After an excellent first three NFL seasons, it's wheels all the way up for Detroit Lions running back Jahmyr Gibbs this year. He is the anointed "bell cow" in one of the league's best offenses, and he will be one of the highest-paid running backs in the league fairly soon.
As expected, offseason predictions for Gibbs this season are lofty. In the fantasy football realm, they sit along the lines of a finish as the RB1 and what that could look like statistically. If he can hold up physically with a massive workload, and he's been doing work to foster his ability to do so, the sky is the limit.
The arrival of offensive coordinator Drew Petzing and the prospect of some heavier personnel deployment (two or three tight ends) when the situation dictates stand to give Gibbs more space to operate. The offensive line should be better and create more running room too, which doubles the scary thought for opposing defenses.
Rotoballer's Quincy Milton III has offered one bold fantasy football prediction for each NFC team. The Lions' forecast has to do with Gibbs, naturally, but it extends beyond a strictly fantasy-oriented prediction.
Hype surrounding Lions' Jahmyr Gibbs reaches new heights with bold prediction for 2026
Milton held nothing back with his Gibbs' prediction:
"Jahmyr Gibbs Breaks Barry Sanders' Franchise Single-Season Rushing Record.
"How's this for a fun prediction? I get it, given how good Sanders was in his prime, Gibbs would have to rush for the fourth-most single-season rushing yards of all time. You just don't see that kind of production every day. However, what is really stopping Gibbs from doing so? David Montgomery was shipped off to Houston this offseason.
"The Lions brought in Isiah Pacheco to take Montgomery's place, but this team was shifting heavily toward Gibbs already last year. You just can't take this guy off the field. The Lions brought in Drew Petzing to coordinate the offense as well. Petzing coordinated an excellent running game in Arizona over the last couple of years. Gibbs could be a smashing success in 2026."
As Milton alluded to, Sanders' franchise record for rushing yards, 2,053 yards in 1997, is one of nine 2,000-yard rushing seasons in NFL history. So, even with 17 games to do it, it would not be an easy task to break that record. For his part, as expected, Sanders wants Gibbs to keep breaking his Lions' franchise records as he has already done.
If Gibbs were to be on track to set the Lions' single-season rushing record, an even bigger thing could enter the conversation late in the season. Besting Sanders by 53 yards would have Gibbs supplant Eric Dickerson for the top rushing yardage season in NFL history.
The idea that Gibbs could top 2,000 rushing yards this season, or at any point in his career, doesn't feel outlandish. That says it all about his talent and where that ability could take him when matched with a bigger workload than he's previously had.
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