Philadelphia Eagles: Doug Pederson needs to watch Antonio Gibson’s tape
The Philadelphia Eagles could learn a thing or two from Ron Rivera.
Not to toot my own horn or anything, but I was very high on the idea of the Philadelphia Eagles drafting Antonio Gibson in the 2020 NFL Draft.
Now granted, I didn’t think he was worth being selected within the top-100, as the former Memphis Tiger never really showed out as either an elite wide receiver or running back in college. But then again, his ability to be impactful at ether position sometimes from one snap to another was tantalizing enough to envision him as the perfect hybrid offensive weapon to truly dominate Doug Pederson’s RPO offense.
Instead, we got Jalen Hurts, who also has potential as a talented hybrid player, but actually makes running option plays more predictable when he checks into the game.
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*sigh* thems the breaks, I guess.
While we may never know where Gibson was on Howie Roseman‘s big board, be it in the third round or the fifth round, what we do know is the young Stockbridge, Georgia native is absolutely thriving in a Christian McCaffrey-esque role under ex-Carolina Panthers head coach Ron Rivera.
Is he the next McCaffrey? No. Technically the next McCaffrey plays quarterback for the Nebraska Cornhuskers and is far from a sure-thing NFL prospect, but under Rivera, Gibson is used in a similar way, running between the tackles on one play, serving as an outlet pass on the next, and even taking some snaps lined up in the slot as a gadget wide receiver.
Gosh, if Pederson had a player like Gibson, oh boy, would the Eagles’ offense be that much more potent and may actually start to resemble an NFL… oh wait, they do: Miles Sanders.
Oh yeah, Miles Sanders did haul in 50 passes for 509 yards on a completion percentage of nearly 80 in 2019, didn’t he? He was also, if remember correctly, the receiving focal point of a 38-20 loss to the Minnesota Vikings in Week 6 – a game in which he ran the ball three times for six yards but hauled in a trio of passes for a career-high 86 yards. Didn’t Sanders log a snap or two in the slot that game? Yeah, I believe he did.
Though Sanders didn’t play wide receiver at Penn State – even if that would have gotten him on the field while stuck behind Saquon Barkley on the depth chart – his abilities to catch the ball are on par with Gibsons while being a far more polished runner capable of pulling off LeSean McCoy-esque cuts on a dime. If he was given a similar workload to Gibson’s Thanksgiving performance with regularity – 20 carries plus five receptions – there’s no reason to assume Sanders wouldn’t also be on pace for a 2,000-yard all-purpose season, as opposed to his current pace (a little under 1,000 rushing yards and 200-ish receiving yards).
But how could this be? Last season, Sanders looked like one of the best young backs in the NFL, so has he started to regress? Is this a sophomore slump?
Well, for one, Sanders is playing behind a way less talented offensive line that seemingly shuffles around every single game, but that isn’t his biggest problem. No, his biggest issue is and will remain to be a total disinterest in running the ball consistently from the motley crew of ‘offensive specialists’ Pederson amassed before the season began.
On the season, Sanders has the same games with 10 or fewer rushing attempts (one) than he has games with 20 or more and has never surpassed six targets as a receiver in any of his seven starts. If this minuscule workload was due to splitting time with Boston Scott – another Gibson-esque receiver/rusher – that would be one thing, but he too is being severely underutilized when compared to how similar rushers like Darren Sproles were previously utilized under Pederson.
No, for whatever reason, the Eagles feel their best, and the only way to win games is to have Carson Wentz chucking the ball up 40-plus times a game, and unfortunately for them, the team is 1-4 in such outings.
Next. 5 must-do steps to fix this team in the offseason. dark
So Doug Pederson, if you’re reading this, please just watch how Washington uses Antonio Gibson and at least consider doing something similar with Miles Sanders. For all of his frequent fumbling woes, Sanders is still the most talented running back the team has had under contract since LeSean McCoy and could be similarly impactful as a workhouse back that takes the load off of Carson Wentz. Maybe that sort of parody is all that’s missing from preventing Washington – a football team with no name – from winning this woeful division outright with a sub .500 record.