Guice Impact: Reality & Fantasy

Derrius Guice is no longer a member of the Washington Football Team (WFT) but it might not be the dagger blow that some are expecting.

As discussed with both SI's Madelyn Burke and SI Fantasy Expert Michael Fabiano on Saturday, if there was a position that the WFT could absorb a hit at -- it would be running back.

It was likely that Guice would have won the starting job out of training camp if he could stay healthy, which he never was. He's only played in five NFL games in two seasons and he left early in two of those contests.

If there's an area that the WFT could absorb a blow on offense - it's at running back.

I would expect Adrian Peterson to start week one against Philadelphia while my mostly educated guess is that by midway through the season, Bryce Love, might be the money back.

The fourth-round pick had first-round talent that Washington landed because he blew out his knee in December 2018.

Generally it takes at least a year-and-a-half for athletes to feel their knee is close to 100% after that type of injury. It's been more than that for Love and he was cleared to start camp.

He hasn't had a full practice yet. He hasn't played in one game yet. We have to see how that all plays out before you have anything but hope. We can't expect anything.

I truly believe Antonio Gibson will be a stud, as Fabiano mentioned as well. He can do it all but at this point, he still has to learn the running back position. He has to learn tracks and his reads. Pass protection is going to be interesting too but if he can nail it, he could be like Clinton Portis was in that role with his larger frame.

There was a report from Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network that Guice hurt his knee Thursday in what turned out to be his final practice with Washington. We don't know how bad but with Guice -- everything was a major issue. There was nothing minor.

Washington and the new coaching staff had already known they couldn't trust that Guice would stay healthy. I'm sure they had serious reservations about his somewhat volatile personality. Who knows what other information they have.

As we look back on their offseason plan, as they kept adding running backs, maybe they weren't just worried about Guice's inability to stay healthy. Maybe they suspected something or had major doubts and that's why they added two veterans (J.D. McKissic and Peyton Barber) along with drafting Gibson.

Maybe this is one subtraction that they can absorb because of their lack of faith in Guice in many ways.

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Chris Russell is the Publisher of this site, a part of SI.com. He can be heard on 106.7 The FAN in the Washington D.C. area and world-wide on Radio.com. Chris also hosts the "Locked on Washington Football Team" Podcast and can be read via subscription to Warpath Magazine. You can e-mail Chris at russellmania09@Gmail.com or follow him on Twitter at @Russellmania621