The Lions got 25 touchdowns from running backs Jamaal Williams and D’Andre Swift last season, but they went out and acquired a new pair of running backs this offseason.
Veteran signing David Montgomery and first-round pick Jahmyr Gibbs will be the top backs for Detroit this time around and head coach Dan Campbell said on SiriusXM NFL Radio that he sees the duo’s opposite skill sets as the blueprint for a “two-headed monster.”
“Man, I think you need a back that, push comes to shove, he can carry a load,” Campbell said. “Somebody you feel like you can give the ball to 20, 25 times a game, potentially. And then you need that specialty guy. He’s much more — he carries the scalpel and he can slice you up. He can hurt you in the pass game, potentially. I’m talking about Gibbs obviously. Get him out there and do a few more things, because that’s kind of what I know.”
Campbell cited the Saints’ backfield with Mark Ingram and Alvin Kamara as one that he sees as a template for what the Lions can have in the Montgomery-Gibbs partnership. The Lions would love for their duo to be that productive and there may be some gripes about their decisions if they are less successful than the Williams-Swift pairing.
