Who Should I Start? Samaje Perine or Saquon Barkley

Monday, September 18, 12:26 AM

Denver Broncos running back Samaje Perine was supposed to be sharing a bigger part of the backfield workload early in his first season in Denver as the team eased backfield mate Javonte Williams in after his ACL and LCL tears in Week 4 of 2022. But in the Week 2 loss to the Washington Commanders, Perine had just one carry for four yards and caught three of his four targets for 20 yards in the 35-33 loss at home. Rookie Jaleel McLaughlin had as many carries as Perine and took his handoff five yards to paydirt. In the season opener last week, Perine saw 12 touches for 78 yards, so this was a big-time disappointment. The full expectation is that Williams will eventually gain even more work in the Broncos' backfield, so Perine will enter the Week 3 matchup in Miami as tough to trust as an RB3/flex in deeper leagues.

Thursday, September 21, 7:29 PM

New York Giants running back Saquon Barkley (ankle) told NFL on Prime reporter Taylor Rooks that he's in fact dealing with a "high-ankle sprain" to his right ankle and that not playing on Thursday night against the San Francisco 49ers was simply a pain-tolerance issue. The Giants don't play again until Monday night against the Seattle Seahawks in Week 4, but if he's indeed dealing with a high-ankle sprain, there's a good chance he won't play in that game, either. We'll have a better idea of Barkley's status for Week 4 next week, but fantasy managers expecting him to only miss one game should check their expectations. In Barkley's absence, Matt Breida should be lead dog, but the G-Men could also go with a RB committee with Breida, Gary Brightwell and rookie Eric Gray.