It’s hard to believe that last season the RB room was a total makeover from the starters perspective. They aren’t working a rookie in and the expectations are high, Good article, from DM, "us as a cumulative, as a whole room, it’s special.”
Niyo: Lions’ backfield ready for an encore — and more
Full article at link
Gibbs bigger factor
Still, one area where Gibbs figures to be an even bigger factor this season is in the passing game, particularly as the Lions’ try to replace some of the production lost when receiver Josh Reynolds — one of Jared Goff’s trusted targets — left in free agency.
“What we need him to do from a passing game standpoint is go to that next level,” Scottie Montgomery said of Gibbs, who finished his rookie season with 52 catches for 318 yards and a touchdown.
The coach talked about the difference between simply running routes out of the backfield or serving as an efficient check-down option and becoming a threat to run all types of routes as a receiver.
“We know we’ve seen him do those things, but now can you go into the slot and do a little bit more down the field?” Scottie Montgomery said. “Some intermediate stuff, can we continue to grow him there? That’s what we’re trying to do."
Last year at this time I cautioned that Gibbs as a rookie would be hard to be an upgrade over Swift. People were projecting 700 + season receiving and 800+ rushing. Expectations were very high.
Gibbs exceeded most people’s expectations as a runner. He averaged 5.2 yrds per carry and had nearly 950 yards rushing.
Gibbs as a receiver fell shy of 400yrds which is about what I expected but I debated with several posters who thought 700-800 receiving was where he’d be.
I’ve heard several fans say they think Gibbs can have a 2000 all purpose yard season. While he’s certainly capable I do not believe that to be realistic. Why?
Monty - As long as Monty is on the roster and healthy he’s going to get a fair share of carries. I also think Gibbs 5.2 yards a carry will be hard to Duplicate. He can do it but if the OL suffers key injuries that number might be hard to hit too.
Receiving wise it’s extremely hard for a RB to exceed 600 yards. Keep in mind as he gets more snaps as a receiver he will have fewer as a runner.
Last year Gibbs had 1200+ all purpose yards. I think he can exceed that but anything over 1300 would be a huge bonus.
Point I’m trying to make here is for some players to curb the enthusiasm.
^^^^^
If they just produce 80% of last year, together, then we will have two active running backs on our roster that are both in the top 25 of all lions RB and total rushing yards
Not one but two!
In fairness he had a ton of drops. He left a lot of yards on the field. 1 in particular vs the bears was going to be a 50 yard TD. No one near him. Gotta be working on those hands this offseason.
That’s what rookies do.
I do expect him to improve on those receiving numbers but I think it might impact his rushing yards in the process.
I have high hopes for him but I suspect he falls shy of 900 yards rushing again and his receiving yards are shy of 550.
We had the fifth best Ypc in the NFL and 4.6
We get that to 5.1 alone and watch out!!
Gibbs was an upgrade over Swift.
Awesome!
Goff won’t have to throw down field much, but when he does count on the guy being WIDE OPEN and go for a score!
Definitely if he cleans up the drops, I’m expecting a massive 2nd season. We barely even used him last year until Monty got banged up and then Gibbs exploded onto the scene. I doubt Gibbs ever has 2000 yards though because Monty still going to get a bunch carries. My dream is next year they combine for 3000 yards from scrimmage. Last year they were at 2400 or so I believe but both missed a few games.
That was week 3 so how much earlier than that do you want? 
I was referring to the Raiders game when we started to feed Gibbs and he went wild. Wasn’t that like game 5 or 6? I really can’t remember.
They rushed for 2300 yards with a 4600 passing game, yet plan on taking it up a notch
That’s about right. They eased him in too slow imho. Gibbs was the only guy on our team that showed up in the debacle in Baltimore, so he was flashing when the rest of the team was crapping before we even got to that Raiders game iirc.
David Montgomery was OUT in week 3. Gibbs had 17 carries that game. Gibbs was OUT in week 5 and week 6. He came back in week 7 and had 20 touches in week 7. The Raiders game was week 8.
In summary RB’s get hurt a lot. Monty was running like a man possessed early in the season. That seemed to fade some…and he was limping in several games…clearly was playing with some pain
That game’s highlights are the ones I rewatch the most. Listening to Joe Buck cream in his jeans over Gibbs never gets old.