How Washington Football Team’s backfield breaks down with Antonio Gibson out

How Washington Football Team’s backfield breaks down without Antonio Gibson.

Antonio Gibson missed a majority of last week’s game against the Pittsburgh Steelers after suffering a turf toe injury on his second carry. Now, the Washington Football Team will be without him in Week 14 against the San Francisco 49ers.

Without Gibson, Washington will be a little thin at running back. They have just two players on the 53-man roster. The team has Bryce Love on IR, but he is out for the season after failing to practice during his 21-day activity window after being designated to return from the injury list. So, to provide depth, Washington will need to turn to a member of their practice squad.

Here’s a look at how Washington’s backfield should break down with Gibson out.

Top overall back and pass-catching back: RB J.D. McKissic

Gibson’s injury against the Steelers opened the door for McKissic, who ended up having a big day for Washington. He caught 10 passes against the Steelers for 70 yards, and Pittsburgh had a lot of trouble containing him out of the backfield. He ended the day with 15 touches and played 74 percent of the team’s offensive snaps.

McKissic figures to reprise this role for Washington in Week 14. He will surely be asked to be the lead pass-catching back, so that will put him in action on all third downs, and he will probably see plenty of action in two-back sets in the early downs to keep the 49ers off-balance. He probably won’t lead the team in carries because of his slighter frame, but expect him to lead the backfield in total touches.

Projected workload: 75 percent of offensive snaps, 17 touches (9 catches, 8 carries)

Between-the-tackles back: RB Peyton Barber

When Gibson went down last week, Barber became the new leader of the Washington backfield, at least from a rushing standpoint. He finished the day with a team-high 14 carries and while he only was able to generate 23 yards against the Steelers tough defense, he did find the end-zone for a TD.

Barber played 24 snaps against the Steelers (33 percent of Washington’s snaps). He will mostly be asked to operate in short-yardage and goal-line situations, as that is his strength, but he should get some early-down carries as well. He will work behind McKissic, but expect to see plenty of Barber in this game.

Projected workload: 40 percent of offensive snaps, 13 touches (all carries)

Change-of-pace back/depth: RB Javon Leake

Leake was activated off the COVID list and currently resides on Washington’s practice squad. He will likely be called up for the game on Sunday and will serve as the third back for the team.

Leake has some speed and explosion, but he probably won’t see a lot of action on offense. The team may put him back there for a snap or two to give the 49ers a different look, but he seems more likely to play on special teams and serve as depth. Maybe Leake will show well and earn some touches in the future, but he figures to play very little in this one.

Projected workload: 3 percent of offensive snaps, 1 carry

We’ll soon see what Washington plans on doing with their RB rotation, but it seems to be a safe bet that they will rely mostly on McKissic to carry the pass-catching load and more heavily on Barber to serve as a traditional, between-the-tackles runner.