Through his first two NFL seasons, Jahmyr Gibbs has delivered beyond expectations and put the "position value" truthers who lamented the Detroit Lions taking him No. 12 overall in the 2023 draft in their place. Last season, boosted by David Montgomery's late-season absence, he set the single-season franchise record for total touchdowns and topped 1,900 yards from scrimmage.
But there has been a part of Gibbs' game that feels.....unfulfilled? He has had matching totals of 52 receptions in each of his two seasons, and he actually had fewer targets last season (63) than he did as a rookie (71) despite playing two more games and averaging 9.9 yards per catch.
John Morton, who has on the Lions' offensive staff in 2022, has replaced Ben Johnson as offensive coordinator. So these numbers seem to matter, as it relates to the screen passing game.
In 2022, the Lions averaged 7.0 yards per attempt on screen passes (second in the league), with a 0.39 EPA per dropback (also second) and a 54.2 percent success rate (fourth). That EPA per dropback is the third-highest by any team in a season over the past three seasons.
In 2023 they averaged 5.4 yards per attempt (12th in the league) on screens, with a 0.03 EPA per dropback (13th) and a 45.5 percent success rate (sixth). Not awful of course, but not as good as 2022 and last season fell in-between the marks set by the prior two campaigns.
For whatever reason, Johnson just couldn't get the absolute best out of Gibbs in the passing game. Within the idea Morton may want to tilt the overall snap share in the Lions' backfield toward Gibbs, a plan to fix that would be an easy residual.
Jahmyr Gibbs basically confirms the plan to fully unleash him this year
On Thursday, Gibbs hosted a youth football camp at Ford Field. He revealed a change in the Lions' offense that Morton is driving.
"I have to learn the formations from being split out," Gibbs said, via Tarohn Finley of The Detroit News. "I’m getting split out a lot more than I was the last two years."
Last season, according to Pro Football Focus, Gibbs lined up out wide for 38 snaps and 32 snaps in the slot, running a total of 67 routes from those alignments.
Miami Dolphins running back Devon Achane led running backs in receiving yards last year. By comparison, he ran 58 routes when he was lined up out wide, with 157 total routes when lined up wide or in the slot (h/t to 97.1 The Ticket).
During his rookie season in 2023, Gibbs lined up out wide for 46 snaps and in the slot for 48 snaps. So the path to tapping into all he can do as a pass catcher seems to lie in diversifying his alignment, and as could have been foreseen Morton seems to be implementing a plan there.
When it comes down to it, Gibbs probably revealed too much about a change in his responsibilities. But knowing it's happening and being able to stop it will be two very different things for opposing defenses.
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