By trading David Montgomery in March, the Detroit Lions paved the way to make Jahmyr Gibbs their clear No. 1 running back. Head coach Dan Campbell went as far to anoint him as the bell cow of the offense, and the big new contract that came after those comments solidified the notion.
The season opener against the New Orleans Saints hit the ground running when it came to Gibbs' workhorse-level workload. A 74 percent snap share was the fifth-highest of his career, as he had a career-highs in carries (29) and touches (34) on his way to 186 yards from scrimmage.
Talking about Gibbs' workload against the Saints right after the game, Lions head coach Dan Campbell was a bit of a mixed bag. He cited the shape Gibbs is and "we did what we had to do today" while also saying he doesn't want to "set records" for carries.
When it comes down to it, Gibbs will not push toward 30 carries in very many games and 29 might stand as his season-high. There's also not viable-looking plan behind him right now, based on how Sione Vaki looked overall and Jacob Saylors playing zero offensive snaps.
Isiah Pacheco will miss three more games on IR, and he really can't return soon enough to (hopefully) provide something of note behind Gibbs.
Jahmyr Gibbs' assertion about Week 1 workload doesn't mean Lions don't have a RB2 problem
Asked about his workload against the Saints, Gibbs offered the expected, token and simple "I'm good, I'm fine." ESPN's Eric Woodyard passed along how the highest-paid running back in the league has "no concerns" about the extra carries in Week 1.
It's worth noting Gibbs had five carries (and six touches) on the Lions' 10-play game-winning touchdown drive in overtime against New Orleans. Without that his workload would still look heavy, but it would look a little more reasonable--24 carries and 28 touches.
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Still, 24 carries and being in the same zip code as 30 touches is not going to be sustainable on a weekly basis if Gibbs is going to last the season healthy and able to perform at his best. Feeding him heavily is expected, as is his sentiment about his Week 1 workload.
The plan behind Gibbs heading into Week 1 looked flimsy, as Campbell offered the idea of a split of the RB2 role between Vaki and Saylor. As noted, that didn't come to fruition at all with Vaki taking every snap and any backfield touches Gibbs' didn't get.
In Week 2 against the Buffalo Bills, on a short week, it will be necessary to better manage Gibbs' workload. Maybe more, or actually any, of Saylors can be an answer to that problem.
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