I previously looked at running backs the market is, in my opinion, irrationally exuberant about. Now I’m doing the same thing with the backs who are receiving irrational pessimism.As I wrote previously, try to get the player who the market is irrationally pessimistic about as close to that pessimistic price as possible. Rankings are not recommendations for what you should pay — that should always be ADP. Rather, they are a way to assess the expected value of the price you pay.I used NFFC ADP in 91 July drafts through July 20. And I’ve included where I’m ranking the RBs in question in my subscription product. I always show my work so you can agree or disagree with the data and thus my ranking relative to consensus, which will be displayed as (ADP/my ranking).James Cook (ADP RB6/my RB3)I have Cook ahead of Christian McCaffrey. I’m not knocking CMC, but I can’t draft someone who ran so badly last year and showed signs of aging out of relevance even though the 49ers managed games as if their goal was to get McCaffrey the most fantasy points possible. Cook does not get anything close to CMC’s volume and barely gets 50% of snaps, but he’s in his prime and in a high-scoring offense. Last year, Cook had 39 carries of 10+ yards, trailing only De’Von Achane (40). Cook was RB6 last year after finishing RB11 in 2024. I’m not saying he should be the third player off the board, unless you play in an RB-heavy format where you can only play two WRs and a Flex. But I have to put him ahead of some others because he doesn’t have age, offensive line or QB worries. The Bills were fourth in fantasy points for RBs and seventh in passing points to their RBs. Will Cook be used more as a receiver in 2026? Possibly, though Ty Johnson is even better than Cook out of the backfield (yards per target). Consider this is a floor ranking for Cook.