The Detroit Lions spent the No. 12 overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft to select running back Jahmyr Gibbs.
Gibbs has wasted little time making the Lions look good.
Lofty praise and expectations are following Gibbs into his third NFL season, including Monday, when ESPN ranked the former Alabama standout No. 3 among its top 10 NFL running backs for 2025, saying it gathered input and top-10 votes from “league executives, coaches and scouts” in compiling this list.
Gibbs produced a monster 2024 season, working in tandem with Lions backfield mate David Montgomery, compiling 1,929 yards from scrimmage and an NFL-leading 20 total touchdowns. He averaged 5.6 yards per carry in amassing 1,412 rushing yards and 16 toucdowns on the ground.
“Gibbs’ raw speed at 5-foot-9 and 200 pounds can ‘flip the game upside down’ on one play, per an NFC scout,” ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler writes. “And his 6.4 yards per touch last season was the highest mark by any player with 250 touches in a season over the past decade.”
Fowler adds a quote attributed to an AFC executive, saying: “Size will always be a little bit more of an issue with him, but his speed and instincts and ability to change the game are a problem and may be the best in the league.”
Gibbs, 23, No. 8 in ESPN’s ranking of running backs last year, has dotted a number of offseason lists and rankings, including CBS Sports’ lists of top 100 players (No. 32), and top 25 players 25 and younger (No. 6, a climb of 19 spots from a year ago).
Philadelphia Eagles star Saquon Barkley led ESPN’s rankings. Montgomery and former Lions running back D’Andre Swift (Chicago Bears) were among running backs who received votes, as did the Seattle Seahawks’ Kenneth Walker III, a former Michigan State star.
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