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Derrius Guice’s breakout year should finally be here… if healthy

By Jacob Camenker

LANDOVER, MD - NOVEMBER 17: Derrius Guice #29 of the Washington Football Team scores a 45-yard touchdown in the second half against the New York Jets at FedExField on November 17, 2019 in Landover, Maryland. (Photo by Patrick McDermott/Getty Images)
LANDOVER, MD - NOVEMBER 17: Derrius Guice #29 of the Washington Football Team scores a 45-yard touchdown in the second half against the New York Jets at FedExField on November 17, 2019 in Landover, Maryland. (Photo by Patrick McDermott/Getty Images) /
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Derrius Guice hasn’t yet lived up to his second-round status from the 2018 NFL Draft. Now may be his last chance to do it in a Washington uniform, but he’s poised to do it.

When the Washington football team selected Derrius Guice in the second round of the 2018 NFL Draft, many pondered how the team had gotten such a steal. There had been cries by some fans and draftniks for Washington to take Guice with the 13th overall selection. Ultimately, they took Daron Payne there and waited until the second day of the draft to get a back, and it paid off.

Guice ended up being the seventh running back off the board and lasted until the 59th selection. Washington quickly snapped him up in hopes of seeing him upgrade their backfield greatly.

While Guice’s talent has certainly inspired confidence in the Washington running back room, he has yet to live up to the billing of his draft slot. That’s through no fault of his own. He just simply hasn’t been able to stay healthy.

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It began in his first preseason game of 2018. He took on the New England Patriots and tore his ACL. He missed his entire rookie season as a result.

In 2019, Guice came into the year favored as the starter. He shouldered very little work in the preseason and was expected to be part of the team’s rotation last year. Instead, he had just 10 carries for 18 yards in the opener and suffered a torn meniscus. He missed the next eight games then had a solid four-game stretch before suffering another knee injury, this one an MCL sprain. That ended his season in Week 14.

Still, Guice possesses plenty of upside. Coach Ron Rivera saw it firsthand when Guice trampled the Carolina Panthers defense by putting up 129 yards and two touchdowns on just 10 carries. Yes, you read that right. Just 10 carries. He was a force in that game and showed off his explosiveness and natural running ability. And that’s the type of ceiling he should have at the NFL level.

For 2020, Guice should have just one goal. Stay healthy. If he can do that, his long-awaited breakout will be here. Washington has plenty of running backs on the roster that are capable of shouldering touches. It would behoove the team to ease Guice into the workload and give him plenty of maintenance throughout the early stages of the season. That will ensure that he can avoid injuries and provide the team with a true game-breaking threat.

That said, if Guice wants to be a longer-term lead back, he needs to show more stamina as well as durability. If he can avoid injuries in the first month or two of the season and work up to 20 touches per game, that should help the team immensely. And it would give the squad more confidence in the former LSU product, too.

This truly is a make or break year for Guice. As talented as he is on tape and on paper, he has only played in five career NFL games and has never touched the ball more than 13 times in one game. He’ll need that to change to be guaranteed a roster spot in 2021 and beyond. But for now, he looks like a good bet to be a breakout candidate.

dark. Next. Washington football camp profiles - RBs

We’ll see how Guice ends up looking at Washington’s training camp. Until then, keep it right here at Riggo’s Rag for all of your latest Washington football news.

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