Antonio Gibson making skeptics look silly in his rookie year

Antonio Gibson is making his skeptics look silly so far as a rookie.

When the Washington Football Team used the 66th overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft on Memphis offensive weapon Antonio Gibson, the selection was understandably met with some skepticism.

Gibson was a one-year wonder at Memphis with tremendous versatility on offense, catching 38 passes for 735 yards and eight touchdowns while running the ball 33 times for 369 yards and four scores.

He also had 645 kick return touchdowns and a touchdown in that department.

After running a 4.39 in the 40-yard dash and validating the explosiveness he showed on tape at Memphis, the Washington Football Team made him their first selection after they picked Chase Young second overall.

Scouts, pundits, and league sources didn’t all feel as though Washington made a very wise investment with that 66th overall pick.

As a matter of fact, one scout said they didn’t feel Gibson would “ever” become a no. 1 tailback at the NFL level.

Those assessments seem funny now, even as justified as they may have been seven months ago.

Not only is Gibson absolutely killing it as a number one tailback for the Washington Football Team, but he’s also the best rookie in the NFL at breaking tackles (8) and the second-best rookie in terms of yards after the catch per reception (9.5 yards).

Although Washington hasn’t had a ton to write home about this season, Antonio Gibson has been tremendous for them and certainly looks like he will make the assessment that he will never develop into a RB1 look silly.

Ron Rivera understandably took a liking to the way Christian McCaffrey impacted the Carolina offense both as a runner and receiver. Gibson already has arguably better production than McCaffrey did his whole 16-game rookie season, and he has proven himself to be much more consistent as a featured runner than many expected.