Fantasy football managers got a bit of a surprise when Denver Broncos RB Samaje Perine scored 13.6 fantasy points against a stingy Cleveland Browns defense, which could have fantasy managers reconsidering their weekly expectations for Perine, Javonte Williams, and Jaleel McLaughlin on a weekly basis as we approach the fantasy playoffs.
How aggressively should you target Perine on your waiver wire in Week 13?
Should Samaje Perine Be a Fantasy Waiver Wire Add in Week 13?
The production from the Broncos’ backfield has been a bit all over the place throughout the 2023 NFL season.
Need proof? Here is the highest-scoring fantasy back in Denver through their first 11 games of the season in PPR formats.
Week 1: Perine
Week 2: Williams
Week 3: Williams
Week 4: McLaughlin
Week 5: McLaughlin
Week 6: Williams
Week 7: Williams
Week 8: Williams
Week 9: BYE
Week 10: Williams
Week 11: Perine
Week 12: Perine
Williams appeared to be running away with the leading role in this Broncos’ backfield with four straight weeks of being Denver’s highest-scoring fantasy RB. However, in the last two weeks, Perine has managed to string together consecutive games with 13+ fantasy points in PPR formats.
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Many fantasy managers likely thought Perine was being completely phased out of the backfield when he failed to see a single carry back in Week 6 against the Kansas City Chiefs and immediately followed up that outing with four straight games with fewer than three carries. Yet, his seven carries against the Browns on Sunday was the highest amount he has seen since the season opener.
Another interesting stat is that Perine actually leads all Broncos RBs with 33 receptions this season. For those of you who recall his time with the Cincinnati Bengals can certainly speak to his capabilities as a pass catcher after catching 38 passes last season.
2023 Broncos RB Stats
Williams: 166 total touches for 669 yards and two TDs
McLaughlin: 66 total touches for 364 yards and three TDs
Perine: 69 total touches for 510 yards and one TD
To answer the original question of this article, yes, I do believe Perine is worth a waiver wire add in your fantasy league. He certainly gets a significant boost in PPR formats. After all, he did just score his first touchdown of the season on Sunday.
Do I believe Perine has done enough to become my highest-ranked fantasy back in Denver heading into Week 13? Not yet. I’ve still got Williams with a pretty sizeable lead because of his overwhelming advantage in total touches to this point of the season.
Even with Perine having one of the best performances of his 2023 campaign, he still finished with 13 fewer touches than Williams on Sunday. Also, Perine hasn’t seen double-digit carries in a game all season, while Williams has 10+ carries in six straight games.
If anything, Perine’s recent production is far more likely to cut into McLaughlin’s role in the offense. McLaughlin saw just two carries for four yards and was only on the field for 3% of the offensive snaps against Cleveland.
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Williams still feels like a fringe top-20 play at the RB position on a weekly basis, while Perine could slip into the RB3 conversation if he sees the type of volume on the ground he saw on Sunday and maintains his productive catching floor.
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