Washington Redskins Training Camp Profile: RB Derrius Guice

What Guice needs to show at Redskins training camp

First and foremost, Guice needs to get healthy. That’s a prerequisite that Guice needs to complete before he can combat all the noise. Get the ACL one-hundred percent, get the hamstring one-hundred percent, and then worry about claiming the starting job from Adrian Peterson.

Per Craig Hoffman, and relayed by our own Jacob Camenker, the hamstring injury only makes Guice questionable for training camp, and it might not change much, as the Redskins were already planning to play it safe with the second-year ball carrier. But if Guice still had some ground to make up in his ACL recovery timeline, then this hamstring injury could set him back a bit, and slow the whole process. A pushback to the regular season to negate further injury concerns isn’t out of the question, especially if the team views Peterson as a suitable safety blanket.

For now, Guice’s health is a mystery. But let’s say he somehow does get healthy before or during training camp. In that case, he needs to show what he showed on tape in the lead-up to the 2018 NFL Draft. His balance and his aggression were his best traits, but he also boasted speed, burst, underrated receiving ability, and very good vision. One could make an argument for him as RB1, and in a draft with Saquon Barkley, that’s no small feat.

In training camp, if able, Guice needs to tap into that talent again, and show why he deserves to be set apart from the rest of the pack at running back. Keeping his positive attitude would help with matters; the young player has quickly become an emotional leader for Washington, and if his contagious mindset can permeate through the rest of the team, that will only make his impact more profound. And if he’s still injured, it’s all he can do.