Lions' Jahmyr Gibbs surpasses Barry Sanders for most NFL touchdowns scored before age 25

With two touchdowns in the Detroit Lions' 45-21 win over the Arizona Cardinals in Week 5, Jahmyr Gibbs surpassed Hall of Famer Barry Sanders for the most touchdowns scored before age 25 in his NFL career.

Gibbs had 56 TDs coming into Sunday's game, one behind Sanders on that particular list . He doesn't turn 25 until next March and the Lions had 13 games remaining on their 2026-27 schedule. So the fourth-year star had plenty of time to overtake the Lions legend.

The first of Gibbs' scores came on a 1-yard run early in the second quarter. That finished off a seven-play, 54-yard drive that tied the score at 7 after Detroit punted on its previous four possessions.

Gibbs overtook Sanders for the top spot in the fourth quarter. The Lions were already ahead 38-14 when he rushed on a play designed to go left. Faced with a wall of Arizona defenders, Gibbs changed direction — the type of play that invites some comparisons to Sanders — and dashed to the right, outrunning everyone to the right corner of the end zone.

The box score says Gibbs' TD was a 3-yard run, but he covered far more ground than that. It was another example of how much difficulty the Cardinals had trying to corral the Lions' star running back throughout the game.

In addition to his two TDs, Gibbs finished with 151 yards rushing on 25 carries. He added 56 yards receiving on five catches, compiling over 200 yards from scrimmage against an Arizona defense that ranked 23rd in the NFL with 1,405 yards allowed (and 20th with 470 rushing yards).

Five games into an already impressive career, Gibbs has recorded 46 rushing touchdowns and 12 receiving scores. He has 4,044 rushing yards and 581 yards receiving, emerging as the dual threat out of the backfield that the Lions envisioned when they selected him No. 12 overall in the 2023 NFL Draft.

Following Sunday's performance, Gibbs ranks second in the NFL with 504 rushing yards and is tied for the league lead with seven touchdowns.

Draft observers and Lions fans may remember that Gibbs' selection wasn't viewed favorably at the time. The perception across the NFL and those who cover it was that running backs were no longer impact players worth a high draft pick. Additionally, Detroit had signed free-agent running back David Montgomery, presumably to be the featured player at that position.

Four years later, no one is questioning the Lions for drafting Gibbs with a top-15 selection, nor for making him the highest-paid running back in the league with a three-year, $67.5 million contract extension during training camp this year.

One question that remains through the remainder of the 2026-27 season is how much distance Gibbs will put between him and Sanders — and other NFL greats including Randy Moss, Emmitt Smith and Jim Brown. If he follows his career averages of 14 rushing TDs and four receiving scores per season, Gibbs may put that record far out of reach.