The Washington backfield is wide open and Antonio Gibson is ready to go to work. pic.twitter.com/TqGLaTYP4g
— Field Yates (@FieldYates) September 4, 2020
With the news about Washington releasing running back Adrian Peterson on Friday aside, the ramifications are potentially big when it comes to Antonio Gibson and your fantasy team. The rookie was already flying under the radar as a sleeper in some deeper leagues, with many hoping that his usage rate in Scott Turner’s offense was going to grow as time went on. But now that he is the de facto No. 1 back in Washington, things could get a bit interesting.
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This is where we have to work to calibrate our expectations. Any starting running back in the NFL is worthy of being rostered in fantasy football, but just because Gibson is the RB1 in Washington doesn’t mean that he is someone you’ll be starting each and every week. However, he is absolutely someone that you should be picking up off of your waiver wire if he’s available, and there is a high-ceiling for what he can do if all goes right.
We also need to be ready for the possibility that Gibson is a bit underwhelming, considering the high expectations that are now on him to perform. As a rookie running back who only has 33 career carries out of the backfield, there’s definitely a big chance that he gets overwhelmed in his rookie season and struggles to make much of a difference. Of course, we hope the opposite is true, but it’s smart to prepare for either.
What it boils down to, for fantasy purposes at least, is taking advantage of a low-risk, high-reward player that could potentially pay dividends for you down the road. If you are able to grab Gibson off of the waiver wire, or if you haven’t drafted yet and you add him to your team in the middle-to-late rounds, how much will it hurt you if he busts in his rookie season?
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