Lions' Jahmyr Gibbs Sounds Off on Being Consensus No. 1 Fantasy Football Pick in 2026

Detroit Lions star running back Jahmyr Gibbs is well aware that the hopes of many fantasy football managers are resting on him in 2026.

Gibbs—who has been widely considered the best option to go first overall in fantasy football drafts leading up to the start of the regular season—told Tim Twentyman of the Lions' official website that he "for sure" picked himself with the No. 1 overall selection in fantasy.

The 24-year-old, fourth-year running back added, "I'm either going to make a lot of people happy or mad."

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Gibbs was a great fantasy football pick each of his first three seasons, compiling 3,580 yards and 39 touchdowns on the ground, plus 181 receptions for 1,449 yards and another 10 scores.

He was named to the Pro Bowl each of those seasons, and he accomplished that despite sharing the backfield with David Montgomery.

Things will be different for Gibbs this season, though, as Montgomery was traded to the Houston Texans during the offseason, meaning Gibbs is now the undisputed RB1 in Detroit and fantasy football.

The Lions did sign former Kansas City Chiefs running back Isiah Pacheco as Gibbs' backup, but with Pacheco landing on injured reserve and missing at least the first four games of the season, there is no serious threat to Gibbs' workload for the first month of the campaign.

Given what Gibbs was able to do while playing 57 percent, 56 percent and 67 percent of the Lions' offensive snaps over his first three seasons, the idea of him playing closer to 80 percent of the snaps has fantasy football managers excited.

In Yahoo fantasy football leagues, Gibbs boasts an average draft position of 1.3, and Atlanta Falcons running back Bijan Robinson is the only other player in the same neighborhood at 2.1.

That means Gibbs has almost been a slam dunk pick for those selecting first overall, and fantasy football managers are banking on the idea that if they have the first pick, Gibbs gives them a massive advantage, much like superstar fantasy football running backs of the past like Marshall Faulk and LaDainian Tomlinson.