By: Jake Lofgren
In a draft full of fantastic offensive players like Bryce Young, CJ Stroud, Anthony Richardson, and Bijan Robinson, Jahmyr Gibbs got the most attention of the night. Gibbs was supposed to be a running back drafted in the second or third round, but the Lions made the most surprising pick of the entire draft by picking him at 12th overall. An ongoing conversation in the NFL has been when it is appropriate to draft running backs. The position has been deemed a luxury that depends more on the scheme and blocking. Many teams have opted not to pay running backs large contracts or draft them in the first round because they believe they can find other talented backs that can give them the same product for much cheaper.
Welcome back to Far-Fetched Friday, where we give you a bold prediction that we believe will come to fruition. This Friday, we look at at the NFL draft.
With the Lions already having D'Andre Swift and signing free agent David Montgomery, many people were stunned that the Lions used their first selection of the night on yet another running back. A few days after the pick, the Lions shipped Swift off to Philadelphia, proving that Gibbs was his replacement. Swift was in a contract year for the Lions and never seemed to stay healthy, so a change of scenery always felt inevitable. The team certainly had other positions that were a bigger need, but the Lions' staff celebrated getting Gibbs like they just won the lottery.
Brad Holmes almost breaks the table in excitement as he and Dan Campbell are glad to draft the versatile, explosive Jahmyr Gibbs #NFLDraft pic.twitter.com/51bsgVqsMb
— Andrew Jones (@TWDTV1) April 28, 2023
This all but proves to me that Gibbs has been a guy the Lions have been targeting for a long time. Gibbs gets a lot of comparisons to Alvin Kamara because of his ability to catch balls out of the backfield, take handoffs, or even line up in the slot as a receiver. Brad Holmes, GM of the Lions, even came out after the draft and said they view him as much more than a running back. With Swift gone and Jameson Williams suspended for the first six weeks, I fully expect Gibbs to be an important weapon for Detroit from day one. The Lions already finished as a top 5 offense last season and kept their genius offensive coordinator in Ben Johnson, despite him receiving head coaching offers this offseason.
The NFL loves giving awards to quarterbacks, but I believe Gibbs is too good of a fit in Detroit for any quarterback to beat his season.
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