When you lead the NFL in rushing, you earn the right to have your future discussed. That's exactly where we find ourselves with Buffalo Bills running back James Cook, the reigning rushing champion who quietly anchored one of the league's most efficient ground games in 2025.

Let's be honest—there's been almost no conversation about Buffalo's running back room this offseason. It's the team's only completely unchanged position group from last year. No additions, no departures (unless you count fullback Reggie Gilliam heading east). That silence is deafening for a player coming off a historic season.

In 2025, as the Bills' passing offense worked overtime to approach the productivity of previous Josh Allen-led seasons, Buffalo leaned heavily on Cook. And he delivered in spectacular fashion, claiming the rushing crown with authority. His 309 carries marked the most by a Bills runner since Travis Henry in 2003 and ranked ninth-most in a single season in team history. His 95.4 rushing yards per game stands alone in fourth place all-time for Buffalo.

But what's done is done. Now it's time to look ahead. How effective should we expect Cook to be in 2026 after shouldering over 300 carries, racking up more than 1,600 yards, and scoring 12 rushing touchdowns last regular season?

To find answers, we turned to recent history. We compiled running back seasons since 2020 that most closely mirror where Cook stands now—entering his Age 27 season after earning second-team All-Pro honors. We factored in age, career workload, and productivity to find the best comparisons.

Why only go back to 2020? The running back position has transformed dramatically over the past decade. Using examples from mid-2010s ball-carriers wouldn't reflect today's game. So we focused on the most relevant, recent data available.

Here's what we found when looking at the five most similar running back seasons to Cook's current trajectory—and what they tell us about what Buffalo's star back might deliver in 2026.