Brad Edwards shares why Florida State RB Dalvin Cook is the most fun player to watch in college football. (1:07)

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- Ryan Hoefeld has opened holes for Dalvin Cook and tried clogging them up on Leonard Fournette.

The Florida State center is from New Orleans and played against LSU's running back and the Heisman Trophy front runner.

"I'm obviously going to go with my guy," Hoefeld said smiling when asked which player is better.

"… They're both explosive backs, both love the game, both compete, both humble. They both have a lot of the same attributes."

Heading into Week 8, both Cook and Fournette are among the top four on the ESPN Heisman Watch Experts' Poll.

"Dalvin doesn't take a back seat to anybody," said Seminoles coach Jimbo Fisher, who's also been very complimentary of Fournette.

"Dalvin [Cook] doesn't take a back seat to anybody," Seminoles coach Jimbo Fisher said. Mark Wallheiser/AP Photo

The last two weeks, however, Cook has been working with an uncooperative hamstring. He suffered a hamstring strain in the first quarter against Wake Forest on Oct. 3, and he missed some time against Miami after reinjuring it on what was going to be a long touchdown. This past Saturday, he exited the game twice after tweaking his hamstring.

Yet since pulling his hamstring, Cook has rushed 44 times for 385 yards, an average of 8.75 yards per carry. That's actually better than his average before the injury, which is 8.64 yards.

Considering he's been playing at less than 100 percent, he was asked how much better he can be in the second half of the season. He answered, "The world will see."

For the season, Cook has 955 rushing yards, 131 receiving yards and 11 total total touchdowns. Those numbers, coupled with No. 9 Florida State's undefeated record, has Cook squarely in the Heisman hunt.

"I just go to work man," Cook said when asked about the coveted bronze miniature. "Eventually everything will pay off. I'm not gonna think down the road."

This season, running backs are reinserting themselves back into the conversation for the Heisman, which has become a quarterback's award over the last 15 years. Cook, Fournette, Ezekiel Elliott, Derrick Henry, Devontae Booker and Nick Chubb before his injury were all viable candidates. Many of them might have even been the favorite at one point.

Statistically, Cook is as good as any of them. He is averaging 41.55 yards on each of his 11 touchdowns. The next best Power 5 running back with at least six touchdowns is Purdue's Markell Jones at 28.83. Only Notre Dame receiver Will Fuller (44.63) and USC receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster (42.14) are averaging more yards on their scores among Power 5 players with at least six touchdowns.

Among Power 50 running backs with at least 50 carries, Cook is tops nationally in yards per carry (8.68). He's second in yards per game with 159, but he's the only running back among the top seven averaging less than 20 rushes per game.

He's either first or second in rushes of at least 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80 and 90 yards. On rushes to the outside, he leads the nation with 10.81 yards per carry.

Included among the rush defenses Cook has faced is Boston College, the No. 1 unit nationally. When subtracting the rushing yardage lost from sacks, the average yards-per-carry rank of the defenses Cook has faced is 60th. Three have been among the top 40. For comparison, Fournette's average opponent is ranked 84th, and the best defense is No. 40 Mississippi State.

The offensive line has not done a great job keeping defenders off of Cook at the line of scrimmage, so Cook has done much of his work on his own. He is 17th in yards per carry before contact (4.18). On inside rushes, he's 73rd in yards per carry before contact (1.38), more than 4 yards worse than the national leader. However, he's first in yards per carry after contact on inside rushes at 4.83, which is almost a full yard better than second-best LJ Scott.

On all rushes, Cook is averaging 4.5 yards after contact. Next best is Baylor's Shock Linwood at 3.53 yards per rush after contact.

"It's all a mindset with me, just having that drive that I can't be stopped and that's just it," Cook said. "You go in a zone."

What does Fisher think when he hears some of those numbers?

"Do it again next week," he said.

If he does it enough times, he'll be in New York City this December for the Heisman Trophy presentation.