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Riggo’s Rag Redskins Mailbag: Potential surprises, position battles, more

By Jacob Camenker

LANDOVER, MD - NOVEMBER 24: Jeremy Sprinkle #87 of the Washington Football Team looks on against the Detroit Lions during the second half at FedExField on November 24, 2019 in Landover, Maryland. (Photo by Scott Taetsch/Getty Images)
LANDOVER, MD - NOVEMBER 24: Jeremy Sprinkle #87 of the Washington Football Team looks on against the Detroit Lions during the second half at FedExField on November 24, 2019 in Landover, Maryland. (Photo by Scott Taetsch/Getty Images) /
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LANDOVER, MARYLAND – DECEMBER 15: Running back Adrian Peterson #26 of the Washington Redskins celebrates after scoring a touchdown against the Philadelphia Eagles during the fourth quarter at FedExField on December 15, 2019 in Landover, Maryland. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)
LANDOVER, MARYLAND – DECEMBER 15: Running back Adrian Peterson #26 of the Washington Redskins celebrates after scoring a touchdown against the Philadelphia Eagles during the fourth quarter at FedExField on December 15, 2019 in Landover, Maryland. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images) /

Ageless wonder

Hogskins: Will AP be the starting tailback in 2020?

JC: The answer to this is both yes and no. I would anticipate that Adrian Peterson will start a good chunk of games in 2020. But will he lead the team in snaps at the position? That’s up for debate.

Peterson is a long-time pro with a lot of experience and for the Redskins, he has been a rock-solid runner. He’s not the same explosive playmaker he once was, but he can still fight for yards and rip off the occasional chunk play. As a starter the past couple of seasons, Peterson has totaled 1,940 yards and 12 touchdowns on 462 carries for an average of 4.2 yards per carry. Again, that’s rock-solid.

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And as talented as Derrius Guice is, he hasn’t been able to stay healthy. I think the Redskins coaching staff should try to ease him into the season and truly split carries between him and Peterson, at least early in the season. That will limit the wear and tear on Guice’s body and afford him a chance to build up stamina. So, that system may afford Peterson a chance to start and get a decent carry split.

But as the season goes on, the Redskins will probably try to transition to Guice as the long-term starter… provided that he can stay healthy. That’s not a given but as the season goes along, Peterson may see fewer snaps and may cede snaps to Guice if he played as well as he did in the few games that he was truly healthy for during the 2020 campaign.

In truth, the Redskins’ “starting” running back won’t matter too much because they’ll be using Peterson, Guice, Antonio Gibson, and whoever else makes the roster (J.D. McKissic, Bryce Love, Peyton Barber) in a rotation. The back-by-committee approach suits this relatively deep group well, and Peterson should reap some of the rewards from it as he’ll be able to stay fresh and productive during his age-35 season.

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