The Washington Redskins made some interesting personnel decisions on Thursday. They decided to bring back running back Adrian Peterson of Palestine, Texas for another season, but at the same time made the decision to release tight end Jordan Reed of New London, Connecticut.
The decision to bring back Peterson is an interesting one indeed. At age 34, Peterson saw a dip in his statistics a little bit in 2019 compared to 2018, but not enough for Washington to decide not to bring him back. In 15 games last season, Peterson had 211 carries for 898 rushing yards and five touchdowns. He also had 17 catches for 142 receiving yards.
Do not be surprised if Peterson is actively involved in the Washington Redskins offense in 2020. If we know anything about a Ron Rivera type offense, we know he loves to use multiple running backs. The Panthers offense was very effective in 2017 when they had Jonathan Stewart and Christian McCaffrey being used regularly throughout each and every game.
In Washington, expect Peterson to share the load with Derrius Guice of Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Guice is only 22 years of age and had 245 yards rushing in five games last season. His season was cut short as he had a torn meniscus in September and an MCL sprain in December. Still, expect Guice to get a significant portion of the carries for the Redskins in 2020. Guice actually averaged more yards per carry (5.8 yards) in 2019 than Peterson (4.3 yards).
The Redskins release of Reed should come as not a huge surprise. In six seasons in Washington, he has not played a complete season and has missed 31 games. In 2019, Reed missed time due to a concussion. Last season Reed played 13 games, had 54 receptions for 558 yards and two touchdowns.
