Antonio Gibson, University of Memphis
Antonio Gibson was taken at Pick 66 in Round 3 by the Washington Redskins and was the seventh running back off the board. He spent two years at the University of Memphis where he ran for 369 yards on 33 carries (11.2 yards per carry) and caught 38 passes for 735 yards with 12 total touchdowns during his last year in college.
Athletic Profile
Film Analysis
Running: Antonio Gibson didn’t do much running at Memphis. He spent most of his time out wide, but when he was in the backfield he was a threat to break a long run every play. Gibson averaged 11.2 yards per carry on 33 attempts with seven touchdowns of at least 40 yards long. He is a little raw at playing running back at higher levels since he hasn’t played the position full time since his high school days. It showed as he was a little slow with his first step and his vision behind the line of scrimmage was somewhat inconsistent. He needs to develop some patience and timing to set up blocks. He makes up for that when he gets into space though. He accelerates well and his vision improves when he has room to work. Between the tackles, he’s not terrible though. Gibson showed pretty good leg drive and contact balance as he bounced off of some weaker tacklers. He definitely needs to grow as a runner to make it at the next level, but the versatility he offers raises his draft stock.
Receiving: Antonio Gibson was a receiver in college and I didn’t see him drop a pass in any game I watched. That’s a really good sign. I didn’t see him run too many routes out of the backfield, but as a receiver his route running was alright. He drifted on some of his routes and isn’t that fast in and out of his breaks. He has room to improve here, but in the NFL he may see linebackers covering him which could offer an advantage given his speed and agility.
Pass Blocking: He’s a bigger back, but there wasn’t much tape on him as a pass blocker given that he was usually out wide for passing plays. He’ll need some coaching here, but it may not stop him from getting on the field early in his career because he can play wide receiver.
Please enjoy this free preview of Factory Sports dynasty football content. If you are not already a Factory Sports member, you can sign up right here. For just $19.99 a year, you get all of our Dynasty, Redraft, IDP, Devy, and DFS content. Become a member today.
Landing Spot Reaction
Antonio Gibson was drafted as a running back, but being drafted by Ron Rivera means he may be seeing time in a Curtis Samuel role. This role might be very similar to his role in college. Washington has a hodgepodge of running backs in its stable as of today with Adrian Peterson, Derius Guice, and Bryce Love being joined by offseason signings Josh Ferguson, J.D. McKissic, and Peyton Barber. However, the receiving corps is unheard of with Kelvin Harmon, Terry McLaurin, and Steven Sims Jr. “leading” them…Gibson will come in and be utilized all over the field, but I expect him to play mostly out wide. With that said, even with Rivera having experience utilizing Curtis Samuel in Carolina, I still don’t like the landing spot at all. It would have been much better for him to go somewhere where there was a need for a full time third down running back so he could see the field quickly, but I just don’t see fantasy relevance in his near future.
It’s hard to talk about the players Gibson impacts, because no one really knows. The best talent will rise to the top, so if Gibson plays well, I can see Steven Sims Jr. being the biggest loser of this pick. Second-year quarterback Dwayne Haskins should be aided slightly by having a versatile weapon such as Gibson, but it doesn’t move the needle on his dynasty value for me.
Dynasty Draft Projection
At first look I thought he was just a size speed prospect with really good top end speed. Well, that’s definitely what he is! Gibson is 6’2 and ran a 4.39 forty yard dash at the combine tying him for the fastest running back with Jonathan Taylor. Unfortunately, he’s in a situation where there’s long-term uncertainty at the quarterback position and the backfield is over crowded. If Adrian Peterson retires, and Gibson can develop into a true running back, he may be able to usurp snaps from oft-injured Derius Guice. Overall I really don’t think Gibson can be consistently fantasy relevant until a few years pass and the Redskins roster gets turned over, allowing the best players to be utilized correctly. Gibson is going to be valued as a late third or fourth round pick for me and will probably take a few years to turn into a consistent fantasy asset.
Draft Night-Where would I take him in a dynasty draft? Did he move in my rankings?Thanks for reading and stay tuned to Dynasty Football Factory for all your NFL Draft night coverage. Follow me on Twitter @DFF_JoeMem to join in on the draft conversation!
