The Detroit Lions are suddenly one of the “it” teams in the NFL. Just three years into the Dan Campbell + Brad Holmes rebuild, the Lions came so close to the Super Bowl that they could taste it. Now expectations are as high as they've ever been heading into 2024.
It helps that Detroit has one of the best rosters in the NFL. They boast top-shelf talent at valuable positions. Perhaps more importantly, they have reliable depth at almost every position. The Lions are literally built to handle adversity — be that from a frisky opponent or the injury bug.
However, having a good roster means competition. Both for places on the 53-man roster and for a starting role on offense or defense.
Could Jahmyr Gibbs start over David Montgomery?
Let's be real, David Montgomery is not in danger of missing out on the team's 53-man final roster. We need to get that out of the way right at the top. However, how Detroit decides to split the work in the backfield could look very different from 2023.
First, let's get a baseline of what happened in 2023. The Lions had 500 carries as a team, with Montgomery accounting for 219 (43.8%) and Gibbs 182 (36.4%) There wasn't much other competition, with Craig Reynolds' 41 carries (8.2%) coming in third place.
That workload may be spread much more evenly in 2024.
Gibbs was a fixture of the offense the entire season, but it was David Montgomery's show for the first several weeks. As the regular season went on, the team found the right way to balance carries for each running back. Now that Gibbs is up to speed with the NFL game, it is reasonable to expect that the workload will be close to a 50/50 split starting in Week 1.
One factor that could artificially impact this equation is the passing game. The Lions have made a concerted effort to get Gibbs more work in the passing game this offseason. It is clear that the Lions will use Gibbs as a receiver more often in 2024.
How could this impact the running game? Detroit made decide to call more short passing plays, which are colloquially called “an extension of the running game.” This is important for our purposes because it could signal an overall decrease in rushing attempts by the team.
Let's conclude by stating something else that seems obvious. David Montgomery is not going to be relegated to just power back duty. He will still be an important part of the offense, but it feels like Gibbs might take over the backfield in 2024. This will be something for fans to keep their eyes on early in the regular season.
Kalif Raymond's job as WR2 is not safe
The wide receiver position is arguably one of the weakest position groups on the entire team. Amon-Ra St. Brown gives them top-shelf talent, and Jameson Williams is an explosive player who fans are expecting big things from in 2024. Outside of those two, the entire position is a big question mark.
Veteran Kalif Raymond is currently projected to start as the team's WR3 in Week 1.
It is not hard to understand why — Raymond is reliable, productive, and familiar with Detroit's offensive scheme.
In fact, 2023 was Raymond's least productive season in Detroit, but even then he was an important contributor. He logged 35 receptions for 489 yards and one touchdown as the team's fifth receiving option behind St. Brown, LaPorta, Gibbs, and Williams.
The interesting thing about Raymond's situation is that he still seems like a lock to make the final roster. However, he could easily be surpassed for his starting role by any number of players. Donovan Peoples-Jones, Isaiah Williams, and Daurice Fountain are the main competition for him on the Lions roster. Each player has succeeded to varying degrees in Detroit, but none have proven to be as reliable as Raymond.
That leaves us with the most realistic path for Raymond's job being stolen — by a player who isn't currently on the roster.
The Lions have huge expectations going into the season and they should know that simply having two good receivers is not enough. Detroit could look into the free agent market, or perhaps try and execute a trade, to add more talent ahead of Week 1. They have roughly $40 million in cap space, so adding another talented player would be very easy.
This could be an interesting topic to follow throughout the rest of the preseason and into the fall.
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