The Detroit Lions escaped Arrowhead Stadium with a one-point win over the Kansas City Chiefs. It was a huge win and a great start to Detroit’s season. They had a defensive, receiving and rushing touchdown, and if you play fantasy football you may assume that the rushing touchdown was by rookie Jahmyr Gibbs. Despite the high draft capital in the 2023 NFL Draft, the rookie fell short of expectations in his debut.
Listen, I get it. You likely had plans for Gibbs to be one of your two starting running backs, and seeing David Montgomery getting the goal line work is terrifying. Montgomery saw way more game action than Gibbs with 55 snaps compared to Gibbs’ 19. Throw in that Monty had 21 carries for 74 yards compared to Gibbs’ seven carries for 42, and I can see why you’re eyeing that panic button.
Despite the workload on the box score, there was much to like about Gibbs’ first career game. For one, he averaged six yards a carry. Even though Kansas City didn’t have Chris Jones on the line, they still have one of the better defensive lines in the NFL. Gibbs also brought in both of his targets for an additional 18 yards. Monty didn’t register a target, and quarterback Jared Goff threw it 35 times.
Fantasy football is a 15-week marathon, depending on when your league’s playoffs start. Sure, Gibbs looks like a dud so far, but he had six points in standard leagues. He finishes with eight fantasy points in PPR and is a longshot to be a top running back this week. But, it is still Thursday and still Week 1 of the season. So many things could happen. At this point, hold on to Gibbs and believe in the investment of the rookie. He will likely be lower in weekly rankings, but unless you get a significant trade offer, hold onto him.