The Lions boast maybe the best duo of RB’s in the NFL. While Jahmyr Gibbs has been remarkably healthy, his counterpart David Montgomery is coming off a knee injury. Health is always a concern at this position because any injury to any body part can be hard to play through.
Last season, the Lions kept four RB’s on the initial 53-man roster (Montgomery, Gibbs, Reynolds, Vaki).
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Here is the list of RB’s starting with the players with the biggest medical question marks entering the season. Ages are at the start of the season.
#1: David Montgomery – 28yo
Right MCL – December 15, 2024
The late-season knee injury was initially reported to be a season-ending, surgical MCL. However, subsequent evaluation led him to rehab and a return in time for the playoff game. He didn’t appear to have the same juice during that playoff game, but there was a limited sample size with only seven carries.
His age is starting to creep up, and any kind of knee injury carries concerns going forward. He won’t sniff any preseason action, so it will be interesting to see how he performs in Week 1 vs the Packers.
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Projection: There may be a slight shift in carries this season in favor of Gibbs. There may also be more snaps allocated to the backups as the Lions try to keep Sonic & Knuckles healthy into the playoffs.
#2: Jahmyr Gibbs – 23yo
Gibbs has been extremely healthy in his first two seasons. A couple minor hamstrings has been the extent of it. However, a potential heavier workload along with a 17+ game season is a lot of exposure for any RB.
Projection: A healthy Gibbs will continue to be an electric playmaker. The coaches will need to avoid the temptation of overworking him throughout the season.
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#3: Sione Vaki – 24yo
Vaki missed one game last year with an unspecified right knee injury but was otherwise healthy. Despite his good health, he only saw 26 snaps on offense all year with just six carries.
The Lions traded up into the 4th-round to get Vaki in 2024 which means they saw something there as a RB.
Projection: The time is right to start integrating a Tails into the Sonic & Knuckles team.
Sonic Knuckles & Tails
#4: Craig Reynolds – 29yo
Reynolds has been a rock-solid, reliable backup in the past four years with the Lions. He has been available in every game over the past two seasons.
Projection: Reynolds makes the 53-man roster and continues to serve well in his backup role.
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#5: Kye Robichaux – 23yo
This undrafted rookie from Boston College will hope to shine this preseason.
This article originally appeared on Lions Wire: Detroit Lions training camp medical preview: Running backs