Washington Football Team: Antonio Gibson’s projected role will have fans buzzing with excitement
By Jerry Trotta
The Washington Football Team signed Ryan Fitzpatrick this offseason to give the offense more stability at the quarterback position after Alex Smith struggled to push the ball downfield last campaign.
That obviously isn’t a knock on Smith, who was clearly compromised coming back from nearly having his leg amputated. However, with Fitzpatrick under center, the passing game should definitely have more bite in 2021.
Having said that, the Football Team’s offense was built to play smash-mouth football. With an emerging star at the running back position, how could it not be?
Of course, we’re talking about Antonio Gibson, who really exceeded expectations after he was selected in the third round of the 2020 draft.
It goes without saying Gibson will be a focal point of the offense this season, but how big of a workload is the 23-year-old stud in for?
According to Kyle Allen, pretty damn big. After all, Allen told reporters that WFT is planning to use Gibson like the Panthers use…Christian McCaffrey.
Kyle Allen says Washington is trying to push Antonio Gibson into a similar role as Christian McCaffrey played in Carolina. That's a big role.
— JP Finlay (@JPFinlayNBCS) August 17, 2021
Antonio Gibson could post monster numbers as a sophomore.
If Allen’s comments are accurate, Gibson could post insane numbers in 2021. We all know Carolina’s offense runs through McCaffrey, who became just the third player in NFL history to finish with over 1,000 rushing yards and over 1,000 receiving yards in a single season back in 2019.
That year, McCaffrey topped his own NFL record for most catches by an RB in one season with 116. The Panthers star also managed 2,392 yards from scrimmage, which lead the league and was the third-most in one season in league history.
While it would be ridiculous to expect Gibson to post those numbers, it’s worth noting he boasts a similar skillset to that of McCaffrey.
Both players can withstand big hits, are decisive and elusive when carrying the football, and have soft hands as pass-catchers out of the backfield.
The only difference? McCaffrey didn’t have anyone eating into his workload. Gibson, meanwhile, has the versatile JD McKissic behind him on the depth chart.
However, with a quarterback in Fitzpatrick more willing to take shots downfield, Gibson could potentially see more work on passing downs.
Antonio Gibson used in hurry up offense on Sunday https://t.co/tVgqQHrP3H
— NBC Sports EDGE Football (@NBCSEdgeFB) August 9, 2021
Fans will remember that Smith often checked down to McKissic when his other options were blanketed in coverage. As a result, McKissic finished second among all RBs (Alvin Kamara was first) with 80 receptions last year.
As a rookie, Gibson tallied 795 rushing yards on 4.7 yards per carry and 11 touchdowns, which tied for fourth among RBs. Despite McKissic serving as the third down back, Gibson still hauled in 36 of his 44 targets for 247 yards.
The foundation is certainly there. As always, fans should take Allen’s comments with a grain of salt until we actually see Gibson given a McCaffrey-like workload.
However, given that Allen and Ron Rivera were both in Carolina when McCaffrey was breaking records left and right, it’s hard not to get excited thinking about the numbers Gibson could post for the Football Team in 2021.
If Allen’s comments hold up, WFT fans are in for something special.
