Detroit Lions rookie Jahmyr Gibbs has shown up big in the the absence of David Montgomery. He’s racked up 315 total yards and two touchdowns in the last two games and had really shown what he can do. So with David Montgomery likely coming back this week, what does that do to Gibbs?
Lions Head Coach Dan Campbell was asked about this on Monday and this was response
“I think certainly we know what what David can do. But we know that Gibbs has gotten better every week.” Campbell said. “So we’re going to ask those guys to do things they do well and that help our offense move the football. I don’t think necessarily sitting here talking to you right now that I see Gibbs getting 65 plays. I don’t see that, but he’s gonna get his fair share now. We know what he can be and he’s growing. So I think it’ll be a little bit by committee and make sure we get those guys touches. Gibbs will get his touches.”
That doesn’t 100% answer the question, but it gives you reason to believe that the Lions believe that Jahmyr Gibbs is ready to go and that he’s ready to take on a much larger role in the Lions offense. Then again, Montgomery has played really well. So what do you do?
I think the answer really lies in Dan Campbell’s past. You have to go back to August when Campbell was talking with NFL Sirius XM and talked about how when he was on the Saints coaching staff, the team had Mark Ingram and Alvin Kamarra and how those two together could hurt you in different ways.
“I think you need a back that you can push comes to shove, he can carry a load, somebody you feel like you can give the ball to 20-25 times a game potentially.” Cambell said. “And then you need that specialty guy, that you know, he’s much more. He carries the scalpel and he can slice you up and he can hurt you in the pass game.”
Just taking a look at what the Saints team did in terms of usage could give us an answer. In 2018 the Saints had the seventh most rushing yards in the NFL and led the league in rushing touchdowns.
Alvin Kamara got the bulk of the carries for that team with 194 carries and Mark Ingram had 138 carries. Kamara also brought in 81 receptions. The Lions are, in theory, a lot like these two guys.
So do the Lions begin to sway more in the direction of Jahmyr Gibbs? I would venture to say that the answer to that is yes. Teams like to ride the hot hand in this league. With Montgomery coming back, I think Gibbs should still start because you don’t want to lose that momentum.
That doesn’t mean we don’t see a lot of Montgomery. Montgomery is perfect for those short yard situations. He’s also a guy that can turn a short yard situation into more than just a couple yards. The other thing is that the Lions have really struggled in the red zone for multiple reasons. One being that they don’t have a real red zone target that can get contested catches and the other is that David Montgomery has been missing. He’s a guy that can drive the ball into the end zone from there.
The other reason you might see Gibbs stay as the starter is because of what he can do in the pass game. Kamara had 81 receptions in 2018. Gibbs is well on pace to match that He’d need six catches per game and right now he’s averaging about 5. It can happen.
We’ll see as the week goes on, but Sunday could be interesting on the ground with the Chargers. Their defense is currently in the top 10 against the run.