The Detroit Lions don't make a lot of big offseason moves to add or subtract players, but one was foreshadowed before this offseason even started. David Montgomery could not hide his unhappiness with a diminished role last season, and his wish to be traded was granted.
Montgomery is now a Houston Texan with an opportunity to be their RB1, and he has made it clearhe has no ill will toward the Lions. The Lions pivoted to Isiah Pacheco to fill that void behind Jahmyr Gibbs on the depth chart, and it looks to be a nice fit.
As we move closer to the time before training camp, Matt Okada of NFL.com has offered one defining number for each team in 2026. Some of those numbers are more nuanced than others, including the one for the Lions.
Lions' defining number for 2026 reflects importance of nailing offseason pivot
Okada's defining number for the Lions, 182, is the number of touches Montgomery had last season. It was also the lowest number of touches he had in his three seasons as a Lion by a noticeable margin. Despite that reduced role, he scored eight touchdowns on the ground as an ideal complement to Gibbs.
"Sonic and Knuckles have split in Detroit, with David Montgomery departing for Houston and vacating 182 touches in the backfield. The team signed Isiah Pacheco to help carry that extra load, but some of it will go to superstar Jahmyr Gibbs, who shouldered 320 of his own last season. How will the offense look sans Montgomery, and how will bell-cow Gibbs hold up in his absence? The answers to those questions could define the Lions’ offense -- and season -- in 2026."
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As Okada referenced, head coach Dan Campbell has anointed Gibbs as the Lions' bell cow. Campbell's comments leading to that label for Gibbs also makes it easy to diminish Pacheco's importance, which would be a mistake.
If a number can be put on how important Pacheco will be, Montgomery's number of touches from last season does it nicely. That's the literal void the former Chief has to fill in the Lions' backfield.
Even if Gibbs is the "bell cow" this season, an offense that should be better than 20th in the league in third down conversion rate stands to put Pacheco somewhere in the neighborhood of Montgomery's 2025 touch volume.
What he does with that work will naturally prove, or define, if the Lions chose the right replacement for Montgomery.
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