Antonio Gibson, Washington’s pick Thursday in the third round of the NFL Draft, is officially listed as a running back, but limiting him to just one position would be doing him a disservice. Gibson only had 33 carries in final season at Memphis, but he averaged 11.2 yards per carry. He was more often used as a slot receiver, with 38 catches for 735 yards, at 19.3 yards per reception, and eight touchdowns. Those numbers are staggeringly high and are unlikely to be replicated at a sustainable level in the NFL, but they do show just how explosive Gibson is with the ball in his hands.
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Gibson has a potent blend of size and speed, standing at 6-feet, 228 pounds with a 4.39 40-yard dash time at the combine. That gives Gibson the speed to run away from defenders and be a constant home run threat while also allowing him the strength to withstand hits and maintain balance through contact when breaking tackles.
On this play against SMU, Gibson aligns in the backfield to the right of the quarterback. The run is designed to work outside to the left, with Gibson working his read off of the other back, who acts as the lead blocker. The back attempts to kick out the defender, so Gibson cuts his run inside. However, the defender cuts across the face of his blocker and grabs on to Gibson. Gibson bounces off the contact while maintaining his balance and drives his legs forward. He works his way out of the tackle before making an excellent jump cut to skip by another defender untouched. From there, Gibson shows off his speed as he runs away from the rest of the defense down the sideline for a 78-yard touchdown.
That might seem like just a fluke run, but Gibson had these types of plays regularly last season. Cincinnati was the victim of another one of his explosive carries.
Like before, Gibson takes the carry on an outside run to the left. However, this time a linebacker runs through the “A” gap between the center and right guard, and Gibson cuts inside. He avoids the linebacker by cutting behind him before bouncing his run back towards his original path to prevent the backside of the defense from catching up and making the tackle. A defensive tackle, who had looked washed out of the play, suddenly works back across the field to try to tackle Gibson, but he makes another sharp jump cut to elude him and get to the edge. Once he finds a path to the edge, Gibson runs for a 65-yard touchdown.
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As a running back, Gibson is explosive but still somewhat raw. Those 33 carries in 2019 are the only carries in his college career. However, he showed enough potential in those plays to merit being labeled as a running back. We’ve seen the explosiveness in the previous two plays, but also glimpses of other critical traits in a running back’s game. He shows great contact balance and drives to keep fighting for extra yards as well as the ability to make sharp cuts. His vision and toughness are also positive traits that flash on film.
This is yet another outside run to the left from the shotgun. As he secures the snap, his left guard gets knocked into the backfield by a linebacker, taking away his original path. Gibson cuts it back inside immediately but finds his center missed his block on the other linebacker. Gibson bails out his center by attempting a quick jump cut. He does well to make himself skinny, minimizing the target for the linebacker to tackle while extending out his left arm to force the linebacker down to the ground. Having broken that tackle, Gibson bounces off another tackle attempt, with the defender landing his helmet on Gibson’s hip, but failing to wrap up. Gibson shows great contact balance and continues to pump his legs to drive forward as the rest of the defense catches up to bring him down, but not before he picks up 14 yards.
Gibson was announced as a running back and will join a crowded running back group who all have far more experience. He’ll have to learn new running schemes involving different reads and paths, both from the gun and with the quarterback under center. But even with that learning curve, Gibson has value to the team from Day 1. Offensive coordinator Scott Turner loves versatility at the skill positions and Gibson offers that in abundance. He won’t exclusively line up at running back. Instead, Turner will find creative ways to manufacture touches for Gibson, letting him take some carries but also motioning him into the slot and getting him some catches. At Memphis, he was particularly threatening in the screen game.
On this play against Penn State, Memphis aligns in an empty formation with Gibson in the slot to the left. He runs a tunnel screen, taking a step forward before working back inside towards the quarterback. After securing a low throw, Gibson turns up the field where an unblocked corner off the edge almost immediately meets him. Gibson makes an incredible jump cut to avoid the cornerback before accelerating forward and working through an arm tackle from another defender. He works into the secondary and breaks another tackle from a safety before other defenders catch up and bring him down. Gibson made four defenders miss and picked up 15 yards on a play where many receivers wouldn’t have gotten past the line of scrimmage.
The suddenness with jump cuts and acceleration make Gibson very hard to bring down with the ball in his hands, making him ideally suited to the screen game.
This time, Gibson runs a bubble screen to the right of the formation. When he secures the catch, he’s already near the sideline with little room to work. The outside corner spins off the block of the outside receiver, taking away Gibson’s path down the sideline. So Gibson cuts back inside, avoiding the corner before bursting back up the sideline. He’s approached by the safety and sells a strong jab step outside, as seen on the end zone angle of the clip, to force the safety to overcommit to the edge. That allows Gibson to cut inside and once again maximize the yards on offer.
Gibson is so explosive with the ball in his hands that, as we’ve seen, he’s a threat to score on any given play. That’s why Memphis designed screen passes to him, just to make sure they could get the ball in his hands with some space for him to work.
On this play against Houston, Gibson is again the target of a bubble screen, this time to the left. A safety rotates over him but plays off the line of scrimmage, allowing Gibson a cushion. Gibson again bursts back inside once securing the catch. He breaks through some weak tackle attempts, spinning out of a three-man attempt and bouncing off a fourth defender before using his strong jump cut to elude a fifth defender and get to the sideline. From there, Gibson accelerates and it takes a terrific effort from the corner on the opposite side of the field to chase him down and prevent a touchdown.
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The screen game will allow the Redskins to manufacture some touches for Gibson, but they’ll also be looking for him to contribute as a receiver running routes. Gibson has more experience as a receiver than a running back, but his route tree at Memphis was limited, and his route running was inconsistent. There were plenty of times when defenders were able to read and diagnose his routes early one and even run the routes for him.
On these two plays, the defenders tasked with covering Gibson make good plays, reading the route and making the break on the ball before Gibson. On the first play, Gibson runs a corner route in the red zone. He attempts to sell a fake to the post before breaking outside but is unconvincing, and the safety reads it perfectly. The safety breaks outside and stays on top of the route, breaking up the pass to prevent a touchdown. On the second play, Gibson appears to run a choice route, or perhaps just a slant route. Either way, he looks to win inside with a delayed-release off the line of scrimmage and a fake to the outside. The linebacker in coverage doesn’t bite on the fake, instead he breaks on the cut before Gibson even makes his break. This nearly results in an interception.
Gibson will need plenty of work with his route running, but the upside here is that his athleticism and quick feet should enable him to excel in that area down the line. It’s not that all of his routes are terrible either; there are times when he shows the ability to release off the line of scrimmage quickly and separate from coverage.
Here, Gibson runs a deep over route or an “Action 2” route as it may be referred to in the Turner playbook. Receivers are often taught the rule “under one, over two” on these types of routes, meaning they need to break underneath the first defender they encounter, but gain depth and work over the top of the second. Gibson does a great job getting vertical and forcing the linebacker to open his hips to the sideline. That allows him to cross the defender’s face, breaking inside and underneath the linebacker. He then gains more depth and works over the top of the second defender. While the route is a good one, the stand out part of this play is the catch. The throw is a little bit high and behind Gibson, but he makes the necessary adjustment, going up to snag the catch while adjusting his body position in the air.
That ability to adjust his body in the air and extend out to make a strong hands catch is a big plus for Gibson as a receiver. He’ll need developing to separate consistently from NFL caliber defensive backs, and he’ll have to learn to expand his route tree. However, the versatility he’ll bring to the offense will create favorable matchups. As a running back that can motion outside, defenses will have to choose to use a linebacker or safety in coverage, or switch personnel and add an extra corner to cover him, but risk being light in the run game. Schematically, that’s a huge advantage, but it will also allow Gibson the opportunity to face weaker coverage defenders, where the scheme can allow him to be successful without needing crisp and precise routes.
On this play, SMU opts to align a safety opposite Gibson in the slot to the left. Gibson runs an out-and-up double move, designed to get the safety to bite on the out before breaking up the field. The route from Gibson isn’t necessarily perfect, he could take a flatter angle towards the sideline to sell the fake a little more, but he does turn his head inside just enough to get the safety to bite, with the help of a pump fake from the quarterback. The safety begins to drive down on the out route, leaving space behind him for Gibson to work. Gibson turns back up the field and runs by the safety, who can’t keep up as he transitions from driving down on the route to turning and running down the sideline. Gibson runs under a great throw and makes the catch in stride on his way to a 50-yard touchdown.
Gibson has a lot to offer the Redskins and can be an explosive playmaker. However, he is raw as both a running back and wide receiver. The Redskins will have to be smart with how they use him, manufacturing a certain number of touches a game for him, with a few basic run schemes, some screens, and a set number of passing concepts. However, Turner has already shown both the willingness and capability to use players with Gibson’s skill set effectively. In Carolina, he had Christian McCaffrey and Curtis Samuel, who both had similar skillsets to Gibson. His versatility is a perfect fit with what Turner looks to do with his offense, moving guys around to manipulate matchups, and that should ultimately benefit quarterback Dwayne Haskins.
(Photo: John Bunch / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)