Don’t get me wrong. I absolutely love the DMO + JG dual threat combo.
But let’s be real. Even though he’s still a rookie, if Gibbs was thee featured lone back in this Lion offense, he’d be putting up numbers like CM this year because he’d have double the attempts in combined run/pass touches. Plus he didn’t play 3??? games and was brought along like a pup for the first third of this season.
Look at those 30 yard “difference maker” runs by both in the last playoff games.
Gibbs has never been afraid to lay the wood either. He’s always finishing off some play leveling some dude bigger than him with direct contact or an embarrassing stiff arm to the face usually leaving the other dude on the ground or picking up more yards. His pass protection was phenomenal yesterday as well. Made Witherspoon look silly yesterday 1 on 1.
Point being: McCaffrey has a longer proven track record, but Gibbs is totally the “Lion’s McCaffrey” going into this game. Their relative impacts on the outcome will be more about the opposing defenses then their individual talents.
Valid point. CM plays injured all the time. And in fact, after having two weeks off “to rest up and get ready”, both he and Deebo were both injured in that game “once again”. They can never stay healthy. One managed to gut it out and the other left the game.
I’m just saying that you can’t have numbers unless you have touches. Numbers get attention and you produce media narratives that don’t necessarily tell the whole story.
Also that when I used to play RB, I absolutely loved getting into rhythm and getting the touches which I think gets lost with the modern RB by committee approach.
You have to pick your poison though. DMO + JG gives you dual threat run / pass from both guys and insurance if either goes down. Gibbs definitely has more every down home run ability though.
In terms of size, CM is only 5 lbs heavier and 2 inches taller than Gibbs. So in terms of body physics, Gibbs is actually more compact which is probably why he is able to lay the wood so well though he looks leaner.
There is something about the way Gibbs runs and prepares when it’s time for contact though that makes him seem like he’s going to have a healthy career like Barry did.
Watch he goes and gets his bell rung this weekend and prove me wrong
I’d rather have Purdy trying to beat us than McCaffrey running it down our throat! We have stop the run this game if we’re going to have a chance to win
I think McC is about the best comp in the NFL today. I think McC is a little more physical as he’s a little bigger but Jah is not opposed to sticking his nose in there and is quite a bit faster/ more explosive.
I’ve noticed this too- he’s really, really hard to bring down. He finishes a lot of runs on the sidelines still on his feet, where other RBs would get tackled. That’s got to be good for his durability long-term. I do wish we saw him more than DMo, but at the same time, I appreciate the fact that they are both headed into game #20 healthy, so that’s got to count for something.
Just remember that CMC wasn’t CMC his rookie year. In year two he had transformed his body in the off season. It wasn’t quite a phone booth transformation, but it was close.
Anyway look for another big game from Gibbs this sunday as well from Laporta . It’s a similar setup to last week. I’d love nothing more than for our D to shutdown CM though or obviously at least limit the big play.
