Washington Football Team must utilize Antonio Gibson better

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LANDOVER, MARYLAND – NOVEMBER 08: Antonio Gibson #24 of the Washington Football Team warms up before the game against the New York Giants at FedExField on November 08, 2020 in Landover, Maryland. (Photo by Greg Fiume/Getty Images) /

The buzz about Antonio Gibson

The Washington Football Team selected Antonio Gibson in the third-round of the NFL Draft. When he was drafted, I’m not even sure the analysts were quite sure what Washington was getting with this hybrid type player.

Personally, I knew very little about him. As I wrote after the draft for Riggo’s Rag, I took the time to learn more. He didn’t have a defined role in college but his explosive playmaking ability at many different positions earned him the label of “swiss army knife”.

But as I stated in my previous article, that wasn’t good enough for me. I wanted to know where he fit on the depth chart. Was this kid a wide receiver or running back? I suppose I have an old school mentality, I need guys to have a defined role and position because that’s just how my brain operates.

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But as I read more about Gibson and the more I watched his highlights from Memphis it became clear that my thought process on needing to put a position label on Gibson was wrong. I decided to pencil him in as “playmaker”. A fitting role for a guy that seemingly found pay dirt on over 25 percent of his touches in college.

His staggering numbers in college weren’t relegated to touchdowns either. He averaged 19 yards per reception and over 11 yards per carry. He even threw in another touchdown on kick returns as well.

Needless to say, I was excited about the addition of Gibson at this point, and the excitement only started to escalate as we got into camp.

There was a lot of buzz around Gibson and the versatile role he could play in a Scott Turner offense where he would be used in two-back sets, where he would catch balls out of the backfield, maybe line up outside on occasion as well as use those massive legs to pound the ball in between the tackles to get the tough yards.

It seemed Washington had the type of player that could really keep defenses guessing and on their heels. An asset that is vital to success in the NFL.

So here we are at the midway point of the season and I think the question needs to be asked. Is Washington properly utilizing this playmaker named Antonio Gibson? I do think it’s an interesting topic of discussion and I hope it’s something the coaching staff is pondering as they enter the second half of season.

My answer is no. And again, full disclosure, I’m fully aware these professionals running the Washington Football Team know more about football than my pea-sized brain can even comprehend. But I do think it’s interesting to discuss and logical to at least debate amongst ourselves.

So here we go.

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