Philadelphia Eagles: Antonio Gibson is built for Doug Pederson’s scheme

With a ton of speed and experience playing both wide receiver and running back, Antonio Gibson looks tailor-made for the Philadelphia Eagles’ RPO offense.

The Philadelphia Eagles need offensive playmakers.

From wide receiver, to running back, and even tight end, if you can generate positive yardage on the offensive side of the ball, there’s a spot for you on the Eagles’ big board.

But here’s the thing: The Eagles can’t draft everyone. No, despite having eight picks in the 2020 NFL Draft – at least right now – double, triple, or even quadruple-dipping on offensive weapons would all but certainly limit the team’s ability to shore up their aging offensive line, find a long-term backup quarterback for Carson Wentz, and, you know, address their entire defense.

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So needless to say, if the Eagles can find a player capable of wearing multiple hats in the mid-to-late rounds, that would surely bump him up the team’s draft board, right?

Antonio Gibson can do that, and oh, oh, oh so much more.

Hailing from the bright lights, and blue AstroTurf field of Memphis, Gibson had to bide his time on an otherwise loaded offensive staple of future NFL players like Anthony Miller, Darrell Henderson, and Tony Pollard but eventually saw the field in 2018 as a part-time junior wide receiver. From there, with Miller, Pollard, and Henderson gone to the greener pastures of the Chicago Bears, the Los Angeles Rams, and *yuck* the Dallas Cowboys respectably, Gibson went off as the team’s do-it-all offensive weapon to the tune of 1,104 yards and 12 touchdowns on 71 offensive touches – 735 receiving yards on 38 receptions and 369 rushing yards on 33 attempts.

Measuring in at 6-foot-2, 221 pounds, Gibson looks sort of like NFL D.K. Metcalf physically with a style of play that’s almost the polar opposite of Ole Miss D.K. Metcalf. Gibson is legit 4.39 fast and can burn pretty much any defender one-on-one down the sideline, but he’s also got enough wiggle in his game to beat a would-be tackler in space across the middle of the field.

Whether deployed out of the slot, in the offensive backfield, or even on the outside at the Y-position, Gibson is a creative play-callers’ dream in that he can legit do a little bit of everything and do so at a high level.

In a lot of ways, Gibson is a second-tier Laviska Shenault without the injury concerns – aka a dynamic space playmaker tailor-made for the modern-day NFL’s position-less offensive game.

So really, don’t think about Gibson as either a wide receiver or a running back. He isn’t really either, and using his as one or the other would be a waste of his talents. No, to truly unlock Gibson’s full potential as an offensive weapon, a team has to use him like a super-sized Darren Sproles.

Like Sproles, Gibson may never record a thousand yards as a wide receiver or as a running back in a single season – heck, he may never even earn 100 catches and/or rushing attempts in a single season – but his ability to confuse defenses, feed on mismatches, and get involved in the return game is Pro Bowl-caliber. I mean seriously, can you imagine Gibson paired up with Carson Wentz in an RPO? Wentz could opt to run it, turn the corner, and throw a cross body pass to Gibson for their own unique trick play somewhere between the Wildcat and the ‘Philly Special’.

Just for context, Mack Hollins was the Eagles’ fourth wide receiver for much of the 2019 season, and he only caught 10 balls on 22 targets for 125 yards. Swapping that out for a player like Gibson would be a massive upgrade, even if he plays a secondary role in 2020 behind Alshon Jeffery, DeSean Jackson, and… Jalen Reagor?

*sigh* I can dream, right?

Look, Gibson isn’t for everyone. Some teams may have a super-late grade on the Memphis product because of his lack of college production and/or his lack of a clearly defined role in the NFL, but there’s a ton of president for players with his unique set of skills going early in NFL drafts.

Need proof? Look no further than Jalen Hurd in last year’s draft. A super-sized former five-star power back at Tennessee, Hurd left the school, switched positions to wide receiver, and was drafted in the third round by the San Francisco 49ers after a relatively successful season under Matt Rhule at Baylor. Hurd wasn’t particularly impressive as a rookie for the eventual Super Bowl losers, but much like Metcalf, he isn’t known for his ability to make plays in space.

For my money, I’d rather have Gibson than Hurd, especially if he could be had for lesser draft compensation than the 67th overall pick.

On Day 1 and 2 of the 2020 NFL Draft, the Philadelphia Eagles have to add a trio of players with starter floors. However, Day 3 is when Howie Roseman and company can get a little creative, and try to find uber-productive contributors with limited physical traits, physically-gifted players from small schools, or even 6-foot-8, 346-pound rugby players who have never played American football before. With that stipulation in mind, there may not be a more versatile, exciting offensive weapon available than Antonio Gibson, especially if he’s paired up with an offensive coordinator like Doug Pederson.