Antonio Gibson Fantasy Value Skyrockets Following Adrian Peterson's Release

The Antonio Gibson hype has officially released a fever pitch. The Washington Football Team released incumbent starter Adrian Peterson, and that opens up a ton of opportunity in this backfield.

Gibson is probably the most talented running back on the team, but there are a lot of mouths to feed in Washington. Still likely to be splitting touches, Gibson is a low-floor, high-upside option for the 2020 season.

Antonio Gibson Fantasy Football Outlook

Gibson is currently coming off the board with an average draft position (ADP) RB48, per FantasyPros. That's going to rise in the coming days because of this news, and it wouldn't be too much of a shock to see him start going inside the top-36 backs.

The rookie should provide immediate value in the passing game. He played receiver a ton at Memphis, catching 38 passes for 735 yards and 8 touchdowns as a senior in 2019. His primary competition for a pass-catching role should be J.D. McKissic, who caught 34 balls last year.

He might have a more difficult time carving out a role in the rushing attack, however. Gibson was explosive on the ground, but he didn't get much volume there, handling just 33 carries for 369 yards that same season. With Bryce Love and Peyton Barber also on the team, Gibson is far from a lock to see reliable early-down work.

He has the most upside in the backfield, and he could be a league-winning pick if he carves out a big enough role with the team. But there's also a real chance he plays behind Barber and Love, making him a high-risk, high-reward option.

Bryce Love Fantasy Football Outlook

Love was a work horse at Stanford. Over his final three collegiate seasons he handled 540 carries for 3,640 rushing yards. That makes him a likely candidate to absorb some of the early-down work vacated by the loss of Peterson, who handled 211 carries for 898 rushing yards for the team in 2019.

Barber could also get some rushing work, but he was horribly inefficient last year, turning 154 carries into just 470 rushing yards (3.1 yards per carry). It's difficult to envision Washington making Barber the lead back.

Love has an ADP of RB77, and he's a really interesting flyer at that spot. Given how low his ADP is, Love is probably a better value than Gibson right now, but Gibson has a much higher ceiling.

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Max Staley is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Max Staley also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username mstaley1212. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his personal views, he may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his personal account. The views expressed in their articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.