With the 12th overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, the Detroit Lions gave a proverbial middle finger to all the "positional value" truthers by taking Alabama running back Jahmyr Gibbs. It wasn't an option to take Bijan Robinson, the No. 1 back in that draft based on the general consensus, but it was clear the Lions were among the teams who liked Gibbs better.
Some considered Gibbs a second-round pick heading into the 2023 draft, so some of the detractors of the Lions for where they took him used that as the launching point for criticism. But he has more than justified his lofty draft spot thus far. He earned a Pro Bowl selection as rookie, topping 1,200 yards from scrimmage with 11 total touchdowns. Entering Week 11 this season, he's sixth in the league in rushing (727 yards) as the Lions have started 8-1.
Gibbs appeared on former NFL cornerback Richard Sherman's podcast this week. Among multiple topics, Gibbs was asked if he expected to go to Detroit when he was drafted.
"No, I didn’t. I knew they liked me, but you know, when you go on a visit, it seems like they all like you.”
Jahmyr Gibbs names teams who were ready to make him a first-round pick
Gibbs told Sherman of two teams who apparently told him of their plans to take him later in the first round if they got the opportunity.
"I knew for a fact that Dallas was going to get me at 26 if I was still there,” Gibbs said, “and a couple other places like Cincinnati was going to get me. I think they were going to trade up at like 18 or something around that range, but I didn’t think I was gonna go 12, I ain’t gonna lie.”
With how much the Cowboys have struggled to find a ground game this season, not having a chance to draft Gibbs has to hurt a little extra now. Gibbs seemingly suggested the Bengals were not the only team who was ready to trade up for him if he had fallen past the Lions at No. 12, so he was coveted as a first-round pick even if many of the draft experts didn't buy in.
"We had thoughts of maybe (selecting Gibbs) at 18", Lions general manager Brad Holmes said when Day 1 of the 2023 draft was over, via Nolan Bianchi of the Detroit News. “But we didn’t feel great about it, and so when we were able to select him at 12, that’s when all the texts started coming in of, ‘Oh, would’ve been gone by 15.’ Just a lot of picks, a lot of people saying they want to trade up, they want to get him. I wouldn’t have felt good about him staying at 18.”
Holmes clearly was not going to wait to take Gibbs with the Lions' second first-round pick in 2023, after moving down from No. 6 overall. That instinct has been proven correct by the fresh insight Gibbs offered.