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00:00Well, that's an interesting one, forgetting like just sort of the – what's the word?
00:10The words, you know, forgetting like the answer to the question.
00:14That's an interesting one where you really could look at it either way.
00:19Is there some – how serious a risk, but some – anything, any kind of level of risk in the
00:30kind of workload Cook just had repeating?
00:34Is that something that the Bills would want to avoid?
00:36How do you do that?
00:38What Brady said about last year, one less year of workload on him, and you're contending.
00:45Like, I don't remember myself sitting here every day last year, but they really have to take that guy out.
00:51I mean, it wasn't really like that.
00:53Right.
00:54But as he gets older, that would become more and more of a question you'd want to ask yourself.
01:01And, you know, they're in – now I'm going to go back to the other point.
01:05They're in his way.
01:07Brady tells you everything.
01:08He tells you that Cook's too good.
01:10Last year we couldn't really take him out, but we'd love to get the other guys more work.
01:14You've got to pick something.
01:15Yeah, you're in charge.
01:17Yeah, you're in charge.
01:18You've got to pick something.
01:19And I wonder if this year is one where – I mean, if there are blowouts, that's easy.
01:23Right, right.
01:24But if what probably happens is you're in a pressure cooker for 18 weeks and you've got close games, they
01:30have a tough schedule,
01:32would they intentionally sit Cook for, you know, a drive here and there more often than they would have last
01:41year?
01:41I wonder just how detailed – I'll bet it's pretty detailed – the data is on a thing like that.
01:50Like wear and tear, number of touches, number of hits.
01:54Like they've got a team of analysts over there.
01:57I would imagine your – someone's off-season job is probably already done would be to like tally – like
02:06go through like how many – different categories of hits.
02:10You can delineate them any way you want, but there's probably a way that you do that and try to,
02:16I don't know, in some way – I don't want to say predict how much damage you expect him to
02:24have incurred on him,
02:25how much, you know, just the toll the hits will take, but you've got years of running backs, you've got
02:32years of information and how their careers extended or didn't
02:37or how their season's following a season, you know, how does that go?
02:42Like is there – after all this workload, this was a thing with Barkley going into last year, right?
02:48Like he carried – he was just such a horse for Philadelphia and had the big year and the 2
02:53,000 yards and all the stuff and like what's going to happen?
02:58There was a lot of people that were telling you like fade Barkley this year.
03:01It's the year after a big year like that and now maybe the same sort of thought should be, you
03:08know, applied to James Cook.
03:09Well, Barkley, to that example, in 2024 had 345 carries.
03:17So what's that, like 22 per game, something like that, 16 games.
03:22And 33 catches plus – so 378 for touches plus 104 more in the playoffs.
03:31He led the playoffs in attempts, yards, touchdowns as a running back.
03:36So I'm over 500, I think.
03:39And then last year, Barkley's efficiency took a serious dip.
03:44He went from 5.8 yards per carry in 2024 to 4.1.
03:49And in the playoffs, I mean, they went right out and he had one game.
03:55So, you know, one example, Barkley has had a longer career than Cook.
04:01Sure.
04:02Cook is about three and a half years away from Barkley's touches.
04:07And here's Barkley, who right away was drafted to be a franchise back.
04:11Cook was not.
04:12I mean, Cook was a quote sub back.
04:14And, you know, he's got somewhat less mileage on him because of – like last year was his first really
04:21big year in terms of touches.
04:22Even how he was used in college.
04:24Like he was not used like Saquon Barkley was used in college.
04:28That matters to me.
04:29Yeah, it should.
04:31But all of that is just – there's a lot that I think goes into it.
04:36It's hardly, I think, a decision that they should or I want to say would.
04:42I just don't think – although the way Brady's talking there is like, well, you know, he was just running
04:47so hot.
04:47We just kept – I don't think you want to operate that way.
04:50I don't think you want to leave it to the – I don't know, the vibes the coach is feeling
04:55about whether the guy's, you know, at his peak right now.
04:58We've got to keep feeding him.
05:00I think you want to be careful about overworking someone because, you know, oftentimes in sports the moment you realize
05:07you've been – you know, there's bad luck.
05:08And then there's just, you know, maybe you're asking too much of a guy.
05:13So I would expect them to go pretty hard on trying to figure out where that sweet spot is and
05:21maybe, you know, after a heavy year like last year, see if you can't spell him a little more often
05:30with Ty Johnson.
05:32Kind of like we thought it would be last year.
05:34But, of course, it didn't materialize.
05:36I mean, his touches, his carries, his receptions have been around the same.
05:40I think he had .309 for carries and .33 in the regular season.
05:44I don't have the playoffs stuff in front of me.
05:46I do.
05:48So –
05:49He had four catches in the playoffs.
05:50Okay.
05:51I just – I think you want to be careful.
05:54Just because he proved he could do it last year, it's cumulative.
06:00There's another year here, and, you know, I doubt he's feeling the aches and pains and the wear and tear
06:06from last season.
06:08But as soon as you start getting hit again, like I just think there's – you know, the odometer, you
06:13know, just keeps ticking, and eventually there's a breaking point.
06:18So I would – I know I thought this last year, and it turned out to be dead wrong.
06:24I didn't think they would change how they used him, but they did, and he ended up leading the league
06:28in rushing.
06:30I think that's a lot to ask two years in a row.
06:33Two years ago, they clinched the AFC East, if I remember right, December 1st.
06:39That's where they really did have – but they're playing for the one.
06:42I mean, the Bills, this isn't really that surprising to any team, but they haven't been able to sort of
06:49cakewalk in, you know?
06:50Like, they've had to grind some of these years especially.
06:54And last year was that.
06:55Last year they were in second place.
06:58So they're playing New England late.
07:00They beat them.
07:00They're keeping their hopes alive for the one seed.
07:04I mean, Denver ends up getting that.
07:05New England's the two.
07:07What can you do?
07:08What do you want to hear?
07:10Okay, well, here we are, everybody.
07:1311-4, a game out or tied.
07:16One seed is possible.
07:18This, this, and this have to happen, but we're favored.
07:21But we're going to sit James Cook.
07:23Like, you don't want to hear that.
07:25Nobody's going to want to hear that.
07:26The coach is kind of – this doesn't always have to be the case, but here's Brady who's new.
07:32He's not going to take James Cook out for Ty Johnson or Ray Davis just because, like, he's thinking about
07:38where Cook is going to be in three years.
07:40Brady's not going to do that.
07:42I mean, maybe Andy Reid would.
07:44Maybe somebody who's got, like, all the security you could have.
07:48Yeah, that's a good point.
07:49And just sort of take it easy with that, but –
07:53That's why I'm saying I think – I mean, he can choose to ignore it, but there should be –
07:59like, the data should dictate what you do there.
08:02And I know it's predictive.
08:04It's not, you know, it's not factual.
08:06Like, you know, like, oh, well, this one more carry, this is the problem.
08:11You know, there's no smoking gun like that.
08:14But, again, there's decades of data available to analyze running backs and their peak efficiency and all of that.
08:23And I don't think I want the head coach just, again, sort of whimsically, ah, he's our best guy.
08:31Get him in there.
08:32Like, I can't take him out right now.
08:34I think you want to be a little more careful than that.
08:38So we'll see how that shakes out.
08:42But it was pretty – I don't think I could get to shocking, but it was definitely surprising that his
08:48usage went as high up as it went.
08:51It worked so well.
08:51Because, frankly, it was something that I think it was a reason why I wasn't crazy about the extension because
08:56I didn't think he could handle more work.
08:58But he did.
09:01And so, you know, maybe they think they'll just – you know, you're right to say they don't care what
09:06kind of shape they leave him in.
09:08Like, he got his payday, and they might want to just, you know, ride him as hard as they want
09:15for as long as he'll last.
09:17Maybe that's their methodology.
09:19I think that's short-sighted, but that could be it.
09:22It just reminds me of talking about Allen and his rushing and how careful do you want to be.
09:30Who has more career rushes, Cook or Allen?
09:38I'm going to say Cook.
09:39Allen by 29.
09:42Wow.
09:43Longer career, but Allen has had – he has averaged 116 rushes per year for his career and 10 touchdowns.
09:53All right.
09:54Well, that'll get you there.
09:55Right.
09:55I don't think he has as many catches.
09:58In fact, he has one.
10:03And he has the one against San Francisco.
10:05That was not a catch, but that's not – that doesn't count as a catch.
10:07Yeah.
10:08He has the one – is it that Arizona game where Brown or somebody threw him a pass?
10:14Allen?
10:16One receiving touch.
10:17One receiving touch.
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