I’d love to see your thoughts on ceiling and/or expectations of them.
Clearly a drop off from Monty, and I think we compensate in other ways with WR, TE, as well as increased load for Gibby.
Thoughts?
I’m fine with it. We’ve been spoiled for depth lately but our situation now isn’t so unusual. I also happen to be much higher on Pacheco than everyone else in here, though he does need to be healthy to show it.
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It’s a big issue IMO. Not only is there a steep decline in rushing but pass blocking as well which Monty was great at. I get why they traded Monty but none of these guys are adequate RB2s, Brad cheaped out way too much. If Gibbs ever got injured, the Lions are in a world of hurt.
@Thats2 why are you high on Pacheco? He’s not nearly the same player he was pre injury and….he’s injured again.
Interior offensive line and running back depth are not good enough for a team that needs to be a running team in order to maximize offensive potential IMO.
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That was true with Montgomery on the team
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You get what you pay for. We net $7M on the salary cap, Pacheco has a good history at pass blocking, we got Juice Scruggs who will start the season for us, and Pacheco still seems to lay it on the line every time.
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He’s not, but I don’t think it’s permanent. He was fantastic in 2023 (especially down the stretch), then got hurt in early 2024 and basically missed that whole year. Came back last year and clearly wasn’t right yet, then dealt with nagging injuries all year. I think he could still very easily get back to his best physically.
In fact I’ve been burned most often by writing RBs off too early. I’ll never forget thinking Nick Chubb wasn’t a good prospect because his last 2 years in college post-injury weren’t great… well, it turned out he just wasn’t fully healed yet. Javonte Williams took 2.5 years to look like himself again, on and on. If Pacheco was an older guy or the injury was one that guys tended to not come back from I’d be more skeptical, but neither is the case.
It’s certainly possible of course that I’m wrong and the injuries have slowed him down, but that’s not the way I’d lean if I had to bet. He also needs to stay healthy going forward of course, but that’s true of everyone.
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Honestly, I’m not even sure who our RB2 is at this point. I root for Pacheco since I also have Puerto Rican family - love the guy. But there’s a case to be made that he’s mostly washed - and hasn’t even had one single appearance as Lion yet. Vaki is a special teamer who, again, we haven’t seen anything from yet. Like, nothing. So is the RB2 Saylors right now? It honestly feels like it might be. It feels like if we lose Gibbs for any amount of time it’s going to be “play the hot hand and pray hard we gets Gibbs back soon” kinda situation.
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I do wonder the percentage of RBs in their late 20s, coming off major injury, and multi down years in a row - come back to be better than ever. Maybe we can find some examples, but I bet the percentage is pretty low.
So far, not so good.
I think there’s a reason we kept 5 Rbs on the roster…..
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I was a big fan of his prior to the injury and if the Lions are getting that guy then they’re in pretty good shape but it’s been 3 years since he’s been productive and he’s been injured all of Training Camp and preseason so tbh I think he’s closer to a cut candidate during the season than adequately replacing what Monty brought. I’d love nothing more than to be wrong, he’s an easy guy to root for and the Lions badly need him to pan out.
That and there’s a reason why they’ve been scouring the free agent market. I’m surprised that Hunt didn’t impress them enough to sign him, he must not be healthy because I thought he was better than Pacheco last year and would be an upgrade.
He just turned 27 a few months back, I wouldn’t call that past his prime. And again, this isn’t a Dobbins situation with multiple achilles injuries. Kamara, Javonte Williams, Chubb, Mostert’s a big one, Jacobs, Joe Mixon, even Saquon have bounced back from middling injury seasons, sometimes multiple. Jonathan taylor had a hellacious 18 month stretch where everyone thought he was done. It’s not completely rare.
Again, I’m not saying it’s a certainty, and he does need to return to his baseline juice at some point (and you’re right that he’s not off to a great start here), but IF he does I think he’s a really good RB.
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How much are Jabari Small and Seth McGlaughlin guaranteed by being on the initial roster? I mistakenly thought at least a full year minimum salary was guaranteed but apparently not.
I hated when we moved on from Monty , He and Gibbs really complimented each other well ! , now here we sit wondering who’s going to be thee #2, it seems like a mishap to me, but it’s history. nothing we can do but iron out who can be a legit 2 @RB now.
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Its a huge drop off.
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Woulda been nice to keep some of these 4th round picks that we always trade away (unnecessarily?)
Coulda got a Mike Washington or Jonah Coleman for a spell RB
As long as we got a guy at RB that can pass protect then meh whatevs
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I’m really surprised we are keeping 5 RB. Did anyone out there get cut we may be interested in? I’m thinking a bigger 220lb guy for short yardage and goalline.
17 games is a looong season, and it worries me that Gibbs will be overused. Yes, he is elite, but gonna need him fresh if in contention weeks 13 on. Saylors, Small, Vaki all expenable for the right guy. Not big on IP holding up either.
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Really thought Monty played less last season but this says otherwise. He did touch the ball less, but he was in on 37% of the snaps.
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Texans made good trades this offseason getting DMONT RB1 and Boutte WR2
For cheap
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I hope the best for David Montgomery but I don’t think we are going to miss the 2026 version of him that much
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