5 breakout fantasy football stars to pick up for Week 14

2. Top Fantasy Football Pickups For Week 14 – Buffalo Bills RB James Cook

It’s easy to forget about the Thursday night games when you are considering your waiver wire options on Monday morning. Week 13’s Thursday game, which saw the Buffalo Bills dominate the New England Patriots, spotlighted an interesting possibility at running back with James Cook having a strong performance.

Cook actually out-carried Devin Singletary in the contest by one rush and gained 13 more yards, which resulted in a solid 4.6 yards per carry clip. The Bills also got Cook involved in the passing game as he caught all six of his targets for an additional 41 yards, a positive development in an area that Singletary has dominated for most of the season.

It’s too early to say for certain whether Cook has forced a 50-50 timeshare in the Buffalo backfield but he has received double-digit carries in two of the Bills’ last three games. The brutal winter weather in Buffalo could also incentivize the Bills to incorporate the run more down the stretch, which would make Cook a huge asset for teams in need of help at the running back position.

Cook is rostered in 23 percent of Yahoo leagues and is worthy of a speculative pickup ahead of a Week 14 matchup against the Jets, who have shown some vulnerability to shifty backs in open space. Given the amount of teams on bye in Week 14 it would make a ton of sense to gamble on Cook as an RB2 with the potential for huge playoff upside.