Tag: Derrius Guice

With Antonio Gibson, throw all conventional RB roles out the window

The Redskins have an extremely crowded backfield, but the addition of Antonio Gibson should allow them to mix and match with new formations.

Many fans of the Washington Redskins have looked at the team’s post-draft roster and wondered something along these lines: ‘With so many running backs, how are you going to find enough carries and snaps for everyone?’

It was likely the addition of RB Antonio Gibson — who Washington drafted with their pick at No. 66 in the 2020 NFL Draft — that caused this reaction. With Gibson now added to the Redskins RB depth chart, there are 7 players battling for reps (Derrius Guice, Adrian Peterson, Gibson, Bryce Love*, Peyton Barber, J.D. McKissick, and Josh Ferguson.) Quite a competition brewing.

However, the addition of Gibson will be treated a bit differently in Washington. While he is primarily designated as an RB, OC Scott Turner and the Redskins don’t plan to treat him as such, and having him on the field likely won’t stop a formation from having 1-2 other backs in the backfield as well.

“It’s not like with a normal running back,” said Kyle Smith, the Redskins VP of Player Personnel, via The Athletic. “You can put (Antonio) on the field with Adrian Peterson, with Derrius Guice, J.D. McKissic, Bryce (Love)… it opens up a lot of different options for our offense.”

This is mainly due to Gibson’s positionless nature. During his time at Memphis, he often split out wide as a receiver, and showed a great ability to operate out of the slot as well. When talking to teams at the Senior Bowl during the pre-draft process, he told everyone that he wanted to be thought of as “an offensive weapon.”

“He was brought to our attention because they moved him around at the Senior Bowl,” coach Ron Rivera said. “Kyle and his guys kept pointing him out.”

So are there times when Gibson will be lined up in a single-back behind QB Dwayne Haskins? Sure. But there are also several formations that figure to split him out wide alongside Terry McLaurin and Steven Sims, with Guice and AP lined up alongside Haskins. The possibilities are endless, and that’s what Gibson brings to this offense. While you and I may be wondering what Washington is going to do on each and every snap, the defense will be guessing as well.

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It might be incredibly hard to take the RB1 job away from Adrian Peterson

Peterson came to the Redskins in 2018 and took over the RB1 role on short notice, and despite younger additions, he may not give it up.

The Washington Redskins roster is progressively getting younger and more agile, as players continue to come in with more range and a wider set of skills than we’ve seen in Washington for a while. Take players like RB Antonio Gibson, or WR Isaiah Wright — both have a positional tag before their name, but coaches have already said that they plan to move them across the offense and plug them into holes where they see fit.

Then you have veteran players on the Redskins roster who do one thing, and they do one thing extremely well. The person in question is Adrian Peterson, who is as good of a downhill runner as there’s ever been in the NFL, but the team may be changing around him.

ESPN already pegged AP to be the next big roster cut for the Redskins, but NBC Sports’ Peter King doesn’t think it will be that easy to supplant him from his role as the lead back.

“You walk into camp and somebody’s got to knock out Adrian Peterson,” King said, via NBC Sports Washington. “He’s like Rocky Balboa. No matter how many shots he took that guy’s not going to be knocked out.”

It may be easy to count out the 35-year-old back who has a lot of miles on his legs but based on his play alone, there’s no reason to think that Peterson is slowing down any time soon. In 2018 he came to Washington during fall camp and proceeded to rush for over 1,000 yards; in 2019 he stepped in for an injured Derrius Guice and started more than 10 games, totaling just under 900 yards. While everyone else in the Redskins’ RB room remains either injured or unproven, AP has remained a constant workhorse.

“That’s the same thing when I see Adrian Peterson. Year after year,” King said, “it’s not like he’s hanging on by a thread, he’s playing good football.”

The team may be changing around him, but there’s no guarantee that Peterson will have to change with it to succeed. There’s also no guarantee that someone will be able to knock him out of the RB1 role any time soon, which may be just fine for the Redskins.

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Which Redskins player will lead Washington in jersey sales in 2020?

The Redskins didn’t have any representatives in the top 50 of NFL jersey sales, so who’s the most likely to make the list in 2020?

The NFLPA released the top 50 players in merchandise sales for the last year, which spanned from March 1, 2019 to February 29, 2020.

There were no members of the Washington Redskins on the list.

That’s not incredibly surprising, as the Redskins aren’t very good just yet. If you were to think about who the best players on the team were last season, you might think Terry McLaurin, or Adrian Peterson, or Landon Collins, but they aren’t exactly players whose jerseys are flying off the shelf. McLaurin had a stellar year as a rookie, but even how he isn’t too well known outside of Redskins circles, or the fantasy football world.

Just because Washington didn’t crack to top 50 in 2019 doesn’t mean that it can’t earn some praise in the future. So of their numerous young stars on the roster, who will be the next player to make the list? Let’s rank our options.

Honorable Mentions:

(Photo by Todd Kirkland/Getty Images)
  • Montez Sweat
  • Kendal Fuller
  • Adrian Peterson
  • Landon Collins
  • Steven Sims

Let’s be honest, none of these guys are going to crack the top 100, let alone the top 50 any time soon. They may be fan favorites in Washington, but outside of the District, few people could tell you how their season is going.

No. 5 — Ryan Kerrigan

(Photo by Patrick McDermott/Getty Images)

Ever since the fall of Trent Williams, Kerrigan probably stands as the reigning fan favorite in Washington, as his career-long run with the Redskins has embedded him deeply in the hearts of many. His iron-man streak of 139 consecutive games was impressive, to say the least, but the knock against Kerrigan is how underrated he has been his whole career. Far be it for an average NFL fan to tell you anything about him. On top of that, he is on the back-nine of his career, so jersey sales will likely start to fall as he ages out.

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Ranking the Washington Redskins position groups from best to worst

Aside from a few rookies, the Redskins roster is set for the most part — so which position group is the strongest, and which is the weakest?

The 2020 NFL Free Agency period is still open, but things have wound down for the Washington Redskins for the most part, and the team is largely set with their roster aside from the addition of a handful of draft picks that are set to come later this month.

So if this is largely the final product that we have to work with before the 53-man roster cut, where are the strengths, and where are the weaknesses? We break it all down here in our rankings of the Redskins nine position groups, starting with the worst and going down the line to the very best of the best.

No. 9 — Tight Ends

(Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)

The tight end position was a major area of need for the Redskins heading into free agency, and they did very little to address it. After both Jordan Reed and Vernon Davis missed most of the 2019 season with injuries, it was apparent that Washington needed to do something in order to better round out that part of the field and help their young quarterback by offering a safety valve over the middle. It looks like we’re still waiting for that to happen.

The Redskins added Richard Rodgers and Logan Thomas in free agency, but neither of them feels like surefire starters once the regular season rolls around. It’s likely that Washington will try to draft a TE somewhere in the third or fourth round later this month, but even the best TE in the 2020 draft class would have to be pretty spectacular if he wants to improve this position group for the Redskins.

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Report: Derrius Guice sued for $500,000 by former agent for loan, unpaid fees

Guice is reportedly being sued by his former agent after a $191,000 loan went unpaid, and marketing fees were not paid.

A new report has surfaced that Washington Redskins running back Derrius Guice is being sued by his former agent, Fadde Mikhail, for $500,000.

According to the Washington Times, Mikhail, who represented Guice for four months before the RB signed with Lil Wayne’s Young Money sports agency, filed the suit in California on March 31, seeking damages.

In the suit, Mikhail claims he loaned Guice $191,000 in early 2018. He also alleges he’s entitled to 15% for the deals negotiated during his time as the running back’s agent. It is common practice for agents to loan money against future earnings to help them with their pre-draft expenses.

In the lawsuit, Mikhail claims that he negotiated a $260,000 contract with Nike for Guice, a $35,000 deal from Hyundai, a $50,000 trading card deal, an autograph deal that would have paid up to $600,000 in signings and appearances, and more.

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JD McKissic says pass-catching ability sets him apart from other Redskins RBs

McKissic knows it will be a tough competition for RB snaps this offseason, but he knows his ability as a pass-catcher will help set him apart.

The Washington Redskins will be dealing with a number of new things in 2020. Whether that be new players, new coaches, or new schemes, everything will be a bit fresh for the majority of players on the roster, and the coaches will have to manage that newness while they try to navigate an uncertain offseason.

This is one of the reasons Washington made a point to focus on veteran players who they have some familiarity with this offseason. Players like Kendall Fuller, Thomas Davis, and Kyle Allen. Players that they won’t have to hold the hand of through every step of the learning period.

Another player that could be fit into this category is running back JD McKissic. The Redskins added the four-year pro to their deep stable of running backs, hoping he can compete for a share of the workload and find his way into offensive success. Lucky for McKissic, he has a leg up on other players on the depth chart, seeing as he is the lead pass-catching back on the roster. The others are capable, but McKissic is proficient, and that matters in Scott Turner’s new offense.

Think about Christian McCaffery, who had over 1,000 yards receiving and four touchdowns in 2019 alone. He was operating in Turner’s system — a system that is now in Washington, looking for a pass-catching back to shoulder some of the load. McKissic is a great candidate, seeing as he played wide receiver at Arkansas state in college. While his size forced him to transition into a scat-back role in the NFL, that doesn’t change his mindset.

“I will always feel like I’m a receiver just because I’ve done it my whole life,” he said, via NBC Sports Washington. “I never want to lose my receiver ability. I feel like it’s kept me in the league to do something different. That’s what sets me apart from a lot of other guys.”

It will have the chance to set him apart in Washington as well. Turner’s offense excels with a pass-catching back on the roster, and outside of McKissic, there are few people to fill that role. Adrian Peterson is better used elsewhere; Derrius Guice proved able in 2019, though it’s too small of a sample size to glean anything from. Who knows if Bryce Love will be healthy, and Peyton Barber has never had more than 20 receptions per season in his career.

That leaves McKissic. In a highly-competitive battle for playing time, he has a way to set himself apart from the rest.

“I got to keep my route running up. I can’t let them forget that I was a wide receiver.”

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Derrius Guice doesn’t want to hear about ‘QB X’ to Redskins

Guice took to social media to endorse second-year QB Dwayne Haskins, saying that the Redskins have their guy.

The Washington Redskins roster has been fairly fluid over the past couple of months. Some new players have come in, like Kendall Fuller, Thomas Davis, and Kevin Pierre-Louis, and others have gone like Ereck Flowers, and likely soon, Trent Williams.

In the midst of NFL free agency, there have been more conversations sparked about the potential of the Redskins bringing in a new quarterback; someone who can either compete with Dwayne Haskins for the starting job or someone who has the stature to take it from him outright. The latest name on this list is Cam Newton, the Carolina Panthers former MVP who led them, and now Redskins coach Ron Rivera, to a Super Bowl appearance in 2015. Many have pondered this possibility as of late, but one high-profile player in Washington wants to hear nothing of it.

Derrius Guice feels confident that they have their man.

Guice has played in minimal games with Haskins, but he has undoubtedly seen a lot of him this offseason as the two work hard to improve their game for the future, and in Guice’s case, stay as healthy as possible. It seems that their bond has strengthened, and the young duo feels confident in what they have in Washington going forward.

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Report: Redskins to pursue Cardinals RB Kenyan Drake if available in free agency

Drake may not ever make it to free agency, but if he does, the Redskins are reportedly interested in bringing him onto the roster.

Though the need isn’t high up on the list of things to address this offseason, it wouldn’t come as a shock to see the Washington Redskins look to add another running back to the roster in free agency or the NFL Draft over the coming months.

As it stands now, Adrian Peterson is the incumbent RB1 in Washington, while both Derrius Guice and Bryce Love are sitting in the waiting, hoping to stay healthy long enough to make a difference in the offense. However, their struggles with injury over the past couple of years present a legitimate need for the Redskins to add depth to the position.

A recent report from ESPN’s John Keim on his podcast, The John Keim Report, says that Washington might look to land a big fish on the free agency market, should his current team agree to let him walk.

“One guy I think they could, and will pursue if he’s free, is Arizona running back Kenyan Drake,” Keim said. “I had one league source tell me that’s what he thinks the Redskins will do based on the chatter that you hear. Drake would be a good fit; a back who could help both as a runner and as a receiver.”

There were rumors that the Redskins could potentially look to trade for Arizona RB David Johnson earlier this season, but landing Drake would be an even bigger get, as he’s coming off of a monster stretch of the 2019 season, where he totaled eight touchdowns in eight games after being traded to the Cardinals mid-season.

Because of that, there’s no guarantee that the Cardinals will let Drake go, and many believe they will do everything they can to re-sign him once free agency rolls around. However, should he hit the open market, it would make sense for the Redskins to try to sign him. As a veteran player who still has a lot left in the tank, Drake could complement the Redskins’ roster as a dynamic change-of-pace from Peterson, and he could likely be signed on a contract worth $8-9 million per season.

The first step of this all is seeing whether or not Drake is available to sign when the time comes. But if he is, the Redskins might be quick to get in his ear.

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Dwayne Haskins and Derrius Guice are in the gym, putting in work this offseason

Two of the Redskins’ best young players are working to knock the stigma’s that’ve formed around their young careers and doing so in the gym.

Any NFL player can talk the talk during the offseason, claiming that you’ve been in the gym all day, every day and that your life is dedicated to getting better on the field. What matters most is that you actually walk the walk, and it leads to improvement in the next season.

We don’t know if it will lead to more success on the football field — or more time simply spent on the field in Derrius Guice’s case — but we do know that both Washington Redskins’ quarterback Dwayne Haskins, and Guice, their running back, have been putting in the work so far this offseason.

These videos are highly encouraging to Redskins fans because they show exactly what you want to see. The biggest knock on Haskins in his rookie season was that he hadn’t completely bought in, and wasn’t quite putting in the level of work that you desire from your future franchise QB. Now, with buzz swirling around him that the team that drafted him might choose to draft another QB this year as well, Haskins can be found in the gym, and on the field, putting in work.

The same goes for Guice, who has seen his young and promising career derailed by injuries thus far, as he’s been sent to the Injured Reserve three times already in two years. Rehab appears to be going well, though, as Guice is seen getting a set of explosive squats out of the way.

There’s no guarantee that this hard work in the offseason will amount to any success for the Redskins, but it’s not going to make them worse. The young players are buying in, and you love to see it.

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A core set of players have been set for Redskins ahead of 2020 season

The Redskins have identified their core set of players that they plan to take into the 2020 season, according to Kyle Smith.

For any team that is starting fresh and working with some new voices at the very top, there is a checklist that you must go through in order to get the ball rolling again in the offseason.

This is very true of the Washington Redskins, who are virtually starting anew at 90 percent of the major positions in the coaching staff and front office this season. Since Ron Rivera took over, and many of the front office members transitioned into their new roles, we’ve been operating in the dark as far as assuming what the Redskins have been up to. However, when Kyle Smith, the VP of Player Personnel, chatted with the media on Tuesday at the 2020 NFL Combine, we got to get a glimpse at what’s been going on behind closed doors in Ashburn.

Near the top of the list of ‘to-do’s’ for the Redskins was determining a core of players that they plan to build around for the future. It could be 20 players, it could be 40 players; what matters is that the coaches and decision-makers are confident that they have a group of Redskins that they can trust will be there come fall, should all go right. Smith said that he’s confident the team has found that thus far.

“We’ve set our core,” Smith said, via Redskins.com. “We’ve identified who our core players are and what positions we’re going to be attacking in the offseason, whether it be free agency or the draft.”

So who is the core of players? That’s still unknown, but we can at least take an educated guess. Obviously, it involves players like Dwayne Haskins, Terry McLaurin, Derrius Guice, Steven Sims Jr., and other productive offensive players. It also is safe to assume that Landon Collins, Montez Sweat, Daron Payne, Jonathan Allen, and Cole Holcomb made the list as well. But what about players like Cam Sims, or Deshazor Everett, or Aaron Colvin? How does the team view Quinton Dunbar or Brandon Scherff? That much is still up for debate.

We probably won’t ever know the exact list, but as the offseason rolls on and more cuts are made ahead of the 2020 season, we’ll get a clearer idea for sure.

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