Derrius Guice’s Release Makes Bryce Love and Antonio Gibson a Lot More Important for Washington

Derrius Guice's Friday release has really shaken up the Washington Football Team's backfield.

Aside from the defensive line, running back may have been the roster's deepest position. But with Guice all of the sudden cut, things look dramatically different - especially for two youngsters.

First and foremost, though, Adrian Peterson felt like someone who was a safe pick to make it to Week 1, but now, there's no way Ron Rivera can afford to move on from him. Peterson has been very reliable the last two years when Guice was unable to be, and that reliability will be valuable again in 2020.

Bryce Love and Antonio Gibson, meanwhile, just became a lot more critical to the offense.

WIth Guice in the picture, the second-year pro out of Stanford and the rookie from Memphis would've settled in more as role players, with Guice and Peterson presumably assuming the feature duties.

Now, however, Love could have a serious opportunity to stake his claim on a major number of carries - if he's totally healthy.

As for Gibson, he may be rotated in more with the running backs moving forward. So far, the hybrid option has apparently been working out quite a bit with the receivers at training camp.

This rapid transaction even trickles down to someone like Peyton Barber, who had been viewed as a camp body but now could sneak on to the roster. JD McKissic's place as a third-down threat and pass catcher should be relatively unaffected.

You hear it all the time: The NFL is a next man up league. In this situation, that absolutely holds true. For Washington's sake, it's actually true for a pair of guys, both of whom will need to grow up fast if the franchise is to have success this year.

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