Washington Football Team: Antonio Gibson a fantasy superstar?

MEMPHIS, TN - DECEMBER 7: Antonio Gibson #14 of the Memphis Tigers runs for a touchdown against the Cincinnati Bearcats during the American Athletic Conference Championship game on December 7, 2019 at Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium in Memphis, Tennessee. Memphis defeated Cincinnati 29-24. (Photo by Joe Murphy/Getty Images)
MEMPHIS, TN - DECEMBER 7: Antonio Gibson #14 of the Memphis Tigers runs for a touchdown against the Cincinnati Bearcats during the American Athletic Conference Championship game on December 7, 2019 at Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium in Memphis, Tennessee. Memphis defeated Cincinnati 29-24. (Photo by Joe Murphy/Getty Images)

What can the Washington Football Team expect from Antonio Gibson?

Antonio Gibson is a name that has been floated around pretty frequently this offseason. The hybrid running back, wide receiver drew comparisons to Christian McCaffrey from new Washington Football Team head coach Ron Rivera early on.

He’s been periodically remarked as a sleeper to watch for your fantasy football team. I even wrote about it back in June; Gibson was a big play waiting to happen in Memphis as evidenced by his 11.2 yards per carry. Given it was a very small sample size, a lot of experts had their doubts. And he was joining a crowded backfield.

In a matter of one month, the Washington Football Team has released both Derrius Guice and now Adrian Peterson. This opens up the avenue for a decent workload from Gibson. There was little doubt that Washington was going to try to get Gibson involved in the passing game and offer some manufactured touches to the third rounder. But with only Bryce Love and Peyton Barber in his way, Gibson could easily garner over 15 touches a game in this lackluster offense.

I don’t expect Gibson to run in between the tackles very much or even get the goal line work initially. However, he has a clear path to playing most of the snaps at running back. As a pass catching running back, he could be one of the top rookies in all of PPR.

I’d expect Washington to be down most games and try to pass their way back into a bunch of games. This means screens and check downs for someone like Gibson in the open field. He should’ve been on your radar for rounds 13 and 14 before both of these releases. Now, you’ll need to draft him as high as rounds 6-7 as a high-end FLEX candidate.