Derrius Guice Drafted by Redskins to End Slide Amid Rumors of Character Concerns

The Washington Redskins ended LSU Tigers running back Derrius Guice's fall by taking him with the No. 59 overall pick of the 2018 NFL draft Friday. 

Regarded as a potential first-round pick, Guice's slide became a key talking point on Friday. 

NFL Network's Mike Mayock, via Ian Rapoport, noted NFL teams "learned about an incident from college that is being looked into."

After Washington added Guice to its backfield, Twitter offered its reaction to the pick:

Guice was widely considered one of the best players at his position in this year's draft class. He ran for 3,074 yards and 29 touchdowns in three years at LSU.

Guice's best game came in the Tigers' 54-39 victory over the Texas A&M Aggies on Nov. 24, 2016. He carried the ball 37 times for a school-record 285 yards and four touchdowns. Two weeks earlier, Guice had 252 rushing yards in a 38-10 win over the Arkansas Razorbacks, which included a 96-yard rushing touchdown—another LSU record.

SEC Network shared a highlight from Guice's first touchdown run against the Aggies, encapsulating why he's so highly regarded. He eluded one tackler and shrugged off another en route to a 45-yard score:

Guice offers nearly the complete package at running back.

Receiving is one area in which he may not provide much value. He caught 32 passes for 250 yards and three touchdowns at LSU, so that's unlikely to be a significant part of his game at the next level.

Guice also lacks the straight-line speed of other players at his position, including Penn State Nittany Lions star Saquon Barkley, who ran a 4.40 40-yard dash at the NFL Scouting Combine, while Guice clocked in at 4.49 seconds, which is very good but not otherworldly.

In both respects, Guice isn't all that different from former teammate Leonard Fournette. The Jacksonville Jaguars 2017 first-round pick ran a 4.51-second 40-yard dash at the combine and had 41 receptions for 526 yards and a touchdown with the Tigers.

Fournette's 1,040 rushing yards with the Jaguars were the second most by a rookie running back in 2017 (Kareem Hunt).

Add up all of his skills, and Guice possesses a great combination of strength, speed and agility. He also has the ability to patiently watch a play unfold and quickly explode through whatever holes open in the defense.

Between Fournette, Hunt, Ezekiel Elliott and Jordan Howard, rookie running backs have been making immediate impacts in the NFL in recent years. Guice could easily join that group.

With Barkley off the board, selecting Guice was the best way for Washington to upgrade its backfield early in the 2018 draft.

The Redskins finished 28th in the NFL with 90.5 rushing yards per game and tied for 29th with 3.6 yards per attempt. 

Alex Smith will take over at quarterback, having had his best season in 2017 as a member of the Kansas City Chiefs with the rookie Hunt in the backfield. 

Washington head coach Jay Gruden will be hoping Guice is able to make a similar impact on Smith, and the rest of the offense, in 2018.