From the jump, Jermar Jefferson saw the 12th overall pick in Jahmyr Gibbs. He also saw the rookie. When Jefferson watched Gibbs in training camp this summer, "I'm like, man, he's running a little too fast, he's taking the ball too fast," Jefferson said Wednesday. "As a running back, you gotta be patient, let the blocks set up."
So eventually, Jefferson let Gibbs know: "I'm like, 'You running a little too fast.' He was like, 'I know, I know.' I'm like, 'I'm glad you know!'"
Too much speed is a good problem to have. As Gibbs has learned to harness it in the NFL, it's become a problem for defenses instead. He enters the final week of his rookie season leading all running backs in yards per carry (5.4), a tick ahead of one Christian McCaffrey. Lamar Jackson leads the league at 5.5.
"When he first got here, I mean, he was a rookie, he was a little shaky, but you could still see it in him," said Jefferson, the former Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Year in his third year with the Lions. "I'm like OK, just keep giving him more days, more time, it's gonna be there and he's gonna be crazy."
There's no telling when the lightbulb will flash on for a rookie. In some cases, it never does. It was always going to shine for Gibbs, who just needed a few games to find his footing in the NFL. Dan Campbell could see it starting to flicker in the Lions' Week 3 win over the Falcons -- and "when this lightbulb really, really comes on, I think it's going to be something special," he said. It was around the same time that Jefferson sensed "the game speed started to slow down for (Gibbs), and he just started playing."
"To grow physically in this league, you can't just go out there and move around," running backs coach Scottie Montgomery said Wednesday. "You have to grow academically. I think that he's seeing it a lot better. He's also recognizing fronts, not only in protection but in the run game, and he's seeing the second level through the front, which is something that generally happens a little bit later on."
Gibbs said his mind started to move in concert with his feet around Week 5 or 6. Of course, that was when he missed two games with a hamstring injury. He returned in Week 7 and put up 100 scrimmage yards for the first time in his young career, the lone bright spot in the Lions' blowout loss to the Ravens. He held a coming-out party the next week in Detroit's win over the Raiders on Monday Night Football.
Asked if there's a run that illustrates Montgomery's point, that he's "seeing it a lot better," Gibbs said, "The first touchdown versus the Raiders, the inside zone, I jumped through the hole."
"It just felt like, after that, everything just clicked. After that touchdown, I've been on a roll ever since," said Gibbs.
The run also brings to life Montgomery's more specific point, that Gibbs is "seeing the second level through the front." Along with his elite speed and the Lions' top-notch offensive line, this is what's allowed him to hit so many explosive plays. In 10 games since he returned from that hamstring injury, Gibbs is second in the NFL in rushing yards (736) and runs of 10-plus yards (22), bested only by McCaffrey.
"He hit one today in practice actually where I'm like, 'Oh my god,'" Jefferson said. "But the Raiders one, the way he set it up, it opened up late and he hit it, I'm like, oh, that's crazy."
What everyone's seeing now is the player that Brad Holmes and the Lions saw in college. Gibbs says this himself, and hears it often from Jefferson whose stall faces that of Gibbs in the running backs' corner of Detroit's locker room. (Jefferson and Craig Reynolds also like to tease Gibbs for whispering during interviews. Gibbs tells them to chill; "I get camera shy.") Just the other day, Gibbs said Jefferson told him "the game is slow to me, like when I was at Bama."
"Ever since, like, Baltimore, I've been going back to how I was in college," said Gibbs. "Confidence does a lot for the mind and helps you perform well, so having confidence is a huge advantage I think."
The running back tandem of Gibbs and David Montgomery, who are chasing down history in the season finale, is one of the Lions' biggest advantages entering the playoffs. Either one, at any moment, can break open a game. In fact, between Gibbs, Montgomery and Amon-Ra St. Brown, the Lions have three of the NFL's top 20 players in scrimmage yards per game. Gibbs is looking more and more like the most dangerous among them. He helped the Lions clinch the NFC North two weeks ago with two touchdowns against the Vikings.
Asked if he's been surprised by Gibbs' ability to make an impact so quickly, Scottie Montgomery said, "There were very few surprises through the process with him."
"His interviews, everything that he did had a level of excellence to it. We still have a long, long way to go. His ceiling is really, really high. His development, not only physically but academically in the game, is still happening. So not really surprised, but we're also looking forward to seeing where he can continue to grow."
"No surprises to what he can do," said Jefferson. "I've seen it since the first day he got here."
