While some NFL teams have nothing to play for, the Washington Football Team does, making for a fascinating fantasy football situation for Antonio Gibson in Week 17. Heading into a Sunday Night matchup against the Philadelphia Eagles, is Antonio Gibson worth risking your championship on come Week 17?
Antonio Gibson was effective on minimal usage in Week 16
Antonio Gibson returned to the field last week after missing the three previous games essentially due to turf toe. While he only played on 21 snaps (30%), he turned those into 13 touches for 69 yards. 61 of those came on 10 carries while adding three receptions for eight yards.
It was the first action for Gibson since injuring himself on his second carry of the team’s Week 13 game against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Up to that point, Antonio Gibson had been as good as advertised after coming into the NFL draft as one of the dynasty communities’ darlings.
Gibson has had a fantastic rookie season
Up to Week 13, Antonio Gibson was the RB5 in PPR formats with 181.8 points. His ability to find the end zone outweighed his lack of touches or being in a split of opportunities.
His 139 rushes were 14th in the NFL. He turned those into 645 yards (11th) and found the end zone 11 times. His 11 scores were only behind Dalvin Cook (13) and Derrick Henry (12). Coming into the Steelers game, Gibson had scored seven TDs in his last 55 carries, including three in Week 12 against Dallas.
He also showed his receiving ability, which was his primary role at Memphis, as he totaled only 33 carries in his college career. While Tony Pollard and Darrell Henderson get credit for this, Kenneth Gainwell, who will be a top-five rookie RB pick in upcoming dynasty drafts, had an enormous impact on his snaps.
Gibson has hauled in 35 of his 43 targets in his 12 games played for 241 yards. He has done this despite RB J.D. McKissic being one of the team’s leaders in targets for several weeks. McKissic’s 102 targets are only two behind Logan Thomas for second on the team. He trails only Alvin Kamara (104) for the most targets for an RB in the NFL.
Throw in the fact that three different QBs have started at least four games this season, and it’s rather remarkable that either RB was able to have the season they did this season. It’s also just as shocking that Washington still has everything to play for in Week 17.
Keep a close eye on Washington’s inactive list for Week 17
While Antonio Gibson didn’t seem to suffer a setback, he was absent from the team’s practice all week. All reports are that Antonio Gibson got through his Week 16 game fine. So this could just be about workload management for Gibson. In a report Sunday morning, Ian Rapoport indicated that Gibson is preparing to play in Week 17.
There has also been concern about the quarterback situation
Ron Rivera has said that the team is optimistic that Alex Smith will return to start in Week 17, according to Nicki Jhabvala of the Washington Post. On Sunday morning, Ian Rapoport reported that Smith is expected to play.
However, if Smith cannot go, Taylor Heinicke gets the start in the most critical game of the season. Heinicke has been getting first-team reps in practice as the team hopes to get him prepared.
Antonio Gibson is a lower-end RB2 for fantasy in Week 17
While Washington is motivated to play, the issues at QB and the Eagles defense could be an issue for Gibson.
First, if Alex Smtih plays, this is a boost for J.D. McKissic and his involvement. In their five full games together, McKissic has caught 31 of 45 targets. He even saw 10 targets last week and took one for a 29-yard TD. McKissic’s involvement cuts into Antiono Gibson’s ceiling.
The next issue is that the Eagles have been a decent rushing defense. From a yards per carry aspect, their 3.7 avg is third-best in the NFL. Although they are 11th in fantasy points allowed to RBs at 21.47 PPR per game. A large part of the discrepancy is the fact they have given up 13 rushing TDs on the season, tied for the 10th most in the NFL. Of the fantasy points they have allowed, 69.4% come on the ground (14.91), seventh-most thru Week 16.
Antonio Gibson has been known for finding the end zone. If the game script allows them to keep a balanced attack, he has a solid shot at scoring. If Gibson scores, he can push to the high-end RB2 range. With so many players being sat this week, it could be challenging to find a better option than Antonio Gibson for fantasy in Week 17.
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Tommy Garrett is a writer for PFN covering Fantasy Football. You can read more of his work here and follow him at @TommygarrettPFN on Twitter.