If you were to rank the position groups in Washington, there is no question that the defensive line sits at the very top, with a huge lead on the next closest. However, if you were to remove the dynamic lineup of Chase Young, Montez Sweat, Daron Payne, Jonathan Allen, Matt Ioannidis, and Ryan Kerrigan, which group stands the tallest?
It’s got to be the running backs, right? With a healthy Derrius Guice and Bryce Love, along with an ageless Adrian Peterson and hopefully dynamic Antonio Gibson, there is a lot of production to be had. Throw in the fact that either Peyton Barber or J.D. McKissic might find a way on to the team as well, and it’s clear that the backfield is where it’s at on offense.
So why did Pro Football Focus rate Washington’s RBs as the 26th best group in the NFL? Here was their reasoning.
The situation at running back will be determined by how much Adrian Peterson has left at age 35. He carried a heavy workload last season, totaling 211 carries and earning a 69.7 rushing grade to go along with a 4.3 yards per carry average. He’s still an effective runner, but he’s not the same dynamic big-play threat that he was earlier in his career.
Former second-rounder Derrius Guice showed the flashes that made him a home-run threat coming out of LSU, as he averaged 5.8 yards per carry on his 42 rushes. He’s battled injuries in his first two years in the league, but he should steal more touches if he’s healthy in 2020.
The wild card is third-round pick Antonio Gibson, a running back/wide receiver hybrid who could become one of the team’s best playmakers. Gibson averaged a ridiculous 11.2 yards per carry and 19.3 yards per reception in his hybrid role at Memphis last year, and Washington will do everything they can to get his 4.39 speed on the field.
Hard to argue with a lot of that, but it’s assuming the worst from the group. If Guice can live up to what we saw in flashes during 2019, and both Love and Gibson can do some of what made them so dynamic in college, Washington will definitely be able to lean on the run game on offense.
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