JD McKissic – Syndication Server

5 free agent running backs the Browns could still target in free agency

Which veteran options remain at running back?

It came as a surprise for some fans when the Cleveland Browns did not take a running back in a loaded class in the 2023 NFL draft. Currently, the team has just Nick Chubb and Jerome Ford on the depth chart outside of a couple of players that will battle in camp for a possible practice squad spot. Could they turn back to the open market and find one in NFL free agency?

It would seem unlikely that the team doesn’t bring in another player at the position before camp and could likely choose a veteran with experience in the NFL. Here are five of the best remaining running back free agents a couple of months before training camp begins.

J.D. McKissic reflects on spurring Bills during free agency

What JD McKissic said about that whole thing with the #Bills:

The Buffalo Bills were given the stiff arm by running back JD McKissic in free agency.

After agreeing to a two-year deal with the Bills, McKissic ended up back with his former team in the Washington Commanders.

How the story went, according to Buffalo general manager Brandon Beane, the deal was agreed and not yet signed. From there, Washington caught wind, and the Commanders matched the contract and re-signed McKissic.

McKissic has reflected on the situation from his vantage point now via ESPN.

According to the player, he just wanted to stay.

“You can’t ask for a better organization to be chosen by [in the Bills], but I had unfinished business in Washington. The way we left off, we felt we were inclining,” McKissic said. “I had things I wanted to prove in Washington. I made my decision off where I wanted to be. Buffalo is a great organization, but I feel we can do great things here as well.”

The report goes on to state that there was some kind of grey area between McKissic and the Commanders.

Reportedly the club thought they’d get any chance to match a deal McKissic was offered… even after they did not send him a deal at all.

That’s why they eventually did reach out themselves even when McKissic’s agent told the Commanders he had signed in Buffalo. Washington didn’t give up and then they re-sign him.

Regardless, Beane was not happy and expressed that. He even went on to say he now feels he has a “complicated” relationship toward the Commanders now.

McKissic eventually inked a two-year, $8.2 million deal in Washington.

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RB J.D. McKissic intends to sign with Buffalo Bills

RB J.D. McKissic intends to sign with the #Bills in free agency:

The Buffalo Bills have reportedly added a weapon coming out of their backfield to start things off in the second day of the NFL’s “tampering period” in free agency.

According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, former Washington Commanders running back J.D. McKissic intends to sign with the Bills.

McKissic, 28, was an undrafted player out of Arkansas State in 2016 with the Atlanta Falcons.

Check back for updates…

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Fuller interception saves Washington

Kendall Fuller’s interception saves Washington.

Kendall Fuller intercepted Russell Wilson’s two-point pass attempt in the end zone, and the Washington Football Team escaped with a 17-15 win over the Seattle Seahawks Monday at FedEx Field in Landover, MD.

The Washington defense had restricted the Seattle offense all night. Then in the game’s final two minutes, Wilson led the Seahawks 96 yards in ten plays, connecting with wide-open receiver Freddie Swain for a 32-yard touchdown with 15 seconds remaining, setting up the two-point attempt.

Leading 17-9, it appeared Washington had put the game out of reach, driving 84 yards in 16 plays, when on 4^th down from the Seattle three Taylor Heinicke passed to Logan Thomas for the game-clinching touchdown. However, upon further review, the replay confirmed Thomas had indeed lost control on his way to the ground, giving the ball to Seattle.

Leading 9-7, kicking woes again haunted Washington as kicker Joey Slye’s extra-point attempt was blocked near the close of the first half, and Slye pulled a hamstring chasing Seattle’s Rasheem Green who returned the recovered kick all the way for two points. Instead of leading 10-7 at the half, Washington had to settle for the score at 9-9.

Washington had easily controlled the game accumulating 27 first downs to Seattle’s 10, on 79 offensive snaps compared to only 45 for Seattle (3-8), rushing for 152 yards to a mere 34 for Seattle.

Washington possessed the ball for 41:40 to Seattle’s 18:20, yet the game came down to Fuller needing to bail out the defense for having permitted Wilson to drive the Seahawks 96 yards.

Antonio Gibson led Washington with 111 yards in 29 carries while running back partner J D McKissic scored both of Washington’s touchdowns. In the second quarter, McKissic caught a 10-yard score from Heinicke, and in the third quarter, he ran in a touchdown from ten yards. Gibson then ran in the successful two-point attempt providing Washington a 17-9 lead.

McKissic might have been seriously injured as he needed to be carted off of the field in the final quarter. He had carried seven times for 30 yards and caught five passes for 26 yards.

Heinicke completed 27 of his 35 passes for 223 yards, one touchdown and one interception.

Washington (5-6) has won three consecutive games (Tampa Bay, Carolina, Seattle) and will travel to Las Vegas to face the Raiders (6-5) Sunday, December 5, at 4:05 p.m.

Washington RBs coach Randy Jordan wants to see Antonio Gibson catching more passes in 2021

Washington running back Antonio Gibson had a stellar rookie season in 2020. Now, Washington wants to see the former college receiver more involved in the passing game in 2021.

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When the Washington Football Team selected running back Antonio Gibson in the third round of the 2020 NFL draft, no one believed he would lead the team in rushing as a rookie.

After all, Washington was bringing back Derrius Guice and Adrian Peterson in 2020. Fast forward to training camp, and Guice was released due to off-field issues, and Peterson was let go because the team loved what it saw from Gibson.

Gibson would go on to rush for 795 yards and 11 touchdowns while averaging 4.7 yards per rush. It’s also worth noting that Gibson battled a toe injury the entire month of December.

One element where Gibson could improve in 2021 is as a receiver. During his career at Memphis, Gibson split time between running back and wide receiver. Many WFT fans thought he’d be more involved as a pass-catcher as a rookie, but the J.D. McKissic on the roster, Gibson wasn’t used in that role too often.

McKissic, one of the top receiving backs in the NFL, caught 80 passes in 2020. Gibson finished with 36 receptions, but for only 247 yards.

Washington running backs coach Randy Jordan believes in Gibson’s ability as a receiver.

“I think that’s something we haven’t really tapped into a lot,” Jordan said after minicamp, per Zach Selby of washingtonfootball.com. “I think the biggest thing for him is utilizing his ability to catch the ball because he has caught the ball in college.”

Jordan is right. In 2019, Gibson finished with 38 receptions for 735 yards and eight touchdowns. He averaged over 19 yards per receptions, proving his ability as a big-play guy.

Offensive coordinator Scott Turner wants his running backs to be versatile, which fits both Gibson and McKissic to a tee. In addition, Gibson has spoken of wanting to be more involved as a receiver, but it comes down to how much of the playbook he retains.

For Jordan, it’s all about practice.

“First and foremost, he’s a football player,” Jordan said. “The more he does it, the more opportunities he has to do it; he’ll get better at it.”

The more Washington uses Gibson as a pass-catcher, the more dangerous this new-look offense will be in 2021. Paired with McKissic, Washington has one of the more versatile backfields in the NFL.

5 keys to victory for Washington over the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday

Washington arguably has the upper hand in a few key matchups, but they’re going to need to take care of these keys in order to be victorious against the 49ers.

If you were to take a blind resume of both teams heading into this game on Sunday, it seems pretty clear which should have the upper hand. One team is riding high on a three-game winning streak, coming off of their biggest win in several years, with a top-five defense in the NFL that has been nothing short of dominant in the second half of games.

The other team has been ravaged by injuries this season and is without both their starting QB and All-Pro tight end, forced instead to rely on a middling QB and a who’s-who of running backs and receivers to get the job done. Their defense is solid, but they’re missing their best player on that side of the ball as well.

Both teams have the same record; both teams are on the outside of the wild-card race looking in; both teams have a ton to fight for on Sunday. So why the are San Francisco 49ers favored by three points on a neutral field?

We don’t have an answer for you, but we can say that we feel confident in Washington’s chances to continue their winning streak this weekend, even if rookie RB Antonio Gibson is unable to play with a turf toe injury suffered last week. In order to pull out a win, though, Washington is going to need to what they’ve been doing for most of the season — rely on their defense and get a mistake-free game from Alex Smith. Here are our biggest keys to victory for Ron Rivera and his squad.

8 fantasy football waiver wire targets ahead of Week 10

Fantasy football wavier wire claims, targets, for Week 10.

Fantasy football has hit the middle point of the regular season and now, more than ever, a waiver wire pickup could make all the difference for your team. That’s especially the case with a couple of tough injuries that occurred in the NFL this past week.

With that, here are eight wavier wire claims to make in fantasy football ahead of Week 10:

What does Adrian Peterson’s release mean for your fantasy football team?

With Antonio Gibson now assuming the starting RB role in Washington, there are some major fantasy football implications to be had.

While the Washington Football Team is working to make their actual roster on the field work after the surprise release of veteran RB Adrian Peterson, there are a number of fantasy football managers around the world who may be wondering something similar.

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With the NFL season just a week from being kicked off, many teams have already been drafted, and it wouldn’t be a surprise if you rostered Peterson with hopes of him being the starting RB in Washington. So now that he’s gone, what do you do? Here are some tips.

Pick up Antonio Gibson Immediately

If you can do so, you need to be rushing to your waiver wire and looking to pick up rookie Antonio Gibson immediately if he is available, which may not be the case. Gibson has already been one of the young players picking up ‘sleeper buzz’ this season, so there’s a good chance that he is already rostered by someone who just won the lottery on Friday morning, but you at least need to check.

Even as the RB2 in Washington, many expected Gibson to have a nice rookie season where he could help win you a couple of games. Now that he is stepping into the starting role, though, his value just went through the roof. When you consider that the release of AP was primarily to give these young players more of a chance, namely Gibson, it’s exciting to think of the possibilities that he will have in Scott Turner’s offense. We could be dealing with a young superstar on our hands, and you’ll want to do everything you can to get a piece of it.

Hold on to Adrian Peterson

Just because AP is no longer a member of the Washington Football Team doesn’t mean his value has plummeted. In fact, depending on where he ends up landing, it could potentially help him down the road if he goes to a contending team that has an easier path to scoring points than Washington typically does.

I would hang onto AP for the time being and watch to see what happens. We saw two years ago in Washington that he doesn’t need much ramp-up time to get going, and he can definitely go to a new system and start to provide an impact right away.

Be open to fliers in Washington

This move seemingly caused all of the other backs in Washington to take a step forward in the value chart. While players like Bryce Love, J.D. McKissic, or Peyton Barber were unlikely to be rostered a couple of days ago, you can now look at potentially adding and stashing them for future use. If it were me, I would try to pick up McKissic first, and maybe Love if he is unavailable. We haven’t yet seen enough from Barber to make me think that he is going to have a legitimate impact on the offense in Washington, but it’s something to keep your eye on.

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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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Fantasy football: 5 sleepers to start, 5 starters to sit in Week 11

Fantasy football starters, sleepers, sits ahead of Week 11.

It’s crunch time in fantasy football.

A little scouting and you can avoid a crucial late-season loss or do just enough to cross the finish line with a win this week. We’ve got you covered with a quick scouting report to help you out.

Here are five sleepers to start and five starters you’ve got to sit in fantasy football Week 11:

Starts

New York Jets quarterback Sam Darnold. Credit: Noah K. Murray-USA TODAY Sports

QB Sam Darnold

Since returning from mono, the Jets and Sam Darnold haven’t have the best go of things. But he’s fresh off a very solid game in their meeting with the Giants in Week 10. An upcoming meeting with the Redskins suggests that could continue. Washington allows the highest completion rate (72.5 percent) and seventh-highest touchdown rate (100.7) to opposing quarterbacks. Darnold also has thrown at least 30 passes in every game this year.

RB Melvin Gordon

The Chiefs are known for the offense and known for their shaky defense. That shaky level starts with their run defense, the second-worst ranked run defense in the NFL. That plus Melvin Gordon is kind of back? In his last two games, he’s combined for 188 rushing yards and three touchdowns. Good idea for the Chargers to get him the ball this week.

RB JD McKissic

Also a potential sleeper to find on the wavier wire, JD McKissic has plenty of value for the Lions this week. With Kerryon Johnson out, Ty Johnson was the No. 2 but struggled while No. 3, McKissic, did better. Now Ty Johnson is injured and form considered, McKissic is the starter against the Cowboys this week for Detroit. McKissic has more carries and features in the pass game even with Matt Stafford out. The Cowboys have struggled against opposing backs in the air in recent weeks as well.

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