Job Battles: Royce Is Rolling

Happy Labor Day to everyone but Trevor Siemian.

With final cuts occurring Saturday, the time for speculation has ended for the most part, and at this point we're at the phase where the music stops and we all fight over the nearest chair. Not a whole lot has changed since last week's entry, but here are a few developments nonetheless.

In ostensibly ascending order of fantasy significance...

Nathan Peterman starting Week 1

For the 2QB-leaguers out there. I'm a vocal Josh Allen critic but I don't see this as reflective of him in any way. It would be borderline negligent of the Bills to put Allen in the starting lineup given how bad the offensive line and pass catchers are. The top three pass targets, LeSean McCoy aside, appear to be Kelvin Benjamin, Charles Clay, and Jeremy Kerley. It's barely forgivable.

Even against a Baltimore team without suspended top corner Jimmy Smith, Peterman is a candidate to carry the most problematic projection among quarterbacks in Week 1. He will probably be better than a zero if that's what you're otherwise looking at in a 2QB setting, though. Probably. Will he still be in one piece after facing the Ravens, Chargers, and Vikings? Less certain. Peterman is a human shield – this isn't an especially serious competition.

Boston Scott as New Orleans' RB2

Following a training camp of steady, emphatic praise, Jonathan Williams was surprisingly cut by the Saints, who preferred to kick the tires on Mike Gillislee, who is objectively inferior to Williams in literally every regard. Odd.

Expect Gillislee to cycle off the roster not long from now, and look instead to Boston Scott as the likely second runner in the New Orleans offense. The sixth-round pick out of Louisiana Tech may be small at 5-foot-7, 195 pounds, but he has real skill and an abundance of athleticism to work with. He ran a 4.40 40 at his pro day, adding a 38.5-inch vertical, 121-inch broad jump, and 10.82 agility score. Although Louisiana Tech never gave Scott a shot as a workhorse, presumably due to anxiety relating to his small build, in his last three years he took 287 carries for 1,837 yards (6.4 YPC). When Alvin Kamara is lined up at receiver, I'd expect Scott to be the running back.

Alfred Morris vs. Matt Breida following Jerick McKinnon's ACL tear

McKinnon's brutally ill-timed injury opens a major void in the San Francisco backfield, and removes from the player pool a runner who was a consensus second-round pick prior to the injury. Now two backs with very different natures will fight for his snaps.

The question comes up repeatedly: Should I pick up Morris or Breida? Who's replacing McKinnon in San Francisco?

I think the answer might change depending on format. For me, Breida is the obvious choice in PPR. Whatever you loved about McKinnon's projected usage in this offense you can transfer to Breida, who has an almost identical skill set and very similar athleticism.

If, like me, you were skeptical that the 49ers ever intended to run McKinnon into the ground, and therefore reason that a separate, distinct role was in mind for Morris, then you can find optimism for Morris even if you're high on Breida also. With a bruiser running style and familiarity with the Shanahan offense, Morris could offer enough touchdown production to prove useful even if Breida is running away with the yardage from scrimmage.

So Morris is more viable in standard scoring than PPR, but I think both runners should be owned in all leagues with more than 10 teams. The situation might be somewhat fluid as it is, and I think there's furthermore no evidence that San Francisco will settle on a single workhorse. Raheem Mostert could muck up this picture eventually, too.

Jordan Wilkins potentially starting Week 1

Marlon Mack (hamstring) was not at practice Monday, and with more than three weeks on the shelf he'll have a fair amount of rust to shake off. It's not clear whether a return to practice later this week would be enough time for Mack, not that we should assume he'll practice at all this week.

If Mack is out, Wilkins would appear to be the best starting candidate for Indianapolis at running back against the Bengals. It's not a good on-paper matchup for the rookie, as the Bengals allowed only 3.6 yards per carry and six rushing touchdowns last year, but at least the Colts are a slight home favorite. I would pick the Bengals, but I'm often wrong.

Despite his relative obscurity, Wilkins is not a scrub. I said all along that he's the better pure runner than Nyheim Hines, who a lot of people managed to get excited about, and I think those people should easily be able to transfer that enthusiasm toward Wilkins given that he outplayed Hines in training camp. Wilkins finished his Mississippi career with 279 carries for 1,751 yards (6.3 YPC) and 14 touchdowns, adding 32 receptions for 322 yards and another score. He's a smooth runner with the kind of functional athleticism specifically suited to playing running back, possessing a good combination of balance, flexibility, and burst that lends itself to a gliding running style. If Wilkins plays well there's no guarantee Mack gets a starting role back.

Royce Freeman wins starting RB role in Denver

Freeman was named the starting running back in Denver over third-year back Devontae Booker, putting the former Oregon star on track for a big workload after the Broncos selected him in the third round.

I wouldn't take the announcement as a development exactly – the starting distinction doesn't commit the Broncos to giving Freeman passing down work, and we knew all along that Booker wouldn't be challenging Freeman for between-the-tackle tasks. In other words, I still think it would make sense if Booker is the primary option in hurry-up situations. Still, that the Broncos publicly endorsed Freeman in this fashion is reassuring generally, and it at the least gives you the impression that he'll be in for 20-carry games if the Broncos are competitive.

I've been lukewarm on Freeman since his post-draft ADP went into the fourth/fifth-round range, but I never had the slightest concern about his talent. If he gets the touches, Freeman is going to eat. He's the prototypical workhorse, blessed with a build that is both dense and flexible, granting him the perfect nature for barreling through the trenches. He's so naturally talented that the second he arrived to Oregon as a true freshman the team moved incumbent starting running back Byron Marshall to wide receiver. The primary bad-case scenario with Freeman, I think, is the possibility that the Broncos aren't very good, in which case Booker's skills as a pass catcher might complicate things (73.5 percent catch rate, 6.5 YPT) if the team is forced to throw. If the Broncos have a winning record, though, Royce would be a strong ROY candidate.