Due to the savvy drafting of general manager Brad Holmes as the core of their recent run of success, the Detroit Lions' roster has been littered with young stars. Or course that also leads to league-wide acknowledgement of those players, and thus the Lions have been prominent on lists of the best young NFL players for a solid run of years now.
Of course, in line with getting big second contracts, some of those Lions' players have naturally aged off those kind of lists. Using 25 years old and a Week 1 birthday cut-off as the criteria, Amon-Ra St. Brown is 26, Aidan Hutchinson is 25, Jack Campbell is 25, etc. If we're being honest, the two draft classes before this year aren't lined up to keep that stud pipeline going, however, it would be hard to do so at the level it has been.
Tyler Sullivan of CBS Sports has ranked the top-25 NFL players who are 25 years old or under heading into the 2026 season. September 9, the date of the season opener, is the cut-off to qualify for the list.
2 Lions earn rightful place on list of young NFL stars
The first of two Lions on Sullivan's list, at No. 9 , is running back Jahmyr Gibbs.
"Jahmyr Gibbs is one of the NFL's most exciting players and is on a historic pace to begin his career."
"His 49 career touchdowns are the most by any player through his first three seasons in NFL history. He's third in scrimmage yards (3,768) and first in scrimmage touchdowns (38) over the past two seasons. Gibbs is also just the second player in NFL history to average at least 5.0 yards per carry in each of his first three seasons (min. 150 rushing attempts per season)."
"He's the engine that makes Detroit's offense go, and with David Montgomery traded to Houston this offseason, Gibbs is in line for an even bigger workload, setting up what could be an earth-shattering 2026 season."
It feels like Gibbs should be ranked higher than ninth on any list of young NFL stars. He'll also turn 25 ahead of the cut off for the list in 2027, so we'll never know if having the kind of "earth-shattering season" Sullivan hinted at would have pushed him way higher.
Lions offensive tackle Penei Sewell has been a fixture on lists of young NFL studs for so long it seems impossible he could still qualify this year. But with the aforementioned cut off date to still be 25 years old, and his 26th birthday not until October 9, there he is at No. 3 on Sullivan's list.
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"Penei Sewell is becoming the gold standard for offensive tackles in the NFL. He's elite as both a pass blocker and run blocker."
"While Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery were lauded as a fantastic duo during their time together in Detroit's backfield, Sewell has been a major X-factor in their success on the ground. He's also been superb in protecting Jared Goff, allowing just three sacks last season, according to TruMedia. His 19 pressures allowed tied a career low, and he was beaten on just 2.1% of his snaps, also a career best."
"He's been a first-team All-Pro in each of the last three seasons, and it's not hard to see why."
Gibbs and Sewell look to be the last two Lions who will qualify for lists of young stars league-wide anytime soon. Maybe we'll look back a year from now and laugh at that notion, but it's a reflection of how much what was once a bountiful draft pipeline has slowed down.
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