The Denver Broncos are arguably the hottest team in the NFL right now. They’ve won five games in a row and are right in the thick of things in the AFC playoff picture.
The defense has been much better as of late, but so has the offense. Russell Wilson is doing a great job of spreading the ball around, and the Broncos are getting more production from their running backs.
With this in mind, of Javonte Williams and Samaje Perine, which one of these two running backs should be in your fantasy football lineup?
Should You Start Javonte Williams or Samaje Perine This Week?
In Pro Football Network’s Start/Sit Optimizer, PFN’s Consensus Rankings say that Williams is the player to start. His projected 13.2 points include a projection of 48 rushing yards, six receptions, and 27 yards. That doesn’t seem like a big stat line, but it outperforms the consensus projection for Perine (7.8 points).
I’m going with the optimizer on this one, as Williams is resembling more and more the explosive running back he was before his injury. Perine has been solid but doesn’t do much rushing the ball.
Fantasy Outlook for Williams This Week
The Broncos were outstanding last week rushing the ball, as they finished with 169 yards against the Cleveland Browns. The Browns entered that game with the best defense in the NFL, so that is an impressive accomplishment.
Williams had 65 yards on 18 carries, but Denver is looking to run the ball early and often. The Broncos have rushed the ball at least 38 times in three of their last four games.
There are fair and legitimate concerns about starting Williams. As good as he’s been recently and how involved he’s been, Williams still hasn’t rushed for a touchdown.
Last week against the Browns, Williams was on the field for 70% of the offensive snaps, which is a season-high for him.
It doesn’t get much easier for the Broncos in Week 13 as they go up against the Houston Texans. Houston has held six of its last seven opponents under 100 rushing yards.
While it remains to be seen how effective he is rushing the ball, the volume of carries figures to be very high in this game.
Fantasy Outlook for Perine This Week
Fantasy managers probably had to take a double glance at Perine’s box score last week after he finished with 55 rushing yards on seven carries. In the previous five games for the Broncos, he had only five carries for 30 yards.
Perine has been more involved catching the ball than he has been rushing it. The Week 12 effort also pushed his rush attempts total (37) over his receptions total (33) for the season.
MORE: PFN’s FREE NFL Playoff Predictor
Perine hasn’t been on the field for 40% of the Broncos’ offensive snaps in any of their last six games. Thus, it’s difficult to throw support to a player who is only on the field for 18 snaps, as was the case with Perine last week.
The Broncos are right there in the playoff race, and this is one of those playoff eliminator-type of games. Look for Denver to go with their best players in this game, which means Perine will be used as a spell back and third-down type.
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