Toward the end of one of the Experts competitions last week, one participant accidentally had Adrian Peterson autodrafted for him. He asked me to switch that to Samaje Perine, which briefly gave me pause; I had to search my memory for where Perine was employed. He's in Cincinnati, and with Giovani Bernard gone, he looks like Joe Mixon's main backup. Not a bad last-round flier.
In fact, Perine finished up last year in Cincinnati's lineup, going for 136 total yards and 2 TDs against Houston in Week 16, then starting and carrying 9 times for 51 yards in the finale against Baltimore. It's not a large sample set, but Perine last season turned his 63 carries into 301 rushing yards, which is 4.8 yards per attempt. That was a top-15 number among running backs with that many carries last year. A lot better than what Mixon was able to manage prior to getting hurt (he was down at 3.6). Mixon's job is safe (Perine's been in the league for four years without carving out a sizable role since his rookie season, when he managed just 3.4 yards per attempt), but Perine looks like the favorite for No. 2 duties.
| RUNNING BACK YARDS PER ATTEMPT, 2020 | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | Att | Yds | Avg | TD | Tgt | Rec | Yds |
| J.K. Dobbins | 134 | 805 | 6.0 | 9 | 24 | 18 | 120 |
| Sony Michel | 79 | 449 | 5.7 | 1 | 9 | 7 | 114 |
| Nick Chubb | 190 | 1067 | 5.6 | 12 | 18 | 16 | 150 |
| Aaron Jones | 201 | 1104 | 5.5 | 9 | 63 | 47 | 355 |
| Derrick Henry | 378 | 2027 | 5.4 | 17 | 31 | 19 | 114 |
| Miles Sanders | 164 | 867 | 5.3 | 6 | 52 | 28 | 197 |
| Ronald Jones | 192 | 978 | 5.1 | 7 | 42 | 28 | 165 |
| Jonathan Taylor | 232 | 1169 | 5.0 | 11 | 39 | 36 | 299 |
| Damien Harris | 137 | 691 | 5.0 | 2 | 7 | 5 | 52 |
| Gus Edwards | 144 | 723 | 5.0 | 6 | 13 | 9 | 129 |
| Raheem Mostert | 104 | 521 | 5.0 | 2 | 19 | 16 | 156 |
| Dalvin Cook | 312 | 1557 | 5.0 | 16 | 54 | 44 | 361 |
| Alvin Kamara | 187 | 932 | 5.0 | 16 | 107 | 83 | 756 |
| Chris Carson | 141 | 681 | 4.8 | 5 | 46 | 37 | 287 |
| Samaje Perine | 63 | 301 | 4.8 | 3 | 12 | 11 | 66 |
| Jeff Wilson | 126 | 600 | 4.8 | 7 | 28 | 13 | 133 |
| David Johnson | 147 | 691 | 4.7 | 6 | 46 | 33 | 314 |
| Antonio Gibson | 170 | 795 | 4.7 | 11 | 44 | 36 | 247 |
| Boston Scott | 80 | 374 | 4.7 | 1 | 36 | 25 | 212 |
| Brian Hill | 100 | 465 | 4.7 | 1 | 30 | 25 | 199 |
| Wayne Gallman | 147 | 682 | 4.6 | 6 | 27 | 21 | 114 |
| Chase Edmonds | 97 | 448 | 4.6 | 1 | 67 | 53 | 402 |
| Melvin Gordon | 215 | 986 | 4.6 | 9 | 44 | 32 | 158 |
| Austin Ekeler | 116 | 530 | 4.6 | 1 | 65 | 54 | 403 |
| D'Andre Swift | 114 | 521 | 4.6 | 8 | 57 | 46 | 357 |
| Devontae Booker | 93 | 423 | 4.6 | 3 | 21 | 17 | 84 |
| Darrell Henderson | 138 | 624 | 4.5 | 5 | 24 | 16 | 159 |
| Alexander Mattison | 96 | 434 | 4.5 | 2 | 15 | 13 | 125 |
| Latavius Murray | 146 | 656 | 4.5 | 4 | 26 | 23 | 176 |
| James Robinson | 240 | 1070 | 4.5 | 7 | 60 | 49 | 344 |
| Clyde Edwards-Helaire | 181 | 803 | 4.4 | 4 | 54 | 36 | 297 |
| Devin Singletary | 156 | 687 | 4.4 | 2 | 50 | 38 | 269 |
| Carlos Hyde | 81 | 356 | 4.4 | 4 | 20 | 16 | 93 |
| David Montgomery | 247 | 1070 | 4.3 | 8 | 68 | 54 | 438 |
| Cam Akers | 145 | 625 | 4.3 | 2 | 14 | 11 | 123 |
| Tony Pollard | 101 | 435 | 4.3 | 4 | 40 | 28 | 193 |
| Zack Moss | 112 | 481 | 4.3 | 4 | 18 | 14 | 95 |
| J.D. McKissic | 85 | 365 | 4.3 | 1 | 110 | 80 | 589 |
| James Conner | 169 | 721 | 4.3 | 6 | 43 | 35 | 215 |
| Nyheim Hines | 89 | 380 | 4.3 | 3 | 76 | 63 | 482 |
| Kareem Hunt | 198 | 841 | 4.3 | 6 | 51 | 38 | 304 |
| Phillip Lindsay | 118 | 502 | 4.3 | 1 | 14 | 7 | 28 |
| Ito Smith | 63 | 268 | 4.3 | 1 | 26 | 17 | 75 |
| Jamaal Williams | 119 | 505 | 4.2 | 2 | 35 | 31 | 236 |
| Malcolm Brown | 101 | 419 | 4.2 | 5 | 33 | 23 | 162 |
| Mark Ingram | 72 | 299 | 4.2 | 2 | 8 | 6 | 50 |
| Myles Gaskin | 142 | 584 | 4.1 | 3 | 47 | 41 | 388 |
| Rex Burkhead | 67 | 274 | 4.1 | 3 | 33 | 25 | 192 |
| Ezekiel Elliott | 244 | 979 | 4.0 | 6 | 71 | 52 | 338 |
| Kenyan Drake | 239 | 955 | 4.0 | 10 | 31 | 25 | 137 |
| LeVeon Bell | 82 | 328 | 4.0 | 2 | 20 | 16 | 138 |
| Jerick McKinnon | 81 | 319 | 3.9 | 5 | 46 | 33 | 253 |
| Josh Jacobs | 273 | 1065 | 3.9 | 12 | 45 | 33 | 238 |
| Mike Davis | 165 | 642 | 3.9 | 6 | 70 | 59 | 373 |
| Adrian Peterson | 156 | 604 | 3.9 | 7 | 18 | 12 | 101 |
| Leonard Fournette | 97 | 367 | 3.8 | 6 | 47 | 36 | 233 |
| Jordan Wilkins | 84 | 308 | 3.7 | 1 | 16 | 12 | 105 |
| Joe Mixon | 119 | 428 | 3.6 | 3 | 26 | 21 | 138 |
| Frank Gore | 187 | 653 | 3.5 | 2 | 19 | 16 | 89 |
| Todd Gurley | 195 | 678 | 3.5 | 9 | 35 | 25 | 164 |
| Giovani Bernard | 124 | 416 | 3.4 | 3 | 59 | 47 | 355 |
| Kalen Ballage | 91 | 303 | 3.3 | 3 | 37 | 29 | 166 |
| Benny Snell | 111 | 368 | 3.3 | 4 | 14 | 10 | 61 |
| Joshua Kelley | 111 | 354 | 3.2 | 2 | 23 | 23 | 148 |
| Duke Johnson | 77 | 235 | 3.1 | 1 | 35 | 28 | 249 |
The other noteworthy element to Perine's game highlighted above is that he proved effective in the passing game. In his limited work he had 12 passes thrown his way, and he caught 11 of them, for 66 yards. With Bernard gone, those are some opportunities where he can spell Mixon on occasion, and it looks like he'll be able to handle them.
If we're scooping up backup running backs late in drafts, and we are, Perine is a player to keep in the back of your mind.
--Andy Richardson