Antonio

Gibson

Gibson ends his first season in New England with 538 rushing yards on 120 carries while adding 206 receiving yards on 23 receptions (29 targets). It was a bit disappointing that Gibson finished the season with 12 fewer targets in the passing game than Rhamondre Stevenson despite that seemingly being a weakness in Stevenson’s game. Gibson did average 4.48 yards per carry in his limited duties and has enough wiggle to make defenders miss in the open field; however, he’s now been on two mediocre football teams and has been unable to carve out a consistently fantasy-relevant role, which makes it hard to view him as anything more than a potential injury replacement for Stevenson in deeper fantasy formats.

Gibson also did not catch his sole target. After head coach Jerod Mayo said before the game that Gibson would start, Rhamondre Stevenson wound up starting in what Mayo called a “coach’s decision” after the game. Despite Mayo’s uncertainty over his running backs, Gibson out-touched Stevenson 12 to two on the day, with a few carries coming down 33 points on the final drive of the game. Gibson gets FLEX consideration in a shaky Pats offense for Week 18 against the Bills.

On 98.5 The Sports Hub, Mayo said, “Gibby is going to start for us today.” This marks the second time this season Stevenson has been benched for fumble issues. He has now fumbled seven times this season. Expect Stevenson to still mix in for a committee backfield in Week 17, but he falls to RB3 viability. Gibson is worth FLEX consideration.

Stevenson, who was benched earlier this season for fumbling issues, lost another fumble in Week 16 against Buffalo. “I think everyone understands how important the football is. We’re a team that we just can’t turn the ball over,” Mayo said when asked about Stevenson’s ongoing fumbling issues. “I thought Gibby, when he got in there, did a great job. We gotta go back and talk about it as a staff, but that’s definitely still a possibility.” Gibson last week had ten rushes for 28 yards and two grabs for eight yards in a loss to the Bills. He could figure more prominently in the New England backfield this week against the Chargers if Mayo is intent on sending a message to Stevenson. It makes Stevenson a shaky option in fantasy leagues.

Gibson got a little extra work after Rhamondre Stevenson turned the ball over, though Gibson’s own fumble (recovered) erased any ball security differences between the two. Gibson is an RB7 against the Chargers in Week 17.

Gibson continued to play a change-of-pace role in this contest, seeing nine touches compared to 14 for Stevenson. The role suits him well as he averaged 7.1 yards per touch versus the Cardinals on the back of a 20-yard reception. He is up to 5.7 on the year. Gibson isn’t going to usurp Stevenson as the starter anytime soon, relegating him to the RB5 ranks for his Week 16 date with Buffalo.

Gibson scored his first rushing touchdown of the season on an 11-yard red zone scamper in the fourth quarter. He was explosive on nearly every one of his attempts en route to 8.4 yards per carry. Despite looking more spry than Rhamondre Stevenson in most games, Gibson is stuck in a change-of-pace role that hasn’t seen him top seven touches since Week 6. That was a game Stevenson missed. Gibson will be a low-ceiling RB5 when he comes out of the Pats’ Week 14 bye.

The Patriots were down big, which usually means Gibson sees far more work, but some of his best rushes were in the first half when the game was still close. He simply had more juice and elusiveness than Rhamondre Stevenson, but neither of them had much room to run. Gibson is still off the fantasy radar in most formats.

Gibson now has five or fewer touches in five straight games. Even with Drake Maye enhancing the Patriots’ overall offensive outlook, contingency back Gibson isn’t coming close to standalone value behind workhorse starter Rhamondre Stevenson, and is even splitting some of the change-of-pace work with JaMycal Hasty. He’s waiver wire fodder.

Hasty was the Patriots’ second running back into the game after Rhamondre Stevenson. He totaled seven touches for 24 yards in a game where the Pats ran more than they threw. Hasty is the team’s pass-catching back, though not much of that skillset was needed against the Bears. While Hasty is more the complementary back to Stevenson, Antonio Gibson is more of the direct backup, rushing five times for 26 yards; Gibson carried the ball mostly in the closing minutes of the game.