Derrius Guice

Washington grabbed Guice in the second round of the 2018 draft with every intention of making him the team's feature back, but a preseason ACL tear ended those plans quickly. He showed an enviable blend of power, speed and elusiveness with the ball in his hands at LSU, and if he returns 100 percent healthy he's likely to be featured heavily in the offense. Guice is returning to a roster that looks different than the one he was poised to join last year, though. Alex Smith's career-threatening leg injury leaves a QB competition between Case Keenum, Colt McCoy and 2019 first-round pick Dwayne Haskins, none of whom offers Smith's mobility, and a lack of reliable targets on the outside could push coach Jay Gruden to emphasize a traditional ground game even more. Guice also has his own competition in the form of Adrian Peterson, who signed a two-year deal after posting the seventh 1,000-yard season of his illustrious career as Guice's replacement last year. Furthermore, Chris Thompson is still around to handle passing-down action. If Washington goes full youth movement, Haskins and Guice should win their respective job battles and become the faces of the franchise, but a three-headed RB committee that flattens the production of everyone involved also remains a distinct possibility.

Nagging injuries at LSU combined with character concerns likely led to Guice's fall to the bottom of the second round in the 2018 draft. But Washington was all too happy to scoop him up with the 59th overall pick, and he entered training camp as the favorite to serve as the team's lead runner. Guice has the speed, vision, balance and power to be a nightmare for defenders, and he was extremely difficult to take down in college once he broke through to the second level and had some space to operate. Even in close quarters he's no easy target, as he rarely allows defenders to square him up until he's ready to lower his shoulder and pound out extra yardage, something he seems to delight in doing. Unfortunately, Guice will need to wait until 2019 to strut his stuff in the NFL, as he had the misfortune of suffering a torn ACL during the first week of the preseason. Rob Kelley and Samaje Perine are left to compete for carries, with Chris Thompson handling passing downs.