Buccaneers 2022 NFL Draft RB target more than a name
By Rob Leeds
The Buccaneers passing up on Dalvin Cook caused some fans to lose their minds when it happened. James Cook is a great new option for more than his family name.
Some Buccaneers fans lost their minds when the team passed on drafting running back Dalvin Cook early in the 2017 NFL Draft. In the grand scheme of things, perhaps Cook would have been better over the course of a career than O.J. Howard has been, but this remains a moot point.
Bucs fans wanted Cook so bad that they see his younger brother James as a can’t-miss option in 2022 on name alone.
While the end result is still sound; the Bucs could use a back like James, the reasoning goes far beyond sharing a name with one of the top backs in the league right now.
As it currently stands in the class of 2022, James Cook looks like the best pass-catching back in the group. This status has Cook looking like a top-five pick at the position, an area where the Bucs would love to get some reliability for the future.
Leonard Fournette is looking like a do-everything guy for the next three years, but Tampa still needs to make it a priority to find another long-term option outside of Ke’Shawn Vaughn.
Assuming the Bucs make the smart decision and pass on one of the top guys in the first or second rounds, Cook looks like a perfect fit for the Buccaneers based on his talents in the passing game and his value/availability.
Cook would give Tom Brady yet another quality option out of the backfield while still being able to threaten a little as a runner. Don’t expect anything on Dalvin’s level between the tackles or even around the outside, but James could eclipse his brother as a receiver, and that is a more than valuable talent in the modern NFL.
Again, Bucs fans are going to need to get past the name when they look at James Cook, but it is still undeniable that he would be a great fit in this offense.
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