When Brad Holmes and the Lions were on the clock at No. 12, Jahmyr Gibbs was on the phone with some friends. In "this new-age era of the NFL Draft," Gibbs said he was expecting to get picked somewhere "in the twenties."
"That’s where running backs usually are," he said. "So I was still just talking to my friends, then the call hit me and I was shocked."
The call was from the new-age Lions, who had another pick at No. 18 but weren't willing to wait. They were taking Gibbs now, because he was the top player on their board and they'd coveted him for months. As Dan Campbell said Thursday night, "Brad and the staff, we all fell in love with this guy a long time ago." And then the texts starting coming in for the Lions, with various teams telling Holmes they would have made a move for Gibbs had Detroit passed on him at 12.
"Just a lot of picks, a lot of people saying they wanted to trade up and get him, so I wouldn’t have felt good about him (being available) at 18," said Holmes.
Much like fellow Alabama star and 12th overall pick Jameson Williams, the word the Lions use to describe Gibbs is explosive. He will give their offense another gear. Holmes was hooked from the moment he saw Gibbs play live for the first time last September in Alabama's comeback win at Texas. Nine carries for 22 yards might have been forgettable. Nine catches for 74 yards and a touchdown clearly left an impression.
Gibbs caught 44 passes total last season for 444 yards. The season before that at Georgia Tech, he put up the most yards after catch per reception (14.1) of any Power 5 running back in the last 10 years. Travis Etienne ranks second. Christian McCaffrey ranks third. If Gibbs is some blend of those two behind one of the best offensive lines in the NFL, he might be the rare running back worthy of a first-round pick. And Detroit might have pushed its ceiling higher as its window opens in the NFC.
The Lions don't think they drafted a running back 12th overall: "That's not really how we view him," said Holmes. They believe they drafted an offensive weapon, someone who's a threat whenever the ball's in his hands. Indeed, even when it isn't. When Williams returns to the field following his six-game suspension for gambling, the Lions will have two players who can rip through the defense at a moment's notice, two burners always a burst away from the end zone. And they will have both of them on rookie salaries for the next four years.
"Speed kills," said Gibbs. "With me and Jamo both on the field, it’s kind of pick your poison, like, what do you want to do? Because we can both make explosive plays in the pass game and in the run game."
In his pre-draft meetings with the Lions, Gibbs said the coaching staff was giddy about his versatility and all "the different ways they could get me the the ball." And moments after Gibbs wound up in Detroit, Campbell said Ben Johnson, coordinator of one of the best offenses in the NFL last season, was "already in his office, drawing stuff up." Favorites in the new-age NFC North, the Lions were always going to be dangerous this season. Gibbs might make them dastardly to defend.
“They have great playmakers on the team already," he said. "I just think I could bring another element to that team and we could be the best offense in the league."
How the Lions proceed in the backfield remains to be seen. Holmes intimated Thursday night that D'Andre Swift could be traded in the coming days, likely for more draft capital. Even so, a tandem of Gibbs and David Montgomery will present options for Johnson and problems for his counterparts, especially given what Gibbs can do as a pass-catcher. He's often compared to Saints star Alvin Kamara. Running backs coach Scottie Montgomery called him the "best space player in this draft."
"There’s a tremendous amount of value for him as a football player, not only as just a back," said Montgomery.
At one point during his meeting with reporters, Holmes had to chuckle. While he generally doesn't pay much mind to mock drafts, he said he laughed when he kept seeing Gibbs mocked in the 50's: "If you looked at the talent of the player and the totality of the draft, I didn’t think that was remotely close." Part of it was due to Gibbs' position, which has been devalued in the NFL over the last decade or so. And Holmes understands those arguments if they're based solely on depth charts and data.
"But when you come across a special player like that, you’re just convicted and you go get them," he said.
Campbell said the Lions "had players we loved" at No. 6, but the trade was too good to pass up. They figured they could add more ammo and still get their guy, and that's exactly what they did. There's an argument to be made that they got him too soon, that they reached for a star at a position where they can be found later in the draft -- like Kamara, a third-rounder in 2017. That's one argument Holmes isn't having.
The Lions think Gibbs is much more than a running back. He's a weapon who can help them win, and they're ready to win now.
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