Washington Football Team Hurt By Antonio Gibson’s 'Other Problem'

Washington’s offensive coordinator responds to questions about the fumbling topic.

The Washington Football Team hasn’t led in many areas this season, and certainly not on the scoreboard. 

While the defense has improved over the past few games, the offense is still struggling to find its footing, and much of the attention for the lack of on field production has been focused on quarterback Taylor Heinicke. 

However, perhaps there’s another name needing to be put in the "Blame Game.'' 

Running back Antonio Gibson has been battling through a shin injury for just about the entire duration of the season. A fan favorite, and young player with loads of upside potential, Gibson has earned his share of criticism, though.

And why? 

Because he is currently tied for the lead in fumbles among running backs, with four through, seven games. Gibson has more fumbles than he does rushing touchdowns. And we’re nearly midway through the year. 

Not a good start, and something WFT offensive coordinator Scott Turner is addressing.

“Ball security is obviously very important,” Turner said as the team preps for Sunday's visit to Denver. “When you put the ball on the ground, it’s like you put a target on your chest and defenders know that. They even, they always try to knock it out, but i’s even more so once things like that start to happen … It’s obviously not acceptable and he’s working on it. He’s got to improve that.”

What if he doesn’t? At this rate, Gibson is fumbling the ball once every 25-26 carries. Which means you can’t theoretically depend on using a ground-heavy attack with Gibson for more than one game without the real risk of losing a possession at some point. 

“He knows better,” Turner said of Gibson, the former receiver-turned-runner. “He’s shown good examples of it. He’s fully capable and strong enough and everything like that. He just can’t relax. You can’t relax in this situation.”

While Gibson is averaging one fumble just under every 26th carry, he’s also averaging four yards per carry, which helps mask the issue a bit.

Meanwhile, backup running back J.D. McKissic has 29 carries this season, and hasn’t fumbled once, while averaging 4.2 yards per carry. 

That's a much smaller body of work, so nobody is calling for Gibson to be benched at the moment, but sitting is exactly what happens from time to time when running backs forget how to protect the ball. 

McKissic is on pace so far to have fewer carries in 2021 than he had last year. With Gibson’s lingering injury, and ball-security issues starting to be recognized, perhaps we’ll see more of the backup moving forward. ... especially as the team gets ready to enter their bye week, trying to do so with a win, and as healthy as possible.