Lions’ Scottie Montgomery Speaks Out on Rookie RB Jahmyr Gibbs

Unfair or not, early first-round draft picks enter the NFL with very high expectations. That was certainly the case for running back Jahmyr Gibbs, who the Detroit Lions selected at No. 12 overall in the 2023 NFL draft.

Through five weeks, Gibbs’ performance has been somewhat underwhelming. He’s rushed for 179 yards and has yet to score a touchdown. He’s averaged under 10 carries per game.

But Lions running back coach Scottie Montgomery didn’t have anything bad to say about the rookie running back when talking about Gibbs in front of the media on October 11.

“He’s right where I thought he would be. He’s right where he should be coming along at this time,” Montgomery told reporters. “There’s a lot of things that happen in the offseason, we continue to grow our players. We don’t judge our players based on anything else besides achievement.”

Although the rushing yards haven’t been plentiful for Gibbs, that achievement Montgomery is referring to is the rookie’s scrimmage yards and efficiency. Gibbs has posted 249 yards from scrimmage in four games. He’s also averaged 4.6 yards per carry.

Jahmyr Gibbs’ Contributions to Detroit’s Offense

Veteran running back David Montgomery has stolen the show in the Lions backfield early this season. He is seventh in the NFL with 371 rushing yards despite missing a game.

The Lions running back coach argued that with that production from the team’s top back, there’s only going to be so many opportunities for other players. Gibbs hasn’t scored or reached 100 yards in a single game. He also posted 50 rushing yards just once.

But the Lions running back coach also made it clear that Gibbs is exactly where the team wants him to be.

“I believe in each game that he’s been in and played in, he’s had 50 or more scrimmage yards. That doesn’t sound significant, but when you talk to our coordinator, you talk to our head coach, especially when we have the type of room, and the type of talent that we have on the field, this is not a team lacking for talent,” Scottie Montgomery told reporters. “So when you have guys in each room that can make plays, at the end of the day, there’s only a certain amount of yardage that can happen on a football field.

“We’re really, really happy with him understanding that it’s about achievement, not necessarily what success is.”

Gibbs Dealing With High Expectations

The rookie running back may not be living up to some of his high expectations as the No. 12 overall pick. But Montgomery argued dealing with that hype is a big part of playing in the NFL.

Then after Gibbs breaks out, as Montgomery full expects him to, the running back will face a new challenge — dealing with success.

“The same way that he’s having to manage these expectations, in a few weeks he’ll have to manage (when) people are saying really, really good (things) about him,” Montgomery said. “I think that is very humbling and there’s only one way you can be humble: I think humiliation brings humility. Just being humble enough to when you get to that point where everything is going right.”

In Gibbs’ lone start this season, he rushed for 80 yards on 17 carries and caught 1 pass. In two other games, Gibbs averaged 5 yards per rush.

Gibbs didn’t play in Week 5 because of a hamstring injury, but he could return in Week 6.

Head coach Dan Campbell called him “day-to-day” although Gibbs didn’t practice on October 11.