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Redskins RBs: Can Samaje Perine break out in Year 2 like Devonta Freeman?

By Jacob Camenker

LOS ANGELES, CA - SEPTEMBER 17: Samaje Perine #32 of the Washington Redskins cuts back on Mark Barron #26 of the Los Angeles Rams at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on September 17, 2017 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CA - SEPTEMBER 17: Samaje Perine #32 of the Washington Redskins cuts back on Mark Barron #26 of the Los Angeles Rams at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on September 17, 2017 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images) /
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LANDOVER, MD – NOVEMBER 23: Running back Samaje Perine #32 of the Washington Redskins runs with the ball against outside linebacker Jonathan Casillas #52 of the New York Giants in the third quarter at FedExField on November 23, 2017 in Landover, Maryland. (Photo by Patrick McDermott/Getty Images)
LANDOVER, MD – NOVEMBER 23: Running back Samaje Perine #32 of the Washington Redskins runs with the ball against outside linebacker Jonathan Casillas #52 of the New York Giants in the third quarter at FedExField on November 23, 2017 in Landover, Maryland. (Photo by Patrick McDermott/Getty Images) /

Perine’s career to date

Like Freeman, Perine was a fourth-round pick and started out his career a bit slowly. In his first season, Perine served as the backup to Rob Kelley and Chris Thompson. There had been some hope that he would be able to take over for Kelley as the starter early on, but he didn’t show enough to achieve that. When Kelley got hurt, Perine was thrown into the fire, and that provided Perine with his first big test as an NFL back.

However, Perine didn’t have a lot going for him when he took over as a starter. The Redskins offensive line was banged up and though Trent Williams and Morgan Moses were on the field, they were clearly not 100 percent. Add in the mess that was the interior line (which also had injury concerns) and Perine had a lot working against him.

Still, as the lead back, Perine was able to post a couple of 100-yard games. These performances came against the Giants and the Saints. Given how strong the Saints defense was and is, that’s a fairly impressive performance. Even though he didn’t make a lot of big, breakaway plays, Perine was steady and showed solid ability with upside. And that’s all that could be asked of him in that situation.

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Perine’s numbers to end the year weren’t pretty. He had 175 carries, 603 yards, and just one touchdown. His yards per carry of 3.4 was bad. But given the situation that he was in and that Kelley averaged 3.1 yards per carry, the number actually isn’t quite as bad as it looks. Perhaps in his second season, he will be able to get it to the 4.0 mark, much like Freeman did in his sophomore campaign.

While Perine showed some good skills as a rookie, it’s still clear that he has some work to do. He has to run with better pad level to fully utilize his power. Perine doesn’t have great speed or burst, so he’ll need to rely on vision and power to generate yardage. That will make it hard for him to be a game-breaking threat like Guice would have been for the Redskins. And, of course, he has to avoid fumbling, as that is one of Jay Gruden’s biggest pet peeves. That said, I believe that issue is overblown, as Perine averaged a solid 99.5 touches per fumble last year which was better than Freeman, Todd Gurley, Jay Ajayi, and Joe Mixon.

If Perine can figure out the running style that best suits his skill set, as Freeman did, he will have a chance to be a very good player at the NFL level. It’s unlikely that he’ll be as good as Freeman, or Guice for that matter, but if he could just be a solid starter, that would be enough to tide the Redskins over until Guice’s 2019 return.

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