After all the buzz around running back Jahmyr Gibbs, Lions fans and the rookie running back's fantasy owners were left disappointed in Week 1. He was productive with his opportunities, with 42 yards on seven carries and two catches for 18 yards. Gibbs also had six forced miss tackles on his seven carries, according to Pro Football Focus, which wound up leading all players in Week 1.
Lions head coach Dan Campbell has promised Gibbs will see more work going forward. What that will look like in Week 2 against the Seattle Seahawks is to-be-determined, but it's safe to assume he'll see more than the 19 snaps he did against the Chiefs.
Savvy fantasy owners who drafted Gibbs know to hang onto him, because it was only one game and he is a rookie who was eased in during his first game. Campbell even hinted that was the plan, to limit Gibbs' work, beforehand. It should not have been such a surprise (at least for some) that it happened.
Fantasy Football: Good luck buying low on Jahmyr Gibbs
The sentiment about Gibbs being a buy-low trade target in fantasy after Week 1 has been hard not to see if you pay attention to such things.
Pro Football Network's Jason Katz.
"I know, it’s easier said than done to buy a hyped rookie coming off one seemingly bad performance. If you watched the game and saw what I saw, odds are, so did the manager in your league who currently rosters Gibbs."
After lauding Gibbs, Katz finishes with the obvious sentiment.
"If you can buy Gibbs for anything less than what he costs in fantasy drafts, do it. He’s coming. And once he arrives, the price then won’t be the price now."
Sal Vetri of Yahoo!, in his buy-low and sell-high candidates piece heading toward Week 2.
"Gibbs was fantastic on his nine touches in Week 1. He broke a league-high six tackles despite earning just seven carries. He was the seventh highest-graded Week 1 RB ahead of Austin Ekeler and Nick Chubb, according to PFF.
Coach Dan Campbell stated he intentionally limited Gibbs' snaps to give him a taste of game action and that he’ll be used more moving forward. Gibbs earned 6.7 yards per touch which would have led all RBs in 2022.
Now, imagine what he’s going to do with more touches."
Looking at Yahoo's trade marketplace, as of Wednesday afternoon, here's a sampling of recent trades involving Gibbs.
1-for-1: Brandon Aiyuk for Gibbs
2-for-1: Darren Waller, James Cook for Gibbs
2-for-1: Joe Mixon, Treylon Burks for Gibbs
2-for-1: Alvin Kamara, Terry McLaurin for Gibbs
2-for-1: Joshua Kelley, Tyler Allgeier for Gibbs
2-for-1: David Montgomery, Puka Nacua for Gibbs
2-for-1: Gibbs and Mike Williams for Tee Higgins
2-for-1: Gibbs and Keenan Allen for Bijan Robinson
Albeit in a very small sample on one league host, some fantasy owners who drafted Gibbs have traded him and got fine value in return and some didn't. I think we'd all like to be in a league with whoever it was that traded Gibbs for two of the most obvious sell-high candidates coming out of Week 1 (Allgeier and Kelley).
Maybe the Gibbs' owner in your league didn't see (or see clips of) how he looked in the season opener, and/or they're coming off a rough Week 1 sprinkled with injuries. Then maybe you can try to buy low, and it can't hurt to make a trade offer before this week is out. Otherwise it will be hard to actually buy low on Gibbs, with Week 1 looking sure to be the lowest snap count/number of touches he'll see all season.