Lions RB Jahmyr Gibbs Faces Strong Career Prediction for 2026 Season

Detroit Lions running back Jahmry Gibbs could be prepared to break a long NFL streak this season.

Gibbs enters the season as the team’s established No. 1 back after the departure of David Montgomery, with many analysts considering him the league’s top running back. SI.com’s Gilberto Manzano went a step further, predicting that Gibbs will break the long streak of quarterbacks to win MVP and take home the league’s top individual honor.

Manzano noted that Gibbs is headed toward a lion’s share of carries, even with the team investing in veteran Isiah Pacheco as a backup.

“With how much [Lions head coach Dan] Campbell has hyped up Gibbs’s first season without splitting carries with David Montgomery, who’s now in Houston, there’s a real possibility Gibbs plays more than 80% of the offensive snaps this season,” Manzano wrote. “Last year, Gibbs saw a career-high 67% of the snaps and was on the field less than 60% of the time during his first two seasons. It’s wild how efficient he’s been in his career despite the limited work (at least 1,800 scrimmage yards in each of the past two seasons), and it makes you wonder whether he’s about to deliver a historic season.”

Manzano predicted that Gibbs would finish the season as the first non-quarterback MVP since Adrian Peterson won the award in 2012.

Manzano added that Gibbs has a good chance of topping 2,000 rushing yards — with an even bigger goal in sight.

“Perhaps Gibbs can flirt with the single-season yards from scrimmage record that currently belongs to Chris Johnson (2,509 yards in 2009),” Manzano wrote.

Like HEAVY's content?Be sure to follow us.

This article was originally published on HEAVY

The post Lions RB Jahmyr Gibbs Faces Strong Career Prediction for 2026 Season appeared first on HEAVY.