The most astute NFL talent evaluators will tell you that when it comes to players, it’s more important to focus on what people can do as opposed to what they can’t. I’ve heard it from both Bill Belichick and Pete Carroll, and also from Seahawks general manager John Schneider, Carroll’s consigliere. It’s easy to discount a receiver because he only ran three routes in college, or a running back because he runs too upright and might not be fully developed.
But those truly interested in player development will understand that sometimes, that receiver who can run a third of the route tree is beating the daylights out of every cornerback he faces, or that running back is bouncing off linebackers every play for extra yards.
With players on the fringe of what they will be, you can either cut them off because they don’t fit your suit, or you can adjust the suit for their unique talents. The guys who do the latter tend to win Super Bowls. The guys who do the former tend to get fired.
In the 2020 draft class, Memphis running back/receiver Antonio Gibson (yes, you read that positional delineation right) may be the ultimate litmus test for those executives who see prospects one way or another. Gibson got on the field for just 370 snaps in two years with the Tigers after two seasons at East Central Community College in Mississippi.
“Grades were just… at the end of the day, you could also blame me to be honest, but as a young kid, I was getting bad grades and my coaches weren’t really saying anything to me because they wanted me to play,” Gibson told me recently. “It wasn’t until my junior year I started getting offers but I couldn’t accept them, or they couldn’t officially offer them because of my grades. So, that’s when it started clicking to me that I need this [college] and that’s the reason I had to go to JUCO route.”
Once he was done with that route, he had a few choices in West Virginia, Mississippi State, and Memphis.
“I picked Memphis because a lot of schools offer you then go on about their business,” he said. “They won’t really reach out to you to tell you a signing date, but coach [Mike] Norvell and the staff were on me every other day. They were checking in making sure I was alright, seeing if classes were going good, checking on my family, I got a family feeling from them, and when I went on my visit it was the same thing, so I ended up picking Memphis.”
It took a while for Gibson to gain traction, though — in 2018, he was behind Darrell Henderson and Tony Pollard in the Tigers’ backfield, and caught just six passes for 99 yards and two touchdowns. Once Henderson went to the Rams and Pollard to the Cowboys in the 2019 draft, Gibson got his shot, and he didn’t waste it. He posted 38 catches for 735 yards and eight touchdowns, adding 33 carries for 369 yards and four more scores.
Yes, that’s right. Gibson averaged 11.2 yards per carry. Moreover, he proved to be absolutely ridiculous when it came to breaking tackles. Per Pro Football Focus, he broke 16 tackles on his 33 catches, and 17 tackles on his 38 carries. Small sample size, yes, but those numbers are just insane when a broken tackle rate of 25% is shooting par. And as crazy as the numbers are, Gibson’s 2019 game tape is even more preposterous. That was my focus when I talked with him recently about that tape, and what it says about his NFL potential.
“It’s just the excitement of it,” he told me regarding his mentality when eluding defenders by any means necessary. “I love the game, and when the offense has the ball, you can make things happen. You can bring momentum to the team. That’s what I strive for. Being able to lead by example. Bring that factor in the game, where if you do something like that, you get the sideline hyped, and you get a chain reaction from that. I fell in love with it, and it’s always been that way for me.”
I told Gibson about those PFF numbers, and asked him how he’s able to make above-average college defenders look like Pony League kids as they’re bouncing off his frame.
“My body size,” the 6-foot-0, 228-pound Gibson said. “Most people my size don’t move as fast — and I’m not saying everybody — because I’m seeing plenty move faster or fast. It’s just the size and what I’m able to do. I feel like you could line me up with skinny receivers and I would be able to make the same moves or run just as fast as them. I feel like people don’t know how to adjust sometimes to seeing that speed and a big body, you know, to make cuts like that. So when they try to come to my legs, or they come to me with the arm tackle… if you come to me with some little boy stuff you know I’m looking to break it.”
A few more questions before we got to the tape.
Doug Farrar: The running back/receiver thing is so interesting because the pro comparison I made for you was if you took DK Metcalf and also made him a running back — which doesn’t generally happen. Do you have a preference? How do you balance the two different positions?
Antonio Gibson: I don’t have a preference, but I’ve been getting that question a lot. I feel more comfortable at receiver just because that’s where I’ve been. But I feel more natural at running Once I get in the flow of things, I could be great back there, too. Running back is my preference at that next level because they could move me out [wide], and that’s where the league is going nowadays, moving guys around all over the place.
DF: What were your route concepts in college, and what are you coming into the NFL with in that sense?
AG: We were running digs, posts, comebacks, curls, option routes. We had a lot, but I feel like there’s more routes in the league that I hadn’t experienced. That’ll be some getting used to. I’ve been working with a trainer, and he was doing some awesome things [with different routes], I have an idea of some of the routes [he’d run in the NFL], but there are some other things I’ve got to get accustomed to.
And with that, it was time to review five of Gibson’s plays from last season. If you haven’t seen this guy yet, buckle up.
DF: Let’s start with this run in the Senior Bowl. You hit right up the middle and you’ve got nothing but defense there, and it’s always interesting when you watch running backs go through their process. Talk to me about your read here — you’re bouncing off this guy and then you’ve got another potential tackler. Walk me through what you’re seeing, what you’re running into, and how you eluded your way out of it.
AG: The downhill play, I hit it as hard as I could and it got closed up real quick, so I bounced back and took a view of everything. There was nothing going back inside or nowhere I could get north seeing the outside, nobody was out there. In my head, I was like, ‘Just let me get something out of this.’ So I bounced outside, kept my balance there then when I thought there was no more sideline that’s when I was like, let me get north. Put my head down and get two yards.
DF: It was two yards, but it was a pretty amazing two yards. You have to have a really incredible peripheral sense. Is that awareness something you work on, or is it just something that is just there?
AG: My vision? That’s just natural, because if you were asking me how I was working on that I couldn’t tell you. but I feel like it’s just natural. With all the sports Ive played, like baseball and basketball, you’ve got to see the ball in all sports. I feel that helped me out.
DF: Because you’re twisting out of that and that potential tackler, he’s right on you. And somehow you see it and somehow you just respond. That’s just an inherent gift you have?
AG: Yes sir, I would say so.
DF: Play No. 2 is this touchdown run against SMU. Are you diagnosing the front pre-snap and looking at what the defense is doing?
AG: On this run, I know I already have a lead blocker, and the two receivers out here should take up the corner and the safety over the top. We call him the adjuster most of the time. I’m reading the defensive end. He’s down, but if he’s lined up outside you know he should be able to get reached so I’d hit inside. But if not, I’m hitting outside and my lead blocker should know that, too. I’m following him, basically.
DF: So, you have the defensive end as your second read?
AG: Yes, sir. As you could see, he came right down and beat the lead blocker. There’s nothing I could do there. I was just running, and he grabbed me with his arms and fell to the side before he even wrapped me up. I just kept moving my legs.They kept falling before they pulled me down. They had no power in their legs, and I just bent off of that one too. After that I made a cut on one defender, and after that it was off to the races
DF: Well, number 2, I think you’re being charitable. You’re carrying him for three yards like he’s a high school player. That leg drive I mean, lets talk about contact balance for a minute. You familiar with Zack Moss, the running back from Utah?
AG: Yes, sir.
DF: I watched tape with Zack a while back, and he has that same thing — the churning legs and the contact balance — because it’s not just that you break tackles. You drag people. How are you able to do that?
AG: Just that power. I feel like I’ve got a lot of upper strength and definitely in my legs. My lower body is just so strong, and I’ve got thick thighs. So like when you try to hold on and I keep them moving, it’s hard for [defenders] to keep their arms wrapped around you and arm tackles just aren’t going to stop that. On this play right here, you can see the second defender tried to get my legs. I just open strided it and he couldn’t wrap up. So after that, it was just a wrap and the strength in there he just couldn’t do it, and it was over with.
DF: And especially in the end zone replay, you’ve got number two, you bounce off the second guy and then you have two other aspects to your running game which I find fascinating. First, the ability to accelerate in a short area — you go from second to third gear. And I want to talk about these jump cuts which really show up in the run against Cincinnati. How do you develop these jump cuts where it’s like you’re there and you’re going straight ahead, and then all of a sudden, bang it’s so quick, and you’re two yards outside or you’re two yards inside.
AG: I do this thing, and I honestly didn’t realize it until an NFL scout told me about it. He was like, ‘This hop cut you’re doing right here, what is it? Is it because you can’t cut?’ Then I realized I was doing it but I just felt like I could get out of my cut quicker and you know, I also had Alfred Morris say, he’s like you good with jump cuts but its short like you said at the Cincinnati game I did it once, I think I did it like three times, like I hop cut three times and I bounced outside and I just feel like it’s a quick stop like it’s like a “bop bop” so when you patch a cu? There they explode out of it instead of like jump cutting all the way to one side and then having to push off your leg I just feel like it was quicker for me and I started right here on this play like I did it and I was able to accelerate “snaps” just like that.
DF: So you had a scout ask that in a negative sense?
AG: I think he thought that at first, but when I told him why, he was like ‘Yeah, I thought so.’ I could cut if I wanted to cut like that, like plant and go. I could, but I just feel like it was I was able to be able to see everything that was going on too when I was turning my whole body so I could just cut and see everything, I want to say, oh in the Cincinnati one, he was like so why did you do this right here but I was just cutting it also just being on the whole field seeing where I wanted to run then I took of so now he understood, he was just asking me why.
DF: So, with a standard jump cut, you’re not able to see the field in front of you as easily?
AG: You can, but I feel like it’s just slowing you down. Like you just take two steps and you slide either left or right like you’re jumping. It’s just natural, and you slow down, and you can’t accelerate out of it. I feel it slows you down because you gotta jump all the way.
DF: Let’s go to this touchdown against Cincinnati because this is one of the craziest plays I’ve seen out of any draft prospect this year. So first of all there’s one cut, there’s another cut, it’s just crazy so tell me what you’re seeing pre-snap, tell me how this develops.
AG: Right here, it looks like I should be hitting outside with the way the defense is lined up
DF: No. 11 washes himself out here, then he tries to come back.
AG: Yeah, he gets wide. So automatically. I know I’m going inside. My lead blocker goes inside, so it’s all set up good. This lin backer overflows — you can’t see it from this view — but he overflows to where I’m going inside. So, I hit straight up, and after that I’m just staying close to my linemen. It ended up playing out for the best, but I ended up following my lineman’s butt as you can see — I stayed close to both of them. I made a cut on the big guy right here and I ended up having more blockers in front of me. Then after that, it was just speed.
DF: Are you throttling down when you’re in traffic? Because the acceleration when you’re in open space is pretty obvious
AG: For sure. I feel like patience, that’s a big thing with me. I used to watch Le’Veon Bell, I don’t slow down as much as him, but I feel like just slowing down and being able to move fast at the same time works for me. I don’t know if you can notice but when I run my routes and when I catch the ball it’s a different type of speed and I feel like that just messes with DB’s heads because they’re coming at me at a certain angle when you know I’m in traffic and got the speed I’m like okay I got it but when I hit open field or I get in space I hit another gear and it just throws off their angles and there’s no catching me after that.
DF: There’s a couple Penn State plays where you weren’t the target, but I would watch you run routes and it was like you were almost slow playing them.
AG: Uh-huh.
DF: Let’s talk about this touchdown catch against Houston, where you’re jumping over this defender. So what is the route here?
AG: It’s basically la flat screen, trying to get open real quick. From there, the story about this is that my mom is like right here in the stands right behind the end zone. I noticed it and there was one play earlier where I was wide open for the touchdown and [quarterback Brady White] took off running for a long run for a touchdown. And I’m like, ‘Man, I wanted that one!’ You know, shoutout to my mom. I wanted to get in the end zone bad and I ended up having another play right here. So when I got the ball and I saw the end zone and I saw everybody closing in, I was like, forget this — I’m jumping.
DF: This points to a real competitive spirit because it’s not like you’re just bashing into a defender here, you’re jumping over him. This speaks to your “I’m not going down” mentality.
AG:Yes, for sure — gotta get in the end zone, especially right here, especially for mom. That’s what you do.
DF: This next play is against SMU and it looks like a simple catch but it’s something I wanted to talk about because especially in the replay here you’re going over the middle. Is this a post?
AG: This right here, it’s usually under 1 over 2 and everybody got back [in coverage], so I couldn’t go over 1. I kept gaining ground, and [the defender] played it like I was going on the outside. So, he faced his body towards the sideline. I gave him some outside [movement] and I pushed his body. After that, I stacked it to where I run my dig [route]. Of course, I knew the situation and I kept gaining ground because that safety was so far back and Brady put it where it needed to be. We ended up getting the first down, and that was actually a big play for us right there.
DF: You’ve got safeties deep, but you’ve got three guys coming in on you. This is over the middle — you know you’re going to get hit and it doesn’t seem to faze you at all
AG: Yeah, for sure.
DF: Is there one thing that different teams tell you that keeps coming up – things they like about you or things you need to work on>
AG: The one thing I’m getting a lot from everything is pass pro. I did no pass pro at Memphis. If I was getting in the backfield there, I would be the lead blocker or running the ball. The only time I got experience with that was at the Senior Bowl, and that was when I was in practice, because in the game, they weren’t allowed to blitz. But I feel like that’s just a “want -to” thing, I can block. I don’t mind blocking. I’ve been picking up on the schemes they’ve been giving me so it’s a learning process.
DF: Do NFL teams see you more as a running back or receiver?
AG: It’s strictly running back now. You know, a lot of teams, they’re not blind to my versatility. It’s always, “We will start you off as running back and once you get accustomed to things, we’ll start motioning you out.”
DF: The team that drafts you – what is that team getting from Antonio Gibson as a person and as a player?
AG: A machine. Somebody who’s selfless, you know. If it’s special teams they need me at, offense, running back, receiver, wherever. I won’t think twice to do it for the team, I always put the team first. I want to say that’s what helped me a lot especially in Memphis, especially with that first year, you know I had to accept a different road than what I’m accustomed to, I met the previous teams, I did special teams and all and I didn’t think twice of it. I just put a chip on my shoulder, and I’m going to always put the team first. I’m going to work hard, and when I step on the field and get the ball in my hands it’s going to be incredible, so they’re going to get a playmaker and somebody who is going to work.
The team that selects Antonio Gibson will also get the most explosive player in the 2020 draft class. The tape simply doesn’t lie.
