Thanksgiving is supposed to be a time of happiness and celebrating, but that wasn’t the case for the Washington Commanders on Thursday.
The Commanders were blown out by the Dallas Cowboys, as Dallas outscored the Commanders 25-0 en route to the 45-10 loss.
Running back Antonio Gibson was involved in the Commanders’ game plan a little bit more than usual last week. Was it enough for fantasy football managers to add him off the waiver wire?
Should Antonio Gibson Be a Fantasy Waiver Wire Add in Week 13?
The Commanders offense has been a rollercoaster unit this year. At times, the offense has looked like one of the better units in the NFL. Quarterback Sam Howell has had some great games where he has spread the ball around to a wide number of skill players. Then, there have been other games where they look like one of the worst groups in the NFL.
Running back Brian Robinson Jr. has been solid at the No. 1 running back position, as he has rushed for 611 yards and five touchdowns. He hasn’t been able to get in the end zone as much recently, as he has only one touchdown in his last five games.
The inability to consistently run the ball has hurt the Commanders at times. Were the extra touches for Gibson something to count on moving forward, or was his role determined more by the score in the game?
I am going to go with the latter on this, as Gibson’s enhanced opportunity seemed to be more a byproduct of the Cowboys absolutely pouring it on the Commanders. On the season, the Commanders have rushed the ball for only 96.8 yards per game, which ranks 24th in the league.
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Gibson has some ability to make plays through both the ground and air, but he just hasn’t been a big part of the Commanders offense the entire season. Even after an increased role on Thursday, Gibson has rushed the ball only 36 times for 158 yards. He has nearly as many catches (33) as rushes and has 285 yards and two receiving touchdowns.
While those receiving numbers are definitely interesting, he is still only fifth on the team in catches. Robinson has nearly as many receptions (29), but he has more yards (326) and touchdowns (three). Right now, there just hasn’t been enough production from Gibson to be in your lineup.
Yes, I know he has 18 catches in the last four games, but only one of those has gone for a touchdown. As I mentioned earlier, Howell does a very good job of spreading the ball around to all of his targets. You can have two nice games in this Commanders offense and then not see the ball much the next couple of games.
Right now, Gibson just doesn’t see the ball enough to sign off your waiver wire. He is still the No. 2 running back in Washington, and despite all of the pass-catching work he’s seen recently, it is still hard to count on him. As long as Robinson is healthy, there just aren’t enough touches to warrant signing Gibson.
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