11. Antonio Gibson, Memphis
Height: 6’0″ Weight: 228
40-Yard Dash: 4.39 seconds
Bench Press: 16 reps
Vertical Jump: 35.0 inches
Broad Jump: 118.0 inches
3-Cone Drill: N/A
20-Yard Shuttle: N/A
60-Yard Shuttle: N/A
Bio: After starring in football, basketball, and track at Eagle’s Landing High School in Atlanta, Gibson spent two seasons at East Central Community College in Mississippi, earning All-State honors. He was purely a receiver in his first year in Memphis, catching six passes for 99 yards and two touchdowns, giving the world a hint of his explosive potential. In 2019, he upped his game to 38 receptions for 735 yards and eight touchdowns, adding 33 carries for 369 yards and four more scores. He also returned 23 kickoffs for 645 yards and another touchdown in 2019. While Gibson certainly could be cast as a receiver, it’s his running back skills that have teams excited.
Stat to Know: Gibson is one of the NCAA’s most productive athletic freaks, albeit with a very small sample size. In 2019, he broke 16 tackles on 33 rushing attempts, and 17 tackles on 38 catches. To have a near-50% broken tackle rate on your touches for any period of time is… absolutely ridiculous.
Strengths: Built like a rocked-up tight end. Legit 4.4 speed at his size is rare, and it shows up on tape. Gibson’s combination of speed, power, and contact balance is like something out of a science fiction movie. His quickness shows up whether he’s running in a straight line or working his way across the field. As a receiver, he’s able to break away from safeties downfield just as well as he can stiff-arm a linebacker out of the play. As a runner, he works his cuts quickly enough to make defenders wonder what the heck is going on, and he can get right back up to speed after cutting. Arm tacklers will just bounce right off him.
Weaknesses: Limited exposure to the running back position shows up in Gibson’s newness to the nuances of the role. Runs high and straight too often and doesn’t yet understand how to vary his movement in traffic. Everything is a 95-mile-per-hour fastball at this point, though it’s one impressive fastball. Needs to learn the art of hands-catching, and the particulars of a full route tree.
Conclusion: The team that takes a chance on Gibson should be a team that understands his limitations as well as his athletic strengths. He could absolutely be a running back/receiver hybrid, and his kick return prowess adds a dimension that could get him on the field early.
NFL Comparison: Cordarrelle Patterson. The Vikings took the Tennessee alum in the first round of the 2013 draft despite Patterson’s inability to bring a sense of nuance to his positions as a receiver, runner, and returner. Patterson has enjoyed explosive moments in the first two categories and outright dominance in the third. Gibson may have even more raw athletic potential; the only question is, how many of the proverbial little things can he add to his palette?
Moss | Swift | Taylor | Edwards-Helaire | Dobbins | Akers |
Benjamin | Dillon | Evans | Perine | Gibson