2 games…2 GAMES. After week 1 people were pounding the table he needed more touched and montgomery less touches. The only issue is when he is in the plays are too predictable and the defense is keying on him…at least wait till holloween or thanksgiving to start w the hot takes about who and what gibbs is or is not.
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I’m not tracking enough to know, but I strongly suspect the people convinced that he-can’t-be-THIS and will-never- be-THAT after just two games (one of them quite good!) are also the ones who didn’t want the Lions to draft him in the first place. And also the ones who, for the most part, will be reluctant to give him (and Brad) props when he has his first spectacular game.
Once Montgomery gets just little bit of momentum his elusiveness in close quarters is astounding. I say it again: HUGE upgrade on DWill - AND Swift.
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It’s a good point that we need to wait to judge. It’s just frustrating to see Bijan run for 200 yards while Gibbs drops a big gain pass, gets blown up as a blocker, and runs a wrong route that causes a pick six
I was totally team Bijan since last year and hadn’t considered Gibbs at all really. But I was excited when we drafted him and defended the pick. He definitely has the tools to be a difference maker but Sunday was brutal. And he deserves the grief on this board for now
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I wish he hadn’t fought for that extra yard that wasn’t necessary the play he got hurt.
It’s kind of concerning that they didn’t even bother to cover him and he still didn’t have a good day. I guess one of those was on Goff for not seeing him open by the sidelines.
It totally was. But if I recall Goff was about to get blown up by Glass Cow being a Glass door. The Oline wasn’t great. ESPN has them 23rd in Pass Block Win Rate
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I don’t begrudge anyone their criticism of Gibbs (though much of it seems wildly overstated to me), But I take issue with all groundless predictions of what a rookie can/will be two games into his career. For all we know, losing Monty (temporarily) might leave Gibbs around the corner from stardom. We’ll see.
In any case, if you’ve been a football fan (of just about any sport) for any appreciable amount of time, and tried to predict player success, you’ve had PLENTY of misses. Even as a fan, there’s room for a lil humility!
Totally agree. I was a big Oher fan going into that draft and wanted him with the Pertigrew pick. (Also wanted Mack or any of the LBers)
His first few games he was an absolute road grader. Won rookie of the week early. I was all ‘see you ■■■■■■■! I was right!’ But then proceeded to have a rather unimpressive career highlighted by a crappy movie I never watched
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Yeah, and fighting for extra yards is a big part of what makes him so damn good.
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Yeah but when a defender has your leg and doing an alligator roll (which should be illegal) protect yourself
I think I have a pretty good idea of what Gibbs is as a running back. Even after 2 games. RBs tend to be what they are from the jump. I do think he will improve though with the little things. There were a couple of plays already where he could have broke it long with just a slightly different read.
I think the crux of the issue with Gibbs is whether a 200 lb running back who runs a 4.36 is worthy of such a high pick to begin with. Those guys don’t tend to be bell cows. They don’t tend to hold up really well in the NFL. They have trouble picking up blitzes so their use is more limited than a 220 lb guy. For me, this is my concern.
I’m not saying its a bad pick. I just think there were a lot of people from the word jump who questioned the logic of it. You need to be a transformative playmaker to be picked at 12 as a RB period, much less an RB that small.
But until we know the Lions full plan for Gibbs, its hard to say one way or another - and its premature to conclude anything yet. And no matter what, it was a Gibbs/Laporta or just Bijan decision in any evaluation (or pick your player at 12 at another position). And I love Laporta.
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Agree bro. I didnt think the lions would take a rb…as i said a great deal of the time. If we had, i would have loved Bijan and i am fine w questioning why gibbs over him…but for those questioning, not u, can we do so a few steps back from ghe ledge?
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Look, betting against ANY player at picked at 12 being “transformative,” regardless of position, is a good bet. No special insight required.
But can Gibbs be worth the selection? Of course he can. 15-20 touches/game game in, game out? 100, 120, 150 total yds/game? Yes, that’s possible. And can he represent enough of a threat, like Jamo (we hope), that his mere presence contorts the defense and helps teammates get theirs when he’s not getting his? Yes. Will that happen? I don’t know. And neither do you.
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Ha this is what I was going to write in this thread once i read through all the comments. The Lions drafted Jerick McKinnon at 12 overall. Congrats Lions on another failed GM experiment. I’m sorry but the facts are stacking on the wrong side of Holmes being a good GM. He’s made a couple nice picks in the mid rounds but really what have got in three off seasons? A Defense that is still bottom 8, an offense that should be elite with all the capital spent (and it’s just ok-average). Not if, but when the Falcons come in to their house and smash them in the mouth the beginning of the end is once again upon us. You don’t get 3+ years to make the playoffs in the NFL. Holmes has been neglectful at DT, DE, WR and it will bite them in the ass (it already has on DL), especially with AmonRa already dinged and set to inevitably miss games. I was harping on this all off-season, got called names, but here we are…in a death spiral to starting 1-5. Watch.
I don’t know. Challenging for the playoffs year two of a complete tear down rebuild is pretty baller. Let’s see how the year plays out before dusting off the pitchforks
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I would agree with that generally, but when you are drafting a 200 lb running back you are betting on transformative at 12. You should expect him to be an every down playmaker. If you aren’t expecting that, then it’s a REALLY bad strategy.
These things could be true, and yet he could still not justify his draft slot. But it’s not the end of the world if we overdrafted him a little. And every draft is unique with lots of variables going on. At the end of the day I like Gibbs, but I do think it was a strange selection.
One thing is for sure, there will be a lot of attention paid to those players drafted behind him. Guys like Gonzalez will play every down and could make a case of why that selection might have been wiser.
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This is a good thread.
Right now Gibbs at pick 12, his usage & production runs parallel to the DONT draft a TE in the first round argument.
And yes I am a Gibbs fan
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Even Bijan is being platooned, but he can literally do it all too. He has like 20 lbs on Gibbs to hold up between the tackles and pass block. He can play traditional RB but also be extremely effective running routes with great hands. Gibbs is less effective running inside and he is on the small side to hold up pass blocking. It seems to me that they were counting on Gibbs to be a unicorn at RB. How else can we get to justifying the pick?
My guess, the justification comes from one place: Brad and Dan saying, “who would we rather have: Bijan, or Gibbs plus a starting TE”?. And in that light the trade makes more sense to me. They went in wanting a running back to replace Swift.
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They were. And he still might be. We were damn close in the passing game with Gibbs. He’s going to pop soon. I trust Brian Daboll’s words.