Redskins roster bubble stock report: Undrafted rookies making their case

Stock Down – Redskins RB Samaje Perine

We now play the sound of taps for Jacob’s hopes and dreams.

Our own Russell Shavatt wrote earlier in the week that Samaje Perine could not afford a down performance in Week 2 against the Cincinnati Bengals. Perine unfortunately came out and played worse than even his most staunch detractors could have predicted.

In the first preseason game, we at least saw Perine’s physicality and his ability to beat up on defensive backs while running up the sideline. In the Cincinnati game, Perine had just five carries for one lonely yard. The offensive line didn’t always do him any favors, but a back like Perine has a simple job: Find the hole, and hit it with quickness.

In this department, Perine’s vision at the line failed him multiple times. There were snaps where he had a suitable hole for a moment, but he instead took a smaller one and ended up running into the backs of his own linemen. A back like Perine, a back who lacks special teams utility and receiving ability, needs to at least be a capable runner. Perine hasn’t even proven that, and that lack of specialty spells doom for a non-versatile back.

Perine is still on the roster for now; Shaun Wilson, one of Perine’s competitors, got hurt in Week 2, buying the Oklahoma product a bit of breathing room. But between Craig Reynolds and Byron Marshall, there are several players who can take Perine’s spot away from him if he doesn’t improve.