Lions GM Brad Holmes said in a recent appearance on The Rich Eisen Show that he expects RB Jahmyr Gibbs to see a bigger workload in 2024. Gibbs averaged 12.1 carries and 3.5 catches per game as a rookie last year. His share of backfield touches grew throughout the season, so it certainly makes sense that he'll get the rock more in year 2.
“I definitely would expect him to see more of a load, but David Montgomery will still be here too,” Holmes said. “Dan [Campbell] and I love that 1-2 punch of him and David. But just speaking on, specifically, him being a rookie last year, even when he had some pops in that K.C. game in that opener, I was watching, I was like, ‘He’s still trying to get the feel of the game.’ He was playing very fast, and he actually kind of needed to slow down a little bit . . . But once he got that sweet spot, you kind of saw it in the Ravens game, which unfortunately we didn’t show up very well for that game, but that’s when you started seeing some glimpses of, ‘I think it’s coming, I think it’s coming,’ Then, obviously, that Raiders game where I believe everyone saw the breakout. . . . I think he has much more to offer in the passing game, so most likely you’ll see an increase in that as well.”
Gibbs ranked just 28th among RBs in carries last year but still finished ninth at the position in PPR points; 10th in half-PPR.
His 71 targets -- eighth most among RBs -- played a big part in that. It sounds like Gibbs has a chance to see even more action in the passing game this year.
We're most curious to see how much more rushing work he'll handle. Gibbs received just 29% of Lions carries in his first seven games alongside David Montgomery last year. That spiked to 42% in their final eight games together.
If Gibbs can maintain that type of carry share while also dominating targets, he'll have a chance to score as a top-five fantasy RB in 2024.
Any rushing work that Gibbs gains, RB David Montgomery will lose. That's an even bigger concern considering he caught just 16 balls last year.
Montgomery was heavily reliant on TDs in 2023, scoring on 13 of his 219 carries. He's in for some regression there and is unlikely to match last year's RB16 finish in PPR points per game.
The good news is that fantasy drafters aren't expecting a repeat. Montgomery's ADP is currently sitting at RB19. He's an OK pick at that cost.
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Jahmyr Gibbs gets the backfield basically to himself after the David Montgomery injury. But he was already starting. Many other RBs will make for tougher calls ...
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