“It's not nothing I'm not used to,” Jahmyr Gibbs said after Detroit's second open OTA practice, shrugging off questions about a heavier role now that the team has moved on from David Montgomery. Gibbs — who added, "Growing up, I've always been the person that's always having those carries and stuff like that, so I'm not looking at it any different than any other year" — is staking a calm claim at the center of a suddenly simplified backfield.
The reason for the quiet confidence is simple and recent: on Thursday, coach Dan Campbell said, "I mean he is, he's going to be our bell cow now," after Montgomery was traded to Houston this offseason. Campbell followed that with a broad endorsement of Gibbs's versatility — "He can run every scheme that anybody's ever run" — and warned that the club will load up his plate: "We're going to ask a lot of him... We expect him to have a big year for us. We're going to put a lot on his plate in the run and pass game."
Those are big words, backed by big numbers. In three NFL seasons Gibbs has piled up 49 touchdowns — the most any player has scored through his first three seasons in league history — and became the first player in franchise history to produce back-to-back seasons with at least 1,800 scrimmage yards and 18 scrimmage touchdowns. He has rushed for at least 1,200 yards and 13 touchdowns in each of the last two seasons, while catching a career-high 77 passes last year after recording 52 receptions in each of his first two seasons.
Snap counts show both growth and the pressure of expectation. Gibbs played 56 percent of Detroit's offensive snaps as a rookie, 57 percent in his second season and a career-high 67 percent last season. His workload has climbed: 182 carries in 2023, 250 carries in 2024 and 243 carries last season — the 243 ranking 11th among NFL running backs and still 80 carries shy of the league lead, Jonathan Taylor's 323.
That gap is the friction point in Detroit's new equation. Campbell wants one feature back; Gibbs's raw totals say he has already shouldered considerable work, yet the club is asking him to expand a role he shared with Montgomery for most of his first three seasons. The Lions did add depth — veteran Isiah Pacheco is in as the No. 2, and the team is tracking third-year Sione Vaki's development — but Campbell's language leaves little doubt about who will touch the ball most.
Gibbs's response at OTAs was both practical and personal. He did not promise numbers; he pointed to a lifetime of carrying the load and to comfort with contact and volume. That backstory matters because Campbell's blueprint is not just about running between the tackles: it expects Gibbs to produce in the pass game as well as the run, an assignment he has already shown he can handle with a career-high 77 catches last season.
The move also tightens a roster narrative already reshaped by other big decisions — defensive pieces and cap management that included a recent linebacker extension — and positions Gibbs as the kind of multi-purpose offensive hub modern NFL teams prize. The Lions' coaching staff will lean on him in gap schemes, outside runs and space work, per Campbell's assessment that Gibbs is not limited to one style.
What remains unanswered — and what will determine whether this turns into a breakout or a missed opportunity — is simple: how many carries and touches will Gibbs actually get when regular-season rosters and game plans are set? The Lions have signaled their intent, stocked the room behind him and praised his skills, but they have not offered a target number. Training camp and the early games will reveal whether Detroit has turned a shared backfield into a genuine workhorse offense or merely a spoken-about shift in philosophy.
Until then, Gibbs is walking the line between expectation and evidence. He has the touchdowns, the snap-share trend and a coach willing to name him the bell cow; what the Lions will ask of him in Week 1 remains the single most consequential next chapter for both the player and the offense.
