The criticism of the Detroit Lions drafting Jahmyr Gibbs has cooled off a bit, but now there's at least a little bit of a different angle for it.
To the chagrin of those who see the value of running backs in today's NFL as nil or something close to it, the Detroit Lions took Jahmyr Gibbs 12th overall in April's draft. It's also clear the Lions and Gibbs don't care about that sentiment, and there are clear plans to use him as an all-around weapon.
It's easy to just call the Lions move to draft Gibbs No. 12 a bad offseason decision with bits of flimsy logic. Any concrete criticism can probably wait a bit, but it's not going away.
On his list of five offseason moves teams that will look the worst in three years, Brad Gagnon of Bleacher Report had the Lions drafting of Gibbs. Essentially, with the hindsight of three years, Gagnon thinks drafting Gibbs won't age well.
At least there's a slightly unique angle to criticize the Lions drafting of Jahmyr Gibbs
Gagnon starts with "The Detroit Lions simply could have done so much more with this pick, even if they traded down....." He goes on to note the presence of D'Andre Swift already on the roster, before he was subsquently traded to the Philadelphia Eagles, while suggesting there's "now less certainty in the offensive backfield" as "they're stuck relying heavily on a player who will simply have a limited impact as a result of the nature of this pro football era."
It's hard to have less certainty than Swift provided the Lions, due to his constantly being banged up over three seasons. Unless Gibbs proves to be similarly injury-prone, the "less certainty" thing is a stretch. And, as mentioned before and observed by reporters at OTAs, the Lions seem to be planning to use Gibbs all over the field and/or with David Montgomery on the field too.
Hindsight may prove Gagnon right about the Lions drafting Gibbs at No. 12, and to his credit that his angle to differentiate some in the criticism. But the mention of Swift as a notable residual loss for the Lions plays a big part in losing the narrative.