The NFL season is quickly approaching, and fantasy drafts are in full swing. At DraftKings, you can play an array of different season-long fantasy contests.
Below, I take a look at the fantasy value of all the players in the Detroit Lions’ backfield.
Detroit Lions Backfield
The Lions have had one of the best offenses in the NFL over the past several seasons. Last season, they led the NFL in points scored and ranked second in total yards. They have ranked inside the top five in the NFL in total yards and points scored each of the past three seasons, all with offensive coordinator Ben Johnson at the helm. It will be a different person calling the plays for Detroit this season, as Johnson has moved on to be the head coach of their division rival, the Chicago Bears. The Lions hired John Morton to be their new offensive coordinator. Morton spent the past two seasons as the passing game coordinator for the Denver Broncos, and prior to that, spent one season on Dan Campbell and Ben Johnson’s staff as a Lions’ senior offensive assistant.
This offense has been a machine under Ben Johnson, and while Morton is familiar with their system and likely won’t try to change much, there could be a drop-off without Johnson at the helm. One of the things that Johnson did so masterfully was manage the “Sonic and Knuckles” running back duo, Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery. Montgomery could be a starting running back on plenty of teams in the NFL, but Jahmyr Gibbs has emerged as one of the best running backs in the league, relegating Montgomery to a backup role. These two got more of an even split in past seasons, but last season, Gibbs emerged as the clear RB1. Despite Saquon Barkley’s historic 2,000-yard rushing season and Derrick Henry’s continued dominance, Jahmyr Gibbs was the PPR fantasy RB1 last season.
Running Back Handcuffs: David Montgomery
Jahmyr Gibbs led all running backs in total touchdowns last season, as well as ranking third in rushing + receiving yards behind Barkley and Henry. Despite that dominance, there was a real role for David Montgomery in the offense. Montgomery ranked ninth in the NFL in rushing touchdowns last season and rushed for 775 yards. Montgomery ranked 18th in PPR scoring and 17th in standard scoring last season among running backs. So, calling David Montgomery a “handcuff” is almost an insult to how good he is. At those numbers, he is a clear starting running back in almost any fantasy league. Just like the Lions themselves, if your starting running backs on your fantasy team are Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery, you would be in great shape.
Montgomery put up those massive numbers last season despite Jahmyr Gibbs playing all 17 games. If Gibbs were to miss even a couple of games, Montgomery is likely to get a couple of hundred more rushing yards added to the numbers he was putting up last season. There is some concern around a drop-off in production as an offense without Ben Johnson. However, with so much continuity across the board, the Lions should still be one of the NFL’s best offenses. That means David Montgomery and Jahmyr Gibbs should be the best running back duo in the NFL once again.
