The Detroit Lions are all-in on running back Jahmyr Gibbs this season, and the team paid him like it. Unfortunately, that meant it was time for the Lions to move on from David Montgomery, the former thunder to Gibbs’ lightning in the initial era of this elite offensive attack.
Gibbs led the NFL in rushing attempts in Week 1, tallying 29 of them and producing 156 yards and two scores on the ground in the process. He added five receptions for 30 yards. As it turns out, the Lions needed every bit of Gibbs’ insane usage rate and production to sneak past the visiting New Orleans Saints by one point in overtime last Sunday (31-30).
Meanwhile, Montgomery was starring for the Houston Texans in Week 1 after Detroit traded him there in March for offensive lineman Juice Scruggs, who started at center for the Lions in Week 1, along with a fourth-round draft pick and a seventh-round selection.
Montgomery lit up the Buffalo Bills‘ defense to the tune of 60 yards rushing and 19 yards receiving for three total TDs. The Bills, however, pulled out a late victory over Houston, winning by a score of 36-31 in Texas.
Detroit now heads to Buffalo for the 2026 debut of Thursday Night Football on September 17, where Gibbs will try to replicate Montgomery’s success and help the Lions off to a 2-0 start.
Lions’ Plan to Replace David Montgomery Fell Through With Isiah Pacheco Injury
The Lions moved on from Montgomery with a plan in mind, which involved signing two-time Super Bowl champion running back Isiah Pacheco to replace him.
Pacheco, a former seventh-round pick, played four seasons with the Kansas City Chiefs. And while the team’s running game was not explosive alongside Patrick Mahomes, it got the job done well enough that Pacheco played in three consecutive Super Bowls to begin his career.
Across his four years in Kansas City, the 27-year-old running back appeared in 51 regular season contests for the Chiefs, starting 42 of those. He left the franchise for a one-year, $1.8 million deal from the Lions after tallying 2,537 rushing yards and 14 TDs as well 88 catches for 554 yards and three touchdowns across his Kansas City tenure.
Lions RB Jahmyr Gibbs May Have too Much on Plate This Season
Unfortunately, it is unclear if Pacheco will play at all for Detroit in 2026 after he underwent a recent back surgery that is likely to hold him out until at least December.
“It’s going to be a while,” Lions head coach Dan Campbell said Tuesday of Pacheco’s injury return timeline, per Eric Woodyard of ESPN. “I really can’t [predict how long]. It’ll be a significant amount of time though.”
It appears that Sione Vaki will function as the RB2 in Detroit, at least for the time being, but perhaps not at a significant usage rate. Vaki tallied two rushing attempts for seven yards against New Orleans and was the only running back to log a carry other than Gibbs. Vaki also caught one pass for 11 yards.
By contrast, Montgomery averaged more than nine carries and nearly two targets per game behind Gibbs last season (11 intended touches total per outing) compared to the three intended touches for Vaki on Sunday. That equals an extra 136 carries/targets combined for Gibbs over the course of the coming season if Vaki’s averages hold.
Needless to say, the Lions will be in serious trouble if Gibbs suffers an injury setback of any kind, which is why Detroit may be a candidate to add a running back via free agency or a trade in the coming weeks.
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