Jahmyr Gibbs is making the kind of case that can force a whole awards conversation to shift.
Through seven games, the Detroit Lions running back is already sitting near the top of the league in the categories everybody notices: he’s second in carries with 157, second in rushing yards with 773 and tied for second in rushing touchdowns with eight. But the number that really jumps off the page is the one that doesn’t always get the same spotlight: broken tackles.
Gibbs is on pace for 123 broken tackles this season, which would blow past his previous career high of 65 and leave the rest of the league in the dust. Last year, Atlanta Falcons running back Bijan Robinson led the NFL with 86. Gibbs is tracking well beyond that.
He put that ability on full display against the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday. Gibbs ran for 153 yards on 23 carries and scored a touchdown, while also setting a new personal best with 12 broken tackles, according to NFL NextGen Stats. That was his fourth game this season with double-digit missed tackles, the most of any player.
That kind of production is why Gibbs is starting to look like an Offensive Player of the Year candidate. Before the season, he was ranked No. 9 on the NFL top 100 list, and through seven games he’s backing up the argument that he should have been higher.
What makes Gibbs different from most backs piling up rushing numbers is what he does as a receiver. Among running backs, he ranks second in targets with 44, tied for third in receptions with 34, third in receiving yards with 285 and tied for second in receiving touchdowns with two.
That all-purpose profile separates him from most of the players around him in the rushing leaderboard. Christian McCaffrey and Robinson are the only real comparisons, though Jaylen Warren and Ashton Jeanty aren’t far behind.
He’s also been the league’s most explosive runner on the ground. No one has more runs of more than ten yards this season than Gibbs, who already has 27.
Detroit’s offensive line has helped create those chances, too. Center Cade Mays left the Vikings game with an ankle injury and did not return, but Juice Scruggs had already played well in releif earlier this season, so the Lions shouldn’t be facing major problems there.
The OPOY race has a recent benchmark, too. Seattle Seahawks wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba won the award in 2025 after catching 119 passes for 1,793 yards and ten touchdowns.
He already has eight touchdowns through seven games this season, so he could be in the mix to win it again. Only two players in NFL history have won back-to-back OPOY awards, with Hall of Fame running backs Earl Campbell and Marshall Faulk each stringing together three straight wins.
The one thing hanging over Gibbs is workload. He’s 5-foot-9 and 200 pounds, and he already has the second-most carries in the league with 157.
The only player ahead of him is Baltimore Ravens running back Derrick Henry, who has 158 carries and is listed at 6-foot-3, 252 pounds. Henry has shown he can handle a massive load, averaging 297 carries per season over his career and posting five seasons with at least 300.
Gibbs, though, isn’t built like Henry. He had a career-high 250 carries in 2024 and 243 last season, but he’s on pace for 381 this year.
Henry’s most carries in a regular season came in 2020, when he finished with 378 carries, 2,027 rushing yards and 17 touchdowns. Gibbs could post huge numbers if he gets anywhere near that workload, but the question is whether he can hold up long enough to get there.
The Lions may need to add another running back to keep him fresh and let him keep rolling.
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