August 30, 2022

Washington Commanders running back Brian Robinson has no timeline for a return after being shot twice on August 29 in an armed robbery attempt in Washington D.C. He was recently released from the hospital and is officially on the Commanders' 53-man roster. It is yet to be determined if the 23-year-old will play in 2022. Washington spent a third-round selection on Robinson in the 2022 NFL Draft. He ran for over 1,600 yards and 16 touchdowns in his final season at Alabama. Regarding their recent third-round pick, the Commanders' head coach Ron Rivera stated that "he's going to add very nicely to what we have with Antonio Gibson in terms of a 1-2 punch. A lot of success that I've had as a head coach has a lot to do with having a quality 1-2 punch. We had Jonathan Stewart and DeAngelo Williams in Carolina. We were very successful with that." Once Robinson returns, he should immediately compete with Gibson for touches on early downs, as Rivera has no plans to use exclusively one running back at any point in Washington. Last season, Gibson only had to compete with pass-catching specialist J.D. McKissic for touches in the backfield, yet, he could still only finish as an RB1 alongside McKissic three times. Now, heading into the 2022 season, this backfield looks to be evenly split between Gibson and McKissic until Robinson can return.--Tyler Atlas - RotoBaller