Samaje Perine

Perine rarely will run away from anyone and isn't as bruising as one might expect of a 236-pound back, but his fundamentals are good and he has a polished passing-down skill set that makes it easy for a playcaller to leave him on the field. Perine had 65 catches for 483 yards and five touchdowns on 82 targets (79.3 percent catch rate, 5.9 YPT) the last two years in Cincinnati, often subbing Joe Mixon on passing downs. And while not a violent runner, Perine can inflict pain in blitz pickup, which might have been one of the main draws for new coach Sean Payton when the Broncos signed Perine to a two-year, $7.5 million deal in March. With starter Javonte Williams uncertain for Week 1 following last year's ACL/LCL injury, Perine gives the Broncos a sturdy stopgap option who can take on a three-down role if the circumstances call for it. Even if Williams is ready for the opener, Perine will have a significant role and might even get more touches than his teammate early on.

Perine bounced through a couple organizations after entering the league as a fourth-round pick in 2017, eventually finding a home in Cincinnati. He's played 16 games for the Bengals in each of the last two seasons, and he emerged as a useful pass-catching option last year while spelling Joe Mixon on both early and late downs. Perine is a physical runner who doesn't offer much in the way of elusiveness, but that makes him an effective complement to the more nimble Mixon, especially now that the Bengals trust both backs on all downs. There's a sliver of upside for Perine in the backup role if he sees a bigger share of the workload at the goal line, but his real path to production is still if Mixon misses time, in which case 2021 sixth-round pick Chris Evans likely would be the top competition for snaps. Evans was mostly used for his pass- catching skills both in college and as a rookie, meaning the 240-pound Perine is more likely to be tasked with a significant role on the ground if the Bengals don't have Mixon at any point.

Joe Mixon remains firmly atop the Bengals' running back depth chart, but with Giovani Bernard now with Tampa Bay, Perine will look to move up in the pecking order and serve as Mixon's top understudy this season. Perine's style is much different than Bernard's of course, as he offers size and power rather than agility and receiving skills. Fortunately for the Bengals, Mixon is a well-rounded back who can be trusted for any down and distance, giving the team flexibility in terms of which snaps the backup handles. Perine was an effective runner in limited action last year, taking 63 carries for 301 yards (4.8 YPC) and three TDs, including a 13-95-2 rushing line Week 16 at Houston. The other competitor for backup work in Cincinnati is rookie sixth-round pick Chris Evans.

Perine is back where he started 2019, as a waiver claim by the Bengals from another organization. In 2019, it was as a late cut from the Redskins, this year it was an April move from the Dolphins. When he was with the Bengals last year, Perine saw just five offensive snaps and no carries. It would take a string of events to put him in position to change that in 2020 - perhaps a Joe Mixon holdout or a decision to cut Gio Bernard for cap reasons, and that might not even be enough.

Perine spent 2018 buried on the depth chart and may be headed for more of the same in 2019. In fact, he's no lock to even land a spot on the 53-man roster, as Washington already has two power runners in Derrius Guice and Adrian Peterson, and pass-catching back Chris Thompson is also a valuable piece of the offense. Perine would have a better chance to compete for a meaningful role on early downs if he were to land with a different team before Week 1.

A fourth-round pick last year, Perine took over lead duties when Rob Kelley was banged up in the second half of the year, immediately making a strong impression by rumbling for 217 yards and a touchdown over a two-game stretch against the Saints and Giants. His role shrank after that as he had trouble staying healthy. At 5-11, 236, Perine runs with plenty of power, and he also showed more aptitude in the passing game than expected, as his 22 catches were more than double what he hauled in his final year at Oklahoma. His lack of speed and elusiveness make it difficult for him to be effective without a big workload to wear down the opposition. With second-round pick Derrius Guice suffering a torn ACL in the first week of preseason action, Perine now finds himself in a competition for carries with Kelley and 33-year-old Adrian Peterson.

Previously just the answer to a trivia question ("Who broke Melvin Gordon's NCAA single-game rushing record one week after he set it?"), Perine will get a chance to make a name for himself in Washington, as he fits the physical RB mold the franchise has looked for since the days of Alfred Morris, if not John Riggins. At 5-10, 235, Perine has the build to handle a big workload and runs with plenty of power, making him difficult to bring down on first contact. His lack of speed or elusiveness make him purely an option between the tackles in the NFL, but that downhill style could make him a weapon at the goal line, an area where Washington struggled last year. Robert Kelley tops the depth chart heading into 2017, but if he can't repeat his success as a rookie, Perine could claim the lion's share of early down work.