When the Washington Redskins drafted RB Antonio Gibson in the third round of the 2020 NFL Draft, the immediate reaction was excitement from fans after they found out just how versatile he could be.
In his time at Memphis in college, Gibson often acted as a do-it-all RB who could line up in the slot or out wide just as easily as he could take the ball from the QB out of the backfield, often excelling in open space and making defenders miss. The Redskins, and particularly offensive coordinator Scott Turner, could make a player like that do some big things in the NFL.
The only question is if Washington will choose to use Gibson and his full array of talents right out of the gates, though, or if he will be given some time to adjust to the NFL game before he’s thrown into every scheme that suits him.
Something that Washington could do with Gibson is to try and model his workload around someone like Carolina Panthers’ D.J. Moore, who was coached by much of the coaching staff that’s now with the Redskins. NBC Sports’ Josh Norris seems this as a seamless comp.
“I’d look at Scott Turner in his past and what he did last year with DJ Moore is how I, personally, would use Antonio Gibson,” Norris said, via NBC Sports Washington. “DJ Moore is not, if you look at his skills and where he’s best, I wouldn’t put route running at the top. What he is best at are slants and routes across the formation like drags and getting the ball in his hands. Antonio Gibson can do all of that stuff.”
The team seems like they plan to use Gibson mainly as an RB to start off, as he was classified as such after the draft, but the transition to the slot could be expected more and more as his career gets grounded.
“If you want, put him there and let him dominate in the middle of the field and take those fun and exciting touches in the backfield,” Norris said. “To me, that’s his best role. Not being like, ‘OK, now we’re going to take Derrius Guice out of the ball game and put Antonio Gibson here for three snaps.’”
If and when we see the 2020 NFL season get off the ground, which is scheduled to happen 100 days from now, it will be interesting to see what role Gibson takes in the Redskins offense. Be it in the backfield or the slot, my money is on him making a big difference somewhere down the road.
