Washington Redskins Training Camp Profile: RB Derrius Guice
By Ian Cummings
Guice’s main competition at Redskins training camp
There are a lot of names in the Redskins cluttered running back room. Elijah Wellman’s back again like he never left. Craig Reynolds is an undrafted free agent rookie with some versatile upside. Byron Marshall is still one of Jay Gruden’s favorite projects, and Samaje Perine has been receiving some lip service from Gruden this offseason as well.
Bryce Love is still recuperating from his own ACL tear, so chances are he won’t be added into the mix until sometime later, but nonetheless, Guice isn’t concerning himself with the battle for the reserve spots. He’s here to be the starter, and thus, he’ll be battling Adrian Peterson, the incumbent starter, and Chris Thompson, the team’s starting receiving back, for snaps.
Peterson earned back his MVP respect in 2018, putting up 1,042 yards and seven touchdowns on 241 carries. At 33 years old, he played in all sixteen games, and while he’d clearly lost a step athletically, his vision, energetic running style, and sturdy build helped him stay on his feet. Now, he’s 34 years old, and it’s hard to expect him to replicate his success from last year. Thompson, meanwhile, battled injuries the entire season, but the hope is that he can get back to full health in 2018, and contribute as he did in 2017. It’s something that’s been hoped before.
This season, Guice has by far the most upside of the running back group, but he’s still recovering from injury. His timeline could give Peterson the opportunity to further establish himself as the team’s bell-cow back, and when Guice does come back to full health, it could take some time for the Redskins to ease him back in, if they feel that Peterson is performing up to par.