The fantasy football world was certainly paying attention to the futures of running backs Dalvin Cook and Ezekiel Elliott after they were released by their longtime teams this past offseason.
Cook, 28, had spent his first seven seasons with the Minnesota Vikings and was coming off his fourth consecutive Pro Bowl campaign when he was released. Elliott, also 28, was released by the Dallas Cowboys after seven equally successful seasons in Big D.
Within mere hours of one another earlier in August, Cook and Elliott latched on with new teams. Cook inked a one-year, $7 million contract with the New York Jets. Meanwhile, Zeke signed a one-year pact with the division-rival New England Patriots.
Both teams had RB1 options before adding a veteran to the mix. However, depth was an issue prior to these moves becoming official.
A lot of the focus has been on how Cook and Elliott will impact their new teams on the field. There is a lot to look at on that front. However, we wanted to check in on these signings through a fantasy football lens. Let’s do that below.
Dalvin Cook as a fantasy football handcuff to Breece Hall
In what was a nice little coincidence for the Jets, second year running back Breece Hall was activated off the Physically Unable to Perform (PUP) List one day after they signed Cook. After what was a tremendous start to his rookie season, Hall went down to a torn ACL back in Week 7. It’s been a long way back for the youngster.
The Jets’ brass has made it clear that Hall’s injury and rehab played no role in the signing of Cook. However, they are going to take it slow with youngster out of the gate.
“We’re going to take our time with him, like I’ve said from the beginning,” Jets head coach Robert Saleh told reporters. “If you ask him, he’s ready to go now. And he’s champing at the bit and wants to get in there with his teammates. But to have him back out there in pads, man he looks freakin’ good.”
Related: Dalvin Cook and the top-10 NFL RBs of 2023
In his first six full games as a rookie last season before that Week 7 injury, Hall averaged 13 rush attempts and 16 total targets per outing. That span also saw him average north of 100 yards and 0.7 touchdowns per game.
While Cook was brought in to be a complement to Hall behind Aaron Rodgers, his history tells us a completely different story. We’re talking about a player who has ranked as a RB1 in three of the past four seasons, finishing in the top five two times.
Throughout his career in Minnesota, Cook averaged north of 20 touches per outing. He more than did his thing with those touches.
- Dalvin Cook career averages: 999 rushing yards, 37 receptions, 1,298 total yards, 9 TD
If you’re partaking in a fantasy football draft here in the coming weeks, the best bet would be to take Hall earlier and handcuff him with Cook. Another option would be to prevent another team from teaming Cook up with Hall.
Related: Position-by-position fantasy football rankings
Ezekiel Elliott as a short-yardage option for the New England Patriots
Entering his third NFL season, Rhamondre Stevenson is clearly RB1 in New England. In fact, he’s getting a ton of play leading up to fantasy football draft season.
However, there is somewhat of an issue now that Elliott is in the mix with the Patriots. Stevenson scored six touchdowns on 279 touches a season ago (one per 46.5). Back in 2021, he was handcuffed to an extent by former Patriots back Damien Harris (15 touchdowns on 220 touches).
Last season saw Harris struggle getting into the red zone (three scores on 123 attempts). It led to red-zone struggles under second-year quarterback Mac Jones. New England sought to rectify this by signing Elliott.
It makes sense given Zeke’s knack for getting into the end zone. Despite a career-worst season in 2022 (876 rushing yards, 3.8 yards per attempt), Elliott still got into the end zone 12 times. That represented one score per 21 touches. It’s similar to the numbers we saw from him in 2021 despite the emergence of Tony Pollard in Dallas.
We’re not saying Elliott is a viable fantasy option in standard/PPR 12-team leagues. Rather, his presence in New England should push Stevenson down some in upcoming fantasy football drafts.