Seahawks Draft Target: Samaje Perine, RB, Oklahoma
By Keith Myers
If the Seattle Seahawks draft Samaje Perine, they’ll be getting a great power runner that they won’t be able to take full advantage of.
The 2017 NFL draft class is stacked at running back. There are some damn good players who will last into the mid-late rounds simply because of the depth at the position. There’s even a plethora of power backs available, including Oklahoma’s Samaje Perine.
The first thing I notice when watching Perine’s game tape is his vision and patience. This is a back who knows how to use his blocking. The Sooners also weren’t afraid to use him on passing downs, his pass blocking is solid, and he’s a reliable receiver out of the backfield.
If you’re looking for negatives, the lack of high end speed is definitely notable. He also lacks the wiggle necessary to regularly make guys miss. NFL.com Lance Zierlein described him as “All bully with very little ballerina.” That is an extremely apt description.
Taking a look at his game tape, and those things don’t seem to matter much:
I love this kid. He is my kind of RB. He’s big (235 pounds) and uses that size to punish would-be tacklers. He’s never met an arm tackle he couldn’t break, and he has zero interest in ever running out of bounds.
You won’t find a college runner who runs with more purpose. Give Perine just a little bit of blocking and he’ll build up enough momentum to plow though a concrete wall.
It is the first part of that last sentence that makes me question his fit in Seattle. The Seahawks need someone who can make guys miss in the backfield, and that isn’t what makes Perine great. He isn’t going to make something out of nothing, but he will make the most out of whatever is there.
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In Seattle, he’ll get stopped in the backfield too often due to their terrible offensive line. The Seahawks simply aren’t in a place where they can make use of his talents, and that is extremely unfortunate.