Did Chiefs RB La'Mical Perine play his way onto the 53-man roster?
The Kansas City Chiefs walked out of their preseason finale with a come-from-behind 33-32 win over the Cleveland Browns. While some starters played in this game, it was the performance of the backup players that allowed the team to march back from a 19-point deficit. One player, in particular, managed a performance that was worthy […]
The Kansas City Chiefs walked out of their preseason finale with a come-from-behind 33-32 win over the Cleveland Browns.
While some starters played in this game, it was the performance of the backup players that allowed the team to march back from a 19-point deficit. One player, in particular, managed a performance that was worthy of jolting his 53-man roster chances.
La'Mical Perine
Chiefs RB La'Mical Perine supplanted rookie RB Deneric Prine on the depth chart after preseason Week 1, and he didn't look back. In preseason Week 2 he proved that he belonged with solid play on the ground and in pass protection. Against the Browns on Saturday, the former fourth-round draft pick by the New York Jets kicked things up a notch.
Perine finished the game with four carries for 32 yards, which is a staggering eight yards per carry. He gained most of that, however, on one 30-yard run, which was good for the longest carry by a Chiefs running back this preseason.
That wasn't even the most impressive part of his day.
Perine caught 3-of-3 passes for 44 receiving yards, including an impressive 20-yard touchdown grab on third-and-15. He managed to shake three Browns defenders en route to the end zone after nearly losing his balance behind the line of scrimmage. It was a beautiful display of balance, agility, and want-to.
"I liked what I saw," Chiefs HC Andy Reid said of Perine after the game. "He did a nice job. Yeah, played really well. Good balance. We know he can catch well, and he seems to see everything pretty clearly."
Perine knows that pass protection is the key to his 53-man roster chances, but it also helps when you do everything else really well too. He should make the roster with ease as a key depth piece behind players like Isiah Pacheco and Jerick McKinnon.
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Featured image via Jay Biggerstaff-USA TODAY Sports
