Derrius Guice was released recently, and so we spent some time here debating whether old man Adrian Peterson or rookie Antonio Gibson will be the key player in Washington's backfield. But there's yet another possibility (two if you want to count Peyton Barber) in second-year back Bryce Love.
Washington drafted Love in the fourth round a year ago. He'd have been selected earlier but for an ACL injury in college; that recovery and a second surgery ended up costing him all of his rookie season. Understandable that he's kind of a forgotten man in this backfield.
But Love is apparently healthy now, and somebody is talking him up to NFL Network's Ian Rapoport. Love is looking good in practices, feeling healthy and "could be a surprise there."
Not a ton there -- it's the kind of report we hear about a lot of young players. But with Gibson's ADP climbing up into the single-digit rounds and Peterson likely to be drafted not long after that as the favorite to start, Love will come very cheap; a last-round pick if he's drafted at all. It's not out of the question he'll be a factor here, possibly even the No. 2 (with Gibson, a college wide receiver, in more of a passing-down capacity).
Love, in contrast to Gibson, was a big producer in college. In his first three seasons at Stanford he averaged over 7.1 yards per carry, with a huge junior season: 2,118 rushing yards and 19 touchdowns. The injury shortened his final season, but it was still a college career that produced plenty of highlights. Including a couple of the top rushing performances of the last half decade.
Table shows the top 50 college rushing performances since 2015. Love shows up twice on the list. I count about a dozen other players who have gone on to be notable pros, including Ezekiel Elliott, Dalvin Cook, Derrick Henry and Aaron Jones, and several others who may. (Granted, Guice also shows up twice.)
| TOP COLLEGE RUSHING GAMES, 2015-2019 | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Player | School | Opponent | Att | Yds | Avg | TD |
| 2016 | D'Onta Foreman | Texas | Texas Tech | 33 | 341 | 10.3 | 3 |
| 2016 | Joe Williams | Utah | UCLA | 29 | 332 | 11.4 | 4 |
| 2017 | Justin Crawford | West Virginia | Oklahoma | 24 | 331 | 13.8 | 0 |
| 2017 | Khalil Tate | Arizona | Colorado | 14 | 327 | 23.4 | 4 |
| 2018 | Jonathan Taylor | Wisconsin | Purdue | 33 | 321 | 9.7 | 3 |
| 2018 | Eno Benjamin | Arizona State | Oregon State | 30 | 312 | 10.4 | 3 |
| 2019 | Malcolm Perry | Navy | Army | 29 | 304 | 10.5 | 2 |
| 2018 | Jordan Cronkrite | South Florida | Massachusetts | 23 | 302 | 13.1 | 3 |
| 2016 | Aaron Jones | Texas-El Paso | North Texas | 24 | 301 | 12.5 | 4 |
| 2017 | Bryce Love | Stanford | Arizona State | 25 | 301 | 12.0 | 3 |
| 2015 | Tyler Ervin | San Jose State | Fresno State | 42 | 300 | 7.1 | 3 |
| 2015 | Johnny Jefferson | Baylor | North Carolina | 23 | 299 | 13.0 | 3 |
| 2018 | Anthony McFarland | Maryland | Ohio State | 21 | 298 | 14.2 | 2 |
| 2019 | Jaret Patterson | Buffalo | Bowling Green State | 26 | 298 | 11.5 | 6 |
| 2019 | Chuba Hubbard | Oklahoma State | Kansas State | 25 | 296 | 11.8 | 1 |
| 2017 | Khalil Herbert | Kansas | West Virginia | 36 | 291 | 8.1 | 2 |
| 2016 | Brian Hill | Wyoming | Nevada | 29 | 289 | 10.0 | 3 |
| 2018 | Joshua Kelley | UCLA | Southern California | 40 | 289 | 7.2 | 2 |
| 2016 | Jamaal Williams | Brigham Young | Toledo | 30 | 286 | 9.5 | 5 |
| 2016 | Derrius Guice | Louisiana State | Texas A&M | 37 | 285 | 7.7 | 4 |
| 2019 | Lynn Bowden Jr. | Kentucky | Louisville | 22 | 284 | 12.9 | 4 |
| 2016 | Leonard Fournette | Louisiana State | Mississippi | 16 | 284 | 17.8 | 3 |
| 2016 | Christian McCaffrey | Stanford | California | 31 | 284 | 9.2 | 3 |
| 2018 | J.J. Taylor | Arizona | Oregon State | 27 | 284 | 10.5 | 2 |
| 2016 | Jordan Johnson | Buffalo | Akron | 24 | 282 | 11.8 | 2 |
| 2017 | Malcolm Perry | Navy | Southern Methodist | 33 | 282 | 8.5 | 4 |
| 2016 | Jarvion Franklin | Western Michigan | Akron | 33 | 281 | 8.5 | 1 |
| 2017 | Phillip Lindsay | Colorado | Arizona | 41 | 281 | 6.9 | 3 |
| 2016 | Donnel Pumphrey | San Diego State | California | 29 | 281 | 9.7 | 3 |
| 2017 | Derrius Guice | Louisiana State | Mississippi | 22 | 276 | 12.5 | 1 |
| 2015 | Chris Warren III | Texas | Texas Tech | 25 | 276 | 11.0 | 4 |
| 2015 | Ezekiel Elliott | Ohio State | Indiana | 23 | 274 | 11.9 | 3 |
| 2017 | AJ Dillon | Boston College | Louisville | 39 | 272 | 7.0 | 4 |
| 2015 | Derrick Henry | Alabama | Auburn | 46 | 271 | 5.9 | 1 |
| 2016 | Dalvin Cook | Florida State | South Florida | 28 | 267 | 9.5 | 2 |
| 2015 | Dalvin Cook | Florida State | South Florida | 30 | 266 | 8.9 | 3 |
| 2017 | Ahmad Bradshaw | Army | Air Force | 23 | 265 | 11.5 | 1 |
| 2016 | James Gilbert | Ball State | Buffalo | 34 | 264 | 7.8 | 2 |
| 2015 | Tyler Ervin | San Jose State | New Mexico | 36 | 263 | 7.3 | 1 |
| 2017 | Bryce Love | Stanford | UCLA | 30 | 263 | 8.8 | 1 |
| 2016 | Joe Mixon | Oklahoma | Texas Tech | 31 | 263 | 8.5 | 2 |
| 2017 | D'Angelo Brewer | Tulsa | Louisiana | 38 | 262 | 6.9 | 3 |
| 2018 | Cole Fagan | Air Force | Colorado State | 34 | 260 | 7.6 | 1 |
| 2015 | Larry Rose III | New Mexico State | New Mexico | 21 | 260 | 12.4 | 3 |
| 2019 | Bryant Koback | Toledo | Eastern Michigan | 32 | 259 | 8.1 | 2 |
| 2016 | Nick Fitzgerald | Mississippi State | Mississippi | 14 | 258 | 18.4 | 2 |
| 2016 | Jalin Moore | Appalachian State | Akron | 39 | 257 | 6.6 | 2 |
| 2016 | Devin Singletary | Florida Atlantic | Rice | 24 | 257 | 10.7 | 3 |
| 2019 | CJ Verdell | Oregon | Washington State | 23 | 257 | 11.2 | 3 |
| 2016 | Jordan Canzeri | Iowa | Illinois | 43 | 256 | 6.0 | 1 |
I remain on the Adrian Peterson bandwagon, but there are worse last-round picks or dynasty pickups (if available; he was in one of my leagues until recently) than Love.
--Andy Richardson