Last year, patience was a virtue for Jahmyr Gibbs' fantasy owners. Those who stayed the course after a slow start had a top-five running back from Week 7 through the end of the season regardless of scoring format and a top-10 running back in full and 0.5-point PPR for the season. Three touchdown runs in the playoffs only further greased the skids for more to come in his second season.
With the expectation of more work overall and an expanded role in the passing game, Gibbs has a path to finishing as a top-five fantasy running back for the full season this year. David Montgomery remains an important part of the Lions' run game and his role isn't going away, but it's wheels up for Gibbs in Year 2.
With the slight caveat of focusing on drafts on Underdog Fantasy, but applicable to any draft on any site, Pro Football Focus had Gibbs on a list of three "anchor" running backs to target. "Anchor" is of course in a positive context, as a building block for a fantasy roster, and Gibbs is on the list.
"Jahmyr Gibbs finished as the half-points-per-reception (half-PPR) RB9 in Weeks 1-to-17 despite an up-and-down Weeks 1-to-6 stretch. He is a surefire bet to produce an elite RB1 season operating as the full-time starter from start to finish playing behind Detroit’s elite offensive line. He is available with the first round’s final pick as the RB4 by ADP...."
To bolster the context, Gibbs went off the board at pick 2.1, the fifth running back taken, in a 12-team Underdog draft I'm currently in.
Fantasy Football: Is Jahmyr Gibbs an "anchor" running back for 2024?
On Tuesday's episode of "The Adam Schefter Podcast", fantasy analyst John Hansen was asked which four running backs he's targeting in drafts and that people should be looking at.
Hansen pointed to four running backs he's willing to invest an early pick in: Jonathan Taylor, Bijan Robinson, Gibbs and Breece Hall. Hall and Taylor also made PFF's "anchor running backs" list.
"That's the four, Hansen said. Adam, I'm calling them...and I'm probably cursing them, but I'm calling them the 'Flawless Four.' And when I say flawless, for me to invest that capital in a running back, which is volatile, because of injuries and the like, they need to be young, they need to be generally durable and they need to be versatile... and these guys check all those boxes....."
Hansen called the targeting of the four running backs he mentioned an "anchor running back" draft strategy, where you're probably good drafting the position for a few rounds after taking one of them in the first round (depending on your draft position of course).
The buzz on Gibbs is backed up by his ADP as a top-five running back in half and full-point PPR. He may be a bit of a draft fade for some around the Round 1-Round 2 turn in 12-team leagues, due to Montgomery's presence. But Gibbs' sheer upside pushes him as a worthy "anchor running back" to build a fantasy roster around in drafts this year.
