Dehner Jr. reports that following a frustrating Week 4 rushing performance from Chase Brown, the Bengals found success in Week 5 with a downhill rushing attack featuring Samaje Perine. Perine’s 14 carries for 68 yards dramatically eclipsed Brown’s 13 carries for 39 yards. Offensive coordinator Dan Pitcher acknowledged that the team’s rushing scheme will influence the workload split moving forward, potentially threatening Brown’s 72.8% Opportunity Share.
The Bengals will likely use their bye week to evaluate what worked in Week 5 and put both backs in situations that play to their strengths. Perine out carried the more explosive Brown 14-13, rushing for 68 yards (4.9 YPC) compared to Brown’s 39 yards (3.0 YPC), while also finding the end zone through the air. A more defined role could benefit Brown’s efficiency, but expect Perine’s opportunity share to increase. Perine is an intriguing roster addition coming out of the bye.
Across five games so far in 2026, Cincinnati Bengals running...
Cincinnati Bengals running back Samaje Perine isn't ...
Cincinnati Bengals running back Samaje Perine still has a ...
The Bengals are expanding Chase Brown‘s alignment across the formation, deploying him in motion and from the backfield much like Ja’Marr Chase. Armed with a 108.5 (89th-percentile) Speed Score and a 131.5 (94th-percentile) Burst Score, Brown offers the high-end athleticism needed to thrive in Joe Burrow‘s enhanced pre-snap motion scheme.
Brown is ranked as PlayerProfiler’s RB7 for 2026 fantasy football, just behind Cook and Barkley, but increased pass-game involvement secures Brown a clear path toward a top-5 PPR RB finish.
Fantasy relevant players ruled out Sunday include Jayden Daniels, Terry McLaurin, Joe Burrow, Samaje Perine, Chris Godwin, Bucky Irving, Dalton Kincaid, Jaxson Dart, Darius Slayton, C.J. Stroud, Brenton Strange, Marvin Harrison, Tory Horton, Isiah Pacheco, J.K. Dobbins, Rashod Bateman, Justice Hill, and Sam LaPorta.
Per Adam Schefter
Chase Brown set a season-high with 96-percent snap share and handled his most touches since Week 1. Brown caught 8 passes for 75 yards on 14 targets while carrying the ball 11 times for a mere 37 yards.
Over the last two weeks, the Bengals have averaged 40 points– and Chase Brown has been a Top-10 RB both weeks. Brown’s three best RB finishes for fantasy have been with Joe Flacco at QB this season.
While Week 10 is the Bengals bye, if Perine were to miss Week 11 against Pittsburgh, expect Chase Brown to project as a Top-10 RB yet again.
Author: Bradley Stalder (@FFStalder)
Earlier reports wrongly stated Perine would be signing a lucrative deal with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, though those reports were quickly disproven. Instead, he’s signed a two-year deal worth up to $3.8 million to play for the Bengals.
Perine initially joined the Bengals in 2019, and now he’s back in Cincinnati after spending the last two seasons in Denver and Kansas City. During his first run with the Bengals, Perine amassed 941 rushing yards and 549 receiving yards in 48 games. At the time, Perine operated as a relief option for star running back Joe Mixon. He’ll now look to find a role for himself in a running back room that primarily consists of second-year breakout Chase Brown and veteran journeyman Zack Moss. Brown seemingly holds a firm grip on the starting job right now, and Perine will likely look to battle with Moss during training camp for the backup role.
Author: Trey Kroll (@TreyK_FB)
Kansas City Chiefs star running back Isiah Pacheco set to miss 6-8 weeks after suffering a fractured fibula in the teams game against the Cincinnati Bengals this past Sunday. As a result, the Chiefs will be signing veteran running back Kareem Hunt. Hunt is a free agent after spending the last five seasons with the Cleveland Browns but has ties to Kansas City after spending his first two seasons in the league with them in 2017n and 2018.
Pacheco’s injury has appeared to open the door for rookie running back Carson Steele to take the job over. He ended the game with seven carries for 24 yards and was the only other running back to take a carry. Steele is an immediate add in all leagues and looks to be very productive in a high scoring offense for the duration of Pacheco’s injury. Samaje Perine may see a small uptick in usage but still profiles as a passing down specialist so don’t expect too much. Hunt’s familiarity with the system and 1,030 career carries give him the advantage as far as taking any back up carries so he may be worth an add as well just in case.
