KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Will Anderson Jr. couldn’t contain his excitement.
The No. 3 pick of Thursday’s NFL draft had just finished a joint news conference with his new teammate, quarterback C.J. Stroud, when he tugged his Houston Texans draft cap tight on his head and stopped in the back of the interview room to talk about one of his favorite college teammates, new Detroit Lions running back Jahmyr Gibbs.
“He just went 12!” Anderson said excitedly. “The Detroit Lions just got the best overall athlete in this draft.”
The Lions eschewed positional value with both of their first-round picks Thursday, taking Gibbs at No. 12 overall (after a trade down from No. 6) and Iowa linebacker Jack Campbell six picks later at No. 18.
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Running backs and linebackers have been devalued in today’s pass-first NFL — before Thursday, no running back had gone in the top 20 since 2018 — but Gibbs has special abilities that Anderson, his ex-teammate, and Bijan Robinson, one of his contemporaries at the position, said made him worthy of a high selection.
“I mean, he can line up at wide receiver, he can line up at running back. He can do it all,” Anderson said. “He’s so elusive in the backfield, his cuts are amazing, his routes are amazing. Everything he do is amazing. They really just got a really great player that can do everything and be a dynamic threat anywhere on the field for them.”
Gibbs had 1,628 all-purpose yards last season at Alabama after spending his first two college seasons at Georgia Tech.
He averaged 6.1 yards per carry for the Tide, caught 44 passes (the most ever by an Alabama running back) and returned kicks.
Gibbs played a similar all-purpose role at Georgia Tech, and the Lions envision him as a dual-threat weapon capable of supercharging their already potent offense. He can line up as a tailback or slot receiver, and the Lions can deploy him as a single back or in two-back sets along with newly-signed running back David Montgomery or holdover D’Andre Swift.
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For a team that relies heavily on play-action and wants to run the ball, Gibbs’ fit in Detroit is snug, even if it came at a steeper-than-usual price.
“I think I could bring a lot of things to the city of Detroit,” Gibbs told Detroit reporters in a video conference after his selection. “They have great playmakers on the team already. Amon-Ra St. Brown, Swift, Jamo (wide receiver Jameson Williams). Jared Goff, he’s a vet, he knows what he’s doing. Everyone knows what they’re doing. I just think I could bring another element to that team and we could be the best offensive team in the league.”
Gibbs and Robinson, who went No. 8 overall Thursday to the Atlanta Falcons, became the highest pair of running backs drafted since Leonard Fournette (No. 4) and Christian McCaffrey (No. 8) both went in the top 10 in 2017.
Robinson, the Texas star widely considered the best back in the draft, said backs such as him and Gibbs are worth high picks in today’s NFL because of their versatility.
Robinson averaged 16.5 yards per catch last season at Texas and, like Gibbs, can run routes like a receiver.
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“Oh, man, I mean, obviously what me and Jahmyr can do when it comes to running the football, catching the ball out of the backfield, you can line us up pretty much anywhere on the offense,” he said. “It shows the value that it holds, and I think that for guys that are coming after us and for guys that are running backs, (it shows) that their value is worth something if they just do it the right way and know how to use their skill sets fully.”
Robinson called it “a blessing” to see two running backs go so high after hearing for months they may slide in the draft. Both players were considered among the top 32 talents available, and both should play big roles for their new teams in 2023 and beyond.
“To see that and everything that people say about the running back position, I feel that it’s coming up to what it is right now,” Robinson said.
“I’m super excited for (Gibbs),” Anderson said. “He worked his butt off every day at practice. He deserves everything that’s coming his way.”
Contact Dave Birkett at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett.