Analysing Jaret Patterson's performance against the Eagles
Taking a closer look at how Patterson fared as Washington's top running back.
With starting running back Antonio Gibson sidelined on Sunday, undrafted free agent Jaret Patterson had an opportunity to start for Washington. The 5-foot-8, 195 pound back stood out in preseason as an undersized but certainly not underskilled runner and made the team with multiple impressive performances. His playing time has been limited as Gibson and J.D. McKissic took priority, but on Sunday he was the top back and took his 12 carries for 57 yards and a touchdown, at an average of 4.8 yards per carry. He also added a further 41 yards on five catches in what was a solid performance. So let's take a closer look at how he played.
I said during preseason that Patterson might be the most natural runner on the roster. What I mean by that is Patterson might not have the speed and power of Gibson, or the shiftiness of McKissic, but he has a natural feel for things like setting up blocks, anticipating lanes opening up and pressing the hole to get defenders to overpursuit. This stood out on Sunday.
On this play, Washington calls an outside zone run to its left. The Eagles use a pirate stunt, a common counter to zone runs that requires the defensive lineman to stunt inside and penetrate while the linebacker scrapes to the edge. With the defensive end stunting inside, Patterson knows he can take his run to the edge, which is the primary design of the play. However, he can see that the defensive lineman are stunting inside, which likely means someone has to replace them outside. When Patterson gets to the numbers, he spots the linebacker scraping to the edge while the defensive end attempts to get back outside.
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