Dan Campbell had an interesting, if not familiar, thing to say about Detroit Lions running back Jahmyr Gibbs at the NFL’s annual league meeting last week.Â
"We feel like this guy can play some receiver,” the head coach said. “We tried to tinker with some stuff last year. He really grew, but I think we're just scratching the surface of some of that."
“Just scratching the surface” with a player who holds the NFL record for most touchdowns in his first three seasons is quite the heavy statement. Gibbs is one of the NFL’s most dynamic talents and Detroit’s entire offense flowed through him last year. The thought that they still feel like there are other, still untapped uses of his potential could be a scary proposition for defenses.Â
Like Campbell alluded to with the “tinker” statement, Gibbs flashed his receiving skills last year when he caught a career-high 77 passes (third-most in the NFL by a running back) for 616 yards and five touchdowns. According to SumerBrain, he lined up in the slot 37 times last season and spent 28 snaps out wide.
But that wasn’t near the very top of such usage at his position. Gibbs ranked seventh among running backs in wide alignments and eighth in slot alignments according to SumerBrain.
So, like Campbell said, there is perhaps more room for Detroit to deploy their dangerous weapon as a receiver. But haven’t we heard this sort of thing before?
Campbell hints at (another) change for Gibbs' role in 2026
Gibbs himself insinuated before the 2025 season that he was taking more snaps out wide. Though, like the prior numbers show, he indeed played more snaps there than most running backs, it wasn’t exactly a calling card for him last year.
“I gotta learn the formations for being split out,” Gibbs said last June. “I’m being split out like way more than I was the past two years. That’s good. That’s going to be fun. I’ve been waiting on that.”
And assistant head coach and then-running backs coach Scottie Montgomery said something similar about wanting him to improve as a receiver before 2024.
"What we need him to do from a passing game standpoint is go to that next level,"Â Montgomery said in June 2024.
"I do think there's a certain difference between route running from the backfield and being a really sufficient and efficient check-down runner versus what it is to be a great route runner, a guy that can run all types of choice (routes). We know we've seen him do those things, but now can you go into the slot and do a little bit more down the field? Some intermediate stuff, can we continue to grow him there?"
And before GIbbs’ rookie season, then-offensive coordinator Ben Johnson said the Lions “might use Gibbs in some ways that people don’t quite think we might.”
Nobody should be complaining about the way the Lions have used Gibbs so far in his career. He’s racked up video game numbers and is arguably the best running back on the planet. But we’ve heard smoke before about Detroit preparing to use him in some unprecedented way that defies positional boundaries, only for his deployment to be relatively conventional.Â
But perhaps what really will signal a different type of offensive load this time around is the departure of backfield mate and “Sonic and Knuckles” partner David Montgomery, who was sent to Houston earlier this offseason after a trade request.
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Montgomery was the better pass protector of the two and thus earned his way onto the field in obvious passing situations. Gibbs is now the unquestioned lead back, if he wasn’t already before, and so we could see more touches for him than ever this season.
His pass protection will have to improve for him to be an every-down back, but the Lions do have free agent addition Isiah Pacheco and 2024 fourth-rounder Sione Vaki as other options there, even if Vaki is as much of a question mark as any player on the roster.
So maybe the solution to maximize Gibbs’ on-field opportunities while minimizing his shortcomings in pass protection really will be putting him at receiver sometimes. The Lions have two established studs there in Amon-Ra St. Brown and Jameson Williams, along with ascending talent Isaac TeSlaa.Â
But Gibbs could slot in there sometimes on certain occasions (pardon the pun), and that could make for some serious matchup problems depending on how new offensive coordinator Drew Petzing is able to dream up looks for him. One of the NFL’s most tantalizing talents could become even more unique in 2026.
“Gibbs, this guy is gonna explode,” Campbell said. “Yes, he’s a runner, he can run all schemes, he can run inside, outside, the perimeters, but he also can be lethal out of the backfield, and we’re not even there yet.”