Washington’s rookie running back Antonio Gibson is better than he is getting credit for.
Through three weeks of the season, Gibson has 140 total yards rushing with two touchdowns and 10 broken tackles. Those numbers could arguably be much higher, but considering the fact that Washington has been playing from behind for most of the 2020 season, they’re struggling to amass more than 100 yards rushing each and every week behind a faulty offensive line. His game-to-game stats may not show exactly how good of a player Gibson is, but the grades tell a different story.
Pro Football Focus has Gibson ranked as the No. 6 highest back in terms of rushing grades this season, coming in at 78.2. PFF grades each player based on their production during a certain play, and how much success they had in that situation. So rather than judging Gibson based on the total numbers he puts up, this measuring stick shows how well he has performed when given the ball, factoring in things like poor offensive line play or missed assignments.
A troubling statistic, however, is that Gibson has a receiving grade of 35.9, which is the second-lowest among all RBs in the NFL. As a do-it-all back that was expected to come in and transform the tailback position under Scott Turner, we’re still waiting to see his prowess catching the ball.
Nonetheless, Gibson has been as good, if not better than expected when running the ball. Will the rest of his game come along? Hopefully. For now, we’ll take what we can get.
