The Washington Football Team surprised a lot of people when their official Week 1 depth chart was released. Most of the positions were exactly how people expected. However, the running back spot was a little different following the release of Adrian Peterson.

Washington has four running backs. Those four are Peyton Barber, Antonio Gibson, Bryce Love and J.D. McKissic.

While McKissic definitely has a role, many saw it as a third down and receiving back type of spot. So when the official depth chart was released and McKissic was the number one running back, a lot of people were shocked.

According to Sam Fortier of the Washington Post, head coach Ron Rivera explained the running back situation.

That was not the official depth chart according to Rivera. It was an unofficial one. That's not the important note here, though. The important thing to notice is that Rivera says the “running back group is going to be by committee.”

This makes a lot of sense as Washington has four very interesting options at the position. Barber and McKissic have proven themselves to be very useful in the NFL, and are both still relatively young—so they could improve. Washington will definitely find some uses for them but it's hard to imagine they want to give them the biggest roles.

Meanwhile, Love was drafted last season but did not play due to injury. It sounds like a lot of people love how he runs though and he could vie for quite a bit of playing time. But Washington probably wants to see what he has before committing to him full-time.

Gibson is the true rookie of the group. His potential is limitless, but he might not be ready for a “lead back” type of role yet.

So Washington has four really interesting options. None of them are at that place yet where you could consider them the obvious lead backs, though.

With that in mind, it is pretty obvious why Rivera is going with the “running back by committee” option for the time being. Let each running back get a chance to prove they deserve a bigger role. And if someone ends up pulling ahead, so be it.

If not, Washington has four running backs that can hurt a defense at any moment.

So don't read too much into McKissic's spot atop the depth chart. It sounds like that's a position that's going to see a lot of movement.