By Some people were surprised when the Lions picked running back Jahmyr Gibbs with the 12th pick of the 2023 draft. They might be even more surprised by the names that General Manager Brad Holmes used to describe what Gibbs can do for the team’s offence.
In a recent appearance on The Season with Peter Schrager podcast, Holmes expressed his confidence that the Lions’ offence will be better with the addition of Gibbs and Montgomery as their new running backs, who will take over the roles of Williams and Swift. He also said he has high hopes for Gibbs, who can be a dual threat as a runner and a receiver when he hits the field this fall. He even compared him to two of the most productive and versatile running backs in the league, Christian McCaffrey and Alvin Kamara.
Holmes may be going a little far when talking about a guy he selected before where others had him going because Faulk and McCaffrey are a pretty high bar for any running back to attain. But if Gibbs comes close, Holmes and the Lions won’t have to spend much time justifying their decision to defy the norm at the running back position.
Holmes said:
When I first got with the Rams in 2003, Marshall Faulk was still there, and I was a huge Marshall Faulk guy – just kind of seeing what he does in both phases and just from a scouting standpoint when Christian McCaffrey came out, he was the last guy that I was like, ‘Holy cow, this guy can run routes like a slot receiver but also run it.’ So, you start getting reminders of those players. I am not sitting here saying Jahmyr Gibbs is those players, but just a special weapon like that. We have a lot of excitement and optimism.”
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