Week 13 Fantasy Football Waiver Wire Decision: Should You Target Samaje Perine or Royce Freeman?

As fantasy owners take a look at the waiver wire options going into week 13, not a lot of running backs stand out.

Two backs that are widely available are ones that I’d like to discuss. Those backs are Denver Broncos’ Samaje Perine and Los Angeles Rams’ Royce Freeman.

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Week 12 Showings

Perine has mostly been a pass-catching option for the Broncos, but he was utilized heavily in the running game too in Denver’s week 12 win over the Cleveland Browns.

Perine rushed seven times for 55 yards and a touchdown, with a long run of 24. He was targeted a season-low one time in the passing game, but made the grab for 11 yards.

Perine was on the field for 18 offensive snaps, which was only 27% of the team’s offensive plays. He played sparingly compared to Javonte Williams (47 snaps) but way more than Jaleel McLaughlin (2 snaps).

While many fantasy owners figured they could drop Freeman with Kyren Williams back in the mix, I figured the Rams might ease Williams back into things, and suggested fantasy owners start Freeman in week 12. Freeman made that suggestion look great after rushing 13 times for 77 yards and a touchdown, with a long run of 23.

Freeman was on the field for 23 offensive snaps, which was 34% of the team’s total. Williams played 41 offensive snaps. Zach Evans only played three offensive snaps.

Even though it was a blowout win for the Rams, Freeman was utilized throughout the game.

Fantasy Outlook for Each Back

Unless there’s an injury, Perine and Freeman should continue serving as their team’s No. 2 backs for the remainder of the season. Most NFL teams nowadays utilize two backs, so each can still be decent fantasy players if they can be efficient with their snaps and touches.

I think Perine has the best chance to produce consistently, as he’s gotten more work as the season has rolled along. Denver is back in the playoff picture, and the team appears content to have Perine spell Javonte Williams in an effort to keep the lead back fresh. If Perine continues to get as many carries as he did in week 12, his fantasy value will only rise.

Freeman should also get a decent amount of work, but it remains to be seen if Kyren Williams will ever regain his workhorse role he held earlier in the season. The Rams are also in the playoff picture now, and might continue to utilize Freeman as a backup, especially after Williams’ injury.

Matchups don’t typically matter as much when discussing backups, but it’s worth mentioning at the very least. 

The Denver and Rams’ backs both have grades of B on the new FantasySP strength of schedule chart. You can check out defensive rankings for running backs here.

Which Back Should You Target?

According to our charts, Perine is owned in just 23% of leagues. Freeman was at 35% going into week 12.

I’m going to stick with what I said in the Rams’ running back breakdown last week, which was that Freeman was going to be utilized in week 12, but lose snaps and playing times as the season went along. Freeman played well enough to earn some more playing time in week 13, but I believe his production will tail off as the season rolls along. Think along the lines of the Indianapolis Colts situation with Jonathan Taylor and Zack Moss.

For that reason, along with the assumption that Perine remains involved in the Broncos’ offense, I like Perine over Freeman as a waiver wire addition in week 13. I especially like Perine over Freeman in PPR leagues, as Perine is usually involved heavily in Denver’s pass game.

If your league uses a free agent auction budget (FAAB), I wouldn’t spend all that much on either player. Somewhere between 5-12% of your remaining budget sounds right, and I’d only go toward 12% if you roster the lead back on that player’s team. 

If your league still allows trades and you want to protect your No. 1 back, it shouldn’t cost you much to acquire either guy. I’d trade away a depth player from a position of strength. Make sure to check out the trade value charts before proposing or accepting any trades.