The best running back duo in the NFL continues to ascend.
David Montgomery swiped the highlights with a ridiculous, bulldozing 40-yard catch-and-run in the Detroit Lions’ Monday night win over the Seattle Seahawks, but coach Dan Campbell noted on Tuesday that Jahmyr Gibbs is on the rise.
“He’s coming on,” Campbell said of the second-year back who dealt with a preseason hamstring issue. “I feel like he and (Sam) LaPorta both, yesterday they looked like, OK here we go, man. They got their legs back under them. They look as healthy as they’ve looked since the beginning of training camp, and they’re on the uptick. (Gibbs) continues to get better, and there was about probably three runs in there yesterday that are this close to going all the way. It’s been like that every week. There’s been more and more of these that are this close. So, I would anticipate he’s about to really take off. He’s coming on.”
Gibbs led the Lions with 14 carries on Monday night, plowing for 78 yards and two touchdowns. Montgomery took 12 totes for 40 yards and the game’s opening score.
Gibbs missed time in training camp due to a hamstring injury, the third time in a year he’s dealt with the soft tissue issue. The further we’ve gotten from that tweak, the more the Lions have leaned on the former first-round pick.
The most noticeable difference with Gibbs’ usage is the Lions’ confidence in the back as an inside runner. On Monday night, 57.1 percent of his rushes came from inside runs, per Next Gen Stats. He showed an ability to hit the hole and break the tough tackles, something for which the Lions normally leaned on Montgomery. As Campbell noted, one more broken tackle and some of Gibbs’ four-yard runs will turn into 40-yarders.
While his speed to the edge remains a dangerous weapon for offensive coordinator Ben Johnson, Gibbs is no longer simply an outside or skat-type back. The Lions are deploying him as a fully-formed three-down weapon to be used anywhere on the field.
The interchangeability between Montgomery and Gibbs makes the Lions more difficult for defenses to scout and exponentially more challenging to stop.
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