Jahmyr Gibbs reached a top speed of 21.8 mph on his 54-yard catch last week, the sixth-fastest of any NFL running back this season. according to the league’s Next Gen statistics.
Gibbs also has the third-fastest sprint speed recorded by any player this year, clocking 22.03 mph on his 70-yard rushing touchdown in Week 8.
But Detroit Lions Offensive coordinator Ben Johnson did not want to weigh in Thursday on the debate over who is faster, Gibbs or Lions receiver Jameson Williams.
“Ooh,” Johnson said. “It depends who you ask. Yeah, I know where I would put my money, but I’m not going to say it publicly.”
Williams has recorded three speeds above 20 mph this season, including 21.03 mph on a 36-yard catch in Week 1. Johnson called both players “erasers” and cited Williams’ touchdown run last week as an example.
“I have this bad habit right now of including this particular pass concept in Cover 2 and it’s usually a dead play when I do that and he makes it work,” Johnson said. “There are a number of other players – Gibby is another one, where they are erasers. They are fixers. If things aren’t quite right, they fix things. And he certainly gave us “That element in the passing game and I think defenses are taking note of that.”
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“A balancing act”
The Lions have three wins of 38 points or more this season, which gave them the unusual opportunity to get reps from backup quarterback Hendon Hooker.
Hooker, a 2023 third-round pick who didn’t play as a rookie, has taken 33 snaps this season — more than backups Teddy Bridgewater and Nate Sudfeld played together (12) in 2022-23.
“I think it’s invaluable to him,” Johnson said. “Coming out, you’ve got the lights shining on you, you’ve got people looking at you, it’s not a practice setting. He had a ton of reps out there during training camp and the preseason games and you saw growth from the first game to game 3, and now we’re at a point where he’s been able to get a few in games this year. And the challenge for me is I want him. get passes, but I don’t want to either being. disrespectful to the opponent like well, so it’s kind of a balancing act when it comes to that.
Hooker led the Lions to a field goal on two offensive possessions last week and finished the game by taking two kneeling snaps inside the Jacksonville 25. He completed 3 of 4 passes for 37 yards.
Fipp at kickoffs
With 10 regular-season games scheduled, Lions special teams coordinator Dave Fipp said he thinks the NFL’s new kickoff rule is “on track.”
“At the end of the day it partly comes down to a risk-reward question right now and whether the reward is a few yards, or 2 yards or 3 yards, you have a good football team, but the risk is to shoot and make some kind of explosive play against you, so it’s like it’s worth it for us in this situation right now” he said. “You have a big lead, is-. Is it worth giving them another chance? to try to play? So there’s a lot of things that come into play.”
The NFL revised its kickoff rules this year to try to make the game safer and encourage more returns. Teams start from their own 35-yard line, but the coverage unit lines up at the receiving team’s 40-yard line and cannot move until the ball is lined up or reaches the zone landing between the 20 yard line and the end zone.
Like last year, most NFL teams opted to kick the ball into the end zone and complete a touchback at the 30-yard line rather than risk returns. The Lions (10-1) have the 11th highest touchback percentage on kickoffs at 78.79%.
“I think there are a lot of positives in this room,” Fipp said. “I don’t have the data, but from what I understand, it’s a lot safer. They’re getting more feedback. I think they’re going to make some changes based on that – they’re getting a lot of information and data so that they can make really good decisions at the end of this year, which they really weren’t able to do last year. They didn’t know what it was going to look like, so it. There’s at least some sort of reference they’ve set it on. the game and gave them a chance to move forward with it. I think there are a lot of positives. It’s not perfect, but I think it’s a very good start.
Details matter
Aaron Glenn went viral when television cameras filmed him on the sidelines of the Lions’ Week 9 win over the Green Bay Packers, calling defensive plays through rain-soaked goggles. At last week’s home game, a group of Lions fans came dressed as Glenn with glasses, white towels around their necks and fake laminated call sheets covering their mouths.
“Listen guys, this is getting out of hand,” Glenn joked Thursday. “My daughter sent this, and I think it’s really funny to be able to see that, so I loved that. So, that was good.
When asked to rate fans’ impersonation skills, Glenn replied, “Actually, pretty good.”
“The only thing I saw that my wife mentioned was that they had yellow stripes on the glasses, so they were very detailed,” he said. “So I’m sure they can come and help us, as it was detailed.”
Dave Birkett will sign copies of his new book, “Detroit Lions: An Illustrated Timeline” from noon to 2 p.m. Nov. 30 at the Troy Sports Card Show at the Balkan American Community Center. Order your copy here. Contact him at [email protected]. Follow him on Bluesky, X and Instagram on @davebirkett.
This article was originally published on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Lions Notes: Who is faster, Jameson Williams or Jahmyr Gibbs?
