Will Samaje Perine Have An Expanded Role In The Broncos Offense? Fantasy Football Outlook

Will Samaje Perine be the lead back in Denver? Is Javonte Williams healthy for the start of 2023? Read the 2023 fantasy football outlook.

Veteran running back Samaje Perine is entering his seventh NFL season. After spending the majority of his past four seasons in Cincinnati behind Joe Mixon, Perine signed a two-year deal with the Denver Broncos this offseason.

The former Oklahoma Sooner joins a backfield that is severely lacking behind Javonte Williams, who is coming off of a torn ACL. He is the clear-cut RB2, with the potential to be the RB1 if Williams struggles in his return from the ACL injury.

Perine’s most productive season was his rookie year in Washington, where he ran for 603 yards and a touchdown with 182 receiving yards and a score through the air. Can he surpass those numbers in his seventh season?

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What Did Samaje Perine Accomplish In 2022?

Perine played behind Joe Mixon over the course of his time in Cincinnati. In 2022, he started two games in relief of Mixon and was productive in both outings.

He carried the ball 17 times for 58 yards and a touchdown along with four receptions for 35 yards against Tennesse in Week 12, and followed up with 21 rush attempts for 106 yards and 6 catches for 49 yards against Kansas City in Week 13.

Perine has been a rotational player since being drafted and has not had more than 394 rushing yards in a season since his rookie year. That could easily change this year with the way Denver’s depth chart currently shakes out.

Will Samaje Perine Have An Expanded Role In Denver's Backfield?

As it stands right now the Broncos have Javonte Williams, Samaje Perine, Tony Jones Jr., Damarea Crockett, Tyler Badie, and Jacques Patrick at the running back position. Beyond Williams and Perine, none of these players have ever shown anything that makes us believe they can shoulder a weekly backfield role.

With Williams coming off of a torn ACL, there is no telling when he will be ready to return to the field. We saw J.K. Dobbins come off of the same injury last season and was never quite himself with a gap of missed time in the middle of the year.

While we still have a full offseason ahead of us and Denver is more likely than not to add to their backfield, Perine is currently in a position where he should have the highest usage of his career since his rookie season where he started eight games in Washington.

Last season we saw Latavius Murray and Marlon Mack churn out startable weeks in the Denver offense, which was the worst offense in the league. With Sean Payton at the helm, there is nowhere to go but up. Whoever is in the backfield any given week will warrant at least weekly flex value with the upside for more, and there is no indication right now that that won’t be Perine.

Monitor the situation over the offseason, as running back situations can change with the snap of a finger, but with the health of Williams being a question mark and with no more veterans on the roster, drafting Perine is a good bet to take at this moment.

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