After finishing as the RB3 in full PPR fantasy scoring in Week 7, Detroit Lions running back Jahmyr Gibbs edged out Christian McCaffrey and finished as the RB1 in full PPR in Week 8. Fantasy managers who have been clamoring for him to see more work, however crazed in some cases, finally got what they were looking for.
Of course Gibbs being the Lions' unquestioned lead back came with David Montgomery (ribs) missing the last two games. All indications point to Montgomery being ready to go after Detroit's Week 9 bye.
Montgomery missing three games this season surely points to the Lions splitting the backfield workload a little differently moving forward. He produced while Gibbs was being eased in, but the rookie has made a case for more work with his performance over the last two games.
Fantasy Football: Buy, Sell or Hold Jahmyr Gibbs?
In three games he has played with Montgomery this season, Gibbs had 9, 14 and 12 touches with single digit PPR points twice. The Lions have been committed to Montgomery as their workhorse back and have never hidden that plan, which made the early-season consternation from Gibbs' fantasy owners all the more ridiculous.
The workload split was always likely to move toward Gibbs at some point, and coming out of this week's bye looks like the time.
Still, if Montgomery is healthy, Gibbs will cede a lot of goal line work to him. Overall, the 20 and 31 touches Gibbs has seen over the last two games respectively are an unrepeatable high-end in work as long as Montgomery is on the field.
But that does not mean Gibbs impact for his fantasy owners will just evaporate down the stretch of the season. It's just not going to high-end RB1 finishes on a weekly basis--we've seen that ceiling, and it's gone for this year as long as Montgomery is available.
So to the pertinent questions on Gibbs in fantasy football this week. Buy? Sell? Or Hold?
If considering making a trade offer for Gibbs right now, you're buying at the peak of his value and his current owner should not settle for less. If you have him, are well-situated at running back and could consider trading him, you're selling at the peak of his value. Derek Tate of Pro Football Network is firmly in the "sell" category, with hypothetical ideas he would trade Gibbs for Tony Pollard, Montgomery and Davante Adams.
It's easily down to "sell or "hold" for Gibbs' fantasy owners this week. If you can sell him in a trade, at the peak of his value before Montgomery is back in Week 10, it makes sense if the right deal is out there. Otherwise it makes a lot of sense to just hold onto him, and adjust expectations knowing Week 7 and Week 8 are the peak of his usage for this season.