There was an update of sorts about Broncos starting running back Javonte Williams yesterday. Sean Payton says they're hopeful he is ready for the start of training camp, avoiding the PUP list. I think he was talking about camp and not Week 1, though it's not entirely clear. Either way, using the word hopeful doesn't mean much.
Williams tore multiple ligaments in his knee (ACL and LCL) last October, so it's fair to say he won't be 100 percent at the start of training camp. If he opens camp on the PUP list, that's fine; he can be removed at any time. If he opens the regular season there, however, he'll miss at least the first four games (a change last year; it used to be 6). And Denver will need to have another starting running back.
That back will be Samaje Perine, signed in free agency. We can say that with a degree of certainty given the other backs currently on the roster: Tony Jones (familiar to Payton from New Orleans), Damarea Crockett, Tyler Badie. Jones made some noise in the preseason a couple of years ago, but his career yards per attempt in actual NFL games is 2.7. Crockett didn't play last season (3 career rushing attempts). Badie has 2 career touches.
It's a little surprising Denver didn't add a back in the draft, but theoretically it could be taken as a positive sign for Williams' chances of making a full recovery. In any case, Perine is far and away the best, healthy back on the roster, and odds are he's Denver's starter at the start of the season. If so, he should be a solid option for fantasy teams.
A year ago, backing up or filling in for Joe Mixon, Perine had at least 10 total touches in five games. In all of them he finished with double-digit fantasy points; at least 19 in three of them.
| PERINE WITH 10-PLUS TOUCHES, 2022 | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Opp | Rush | Yds | Rec | Yds | TD | Tch | PPR |
| at Pit. | 11 | 30 | 4 | 52 | 3 | 15 | 30.2 |
| K.C. | 21 | 106 | 6 | 49 | 0 | 27 | 21.5 |
| at Ten. | 17 | 58 | 4 | 35 | 1 | 21 | 19.3 |
| at NYJ | 9 | 47 | 2 | 14 | 1 | 11 | 14.1 |
| at Buf. | 7 | 33 | 5 | 31 | 0 | 12 | 11.4 |
I'm going to need a lot more positive reports on Williams' recovery before I consider selecting him anywhere but 8-1o rounds into a draft -- after I've drafted most of my starters. I think an argument can be made for drafting Perine a little earlier; it will be clearer once we get into training camp, and draft season. Seems like the kind of situation where you want to roster both, or neither.
--Andy Richardson