Who Should I Start? Duke Johnson or Samaje Perine

Sunday, May 5, 1:51 PM

Running back Duke Johnson announced his retirement from professional football on Sunday. Johnson was originally taken in the third round (77th overall) by the Cleveland Browns in the 2015 NFL draft out of Miami. He spent the first four seasons of his NFL career with the Browns before spending two years with the Houston Texans. Johnson played for the Miami Dolphins in 2021 and the Buffalo Bills in the final year of his career in 2022. The 30-year-old wraps up his career having recorded 2,265 rushing yards and 11 touchdowns on 532 carries, adding 311 catches on 405 targets for 2,870 yards and an additional 12 touchdowns in 97 games (21 starts) covering eight seasons. Johnson had a career-high 410 rushing yards on 83 attempts in his first year in Houston in 2019.

Tuesday, December 16, 11:37 AM

Since returning in Week 13 from an ankle injury that caused him to miss two games, Cincinnati Bengals running back Samaje Perine has recorded 135 scrimmage yards on 38 touches across three contests. While Bengals back Chase Brown remains the lead rusher in Cincinnati, Perine plays a third-down role that has led to a consistent snap share this season. He's played at least 37% of Cincinnati's offensive snaps in every game since returning from injury, giving him a chance at standalone fantasy value every week. Still, Perine's main utility for fantasy managers is as a handcuff option to Brown. If Brown were to go down over the final weeks of the season, Perine would likely dominate backfield snaps in Cincinnati. In fantasy leagues with 12 or more teams, Perine is worth targeting on the waiver wire and stashing in a bench spot.