carries a posted market, so this page rests on the draft room and on what the two have already done.
This season through Week 1
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.
Through Week 1, Mike Washington Jr. has been on the field for 19 percent of LV snaps, taken 21 percent of the carries, drawn 0 percent of the targets and had 8 percent of the red zone chances.
He has taken 0 of the offence's 8 third down targets and seen 0 of its 4 two minute targets.
In Week 1 against MIA he carried 7 times for 41 yards and did not score.
Their 2025 seasons
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.
Mike Washington Jr. is a rookie, so there is no NFL season behind him to price him against.
Head to head
This season James Cook III holds the bigger snap share, 72 percent against 19 percent.
This season James Cook III holds the bigger share of the carries, 65 percent against 21 percent.
Byes and availability
James Cook III is off in Week 7 and Mike Washington Jr. in Week 13, so either can cover the other's bye.
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