The Washington Commanders have a good problem to have with two solid running back options in Antonio Gibson and Brian Robinson. In terms of how to split the playing time between the two, head coach Ron Rivera wants to keep his two runnings backs as off guard as opposing defenses, reports The Washington Times' Matthew Paras.
“That’s pretty much what EB [Eric Bieniemy] wants. He doesn’t want them to have a clue of, ‘Oh, he's in so it's more likely pass.' No, he wants to have these guys [Antonio Gibson and Brian Robinson] come in and feature their skill sets because they both run the ball pretty well. … EB wants to keep that mix going, so there is no beat on to who's doing what or how.”
Ron Rivera is referring to the fact that offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy wants to be able to use both Brian Robinson and Antonio Gibson in any situation. This way defenses won't have a better idea of the types of plays that the Commanders will run depending on which running back is in the game. Bieniemy then emphasizes that the more comfortable his running backs get with all types of situations, the more uncomfortable it becomes for opposing defenses.
“We've got to get comfortable being uncomfortable. Let's go out there and show people all you can do. … We want the most complete football player to have to play at every position to be their best. It helps tremendously when you have a player and a person like that, that's willing to do it all.”
It sounds like Bieniemy and Rivera are going to be expecting a lot from both of their running backs this year. If Robinson and Gibson can fulfill expectations, the Commanders are going to have a very versatile running back duo.
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