Arians: Buccaneers Considered Drafting Washington's Antonio Gibson

Bruce Arians shares his thoughts on Washington running back Antonio Gibson.

Everyone's attention will be on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' explosive offense against a dominant Washington defense this upcoming Saturday in the NFC Wild Card round. But flip the script and you'll notice that this Washington offense, despite lackluster season-ending rankings and production, has some talent.

Washington has enjoyed the emergence of rookie running back Antonio Gibson during the 2020 season, a third-round pick out of Memphis this past April. Bucs head coach Bruce Arians said on Monday that he very well could have been a second-round pick, by the Buccaneers.

"I loved Antonio Gibson coming out," said Arians. "In the draft, it was really him or [safety] Antoine Winfield Jr. for us, and we decided to go with Antoine." 

The Bucs took Winfield Jr. with the 45th pick in the second round, while Gibson heard his name called 21 picks later. 

Winfield has been a key member of Tampa Bay's otherwise inconsistent secondary, so the selection clearly worked out in the Bucs' favor. The rookie defensive back has recorded 94 tackles, three sacks, one interception, six defended passes, and two forced fumbles in 2020.

However, Gibson's addition would have been intriguing. With Gibson in the fold, the Bucs likely wouldn't have drafted Ke'Shawn Vaughn a round later, and the signing of Leonard Fournette might not have come to fruition. A one-two punch of Ronald Jones II and Gibson is fun to imagine, at least.

"He can do everything – he can catch, he can play receiver [and] he's got great explosiveness for his size," Arians said of Gibson.

The 6-foot-2, 220-pound rookie running back has recorded 795 yards on 170 rushing attempts (4.7 yards per rush) this season, scoring 11 touchdowns. Gibson has also added 36 catches for 247 yards. He'll be a player to watch on Saturday night as the Football Team will need life from its offense in order to keep up, even if Washington's defense can slow the Bucs down.