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Positives: Has a big, thick frame, not really muscled-up in the midsection, but there is not much softness in the stomach area … His arms are shorter than ideal, but when he uses them with consistency, he has strong hands to lock on to a defender and ride the opponent off the snap … Has good muscles in the shoulder and chest area, with good hip thickness and stout legs … Flashes good foot quickness and flexibility for the short pulls and traps … Shows alertness and awareness vs. stunts … Tough, aggressive, competitive guy with a finisher's attitude … Played through the 2006 season with a torn labrum, yet refused to take time off to heal, opting for surgery after the year … Has fit in well with the major college environment and coaches praise his work ethic … Type of player who will always play with aggression and is quick to make contact coming out of his stance, showing a mauler's mentality getting after his opponent … Consistently sets up quickly in pass protection, showing a good base and flexibility … Attacks defenders in good position, snapping his hips and flashing a punch … Locks on to his opponent, runs his feet and plays with a finisher's attitude … As a run blocker, he consistently rolls his hips and drives his legs … Flashes a line surge to get movement … Flashes pop on contact on short traps … Extends to separate and has a good anchor in pass protection … Uses his hands to control and keep defenders off his body … Flashes a strong, solid punch to jolt his opponent … Can surprise a lethargic defender with his initial thrust off the snap, but needs to stay lower in his pads to generate good movement … Comes out of his stance fluidly to get out on the edge on sweeps.
Negatives: His arms are too short to play offensive tackle, as he struggles to make reach blocks or get good extension to stave off edge rushers and is a better fit as a guard … Has limited range at tackle, but enough quickness to handle short pulls at the guard position … Left shoulder could be a medical concern … Shows only adequate agility, balance, change-of-direction and body control … Struggled academically and needs more than several reps to retain plays … Might not be able to comprehend a complicated playbook … More of a stationary type of blocker who fails to generate much movement coming off the snap … Sustains blocks best while on the line, as he is adequate on pulls and traps, but is inconsistent with respect to landing blocks in space … Shows aggressiveness and takes good angles downfield, but doesn't adjust on the move very well … Though not a waist-bender, he over-extends too often and can be easily brought to the ground by strong rip-and-club moves … Shows quick, active feet, but lacks balance at times and doesn't adjust very well while on the move because of his narrow base … Does not have the strong anchor to hold ground vs. the bull rush and looks sluggish in his slide when trying to adjust to moving targets on the edge.
Compares To: DARYN COLLEDGE-Green Bay … Like Colledge, Gibson is a better fit inside, where he can work in unison with the tackles and center on combo blocks, rather than taking on the task of mirroring edge rusher out on an island. He is a tough drive blocker, but lacks explosion to shock the opponent coming out of his stance. He is best blocking at the line or in the short area, as he loses his feet when having to get into the second level. There's a little bit of a medical concern, as offensive linemen with labrum problems are always suspect in regards to being able to handle the constant pounding in the trenches (The Rams' Orlando Pace has missed most of his last two seasons with shoulder/arm woes). His back-to-back concussions at the end of the regular season also might bring up a few medical red flags in a team's war room.
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