The good: Third-year running back Jahmyr Gibbs earned a third straight Pro Bowl bid after rushing for 1,223 yards and 13 touchdowns while averaging 5.0 yards per rush this season. He finished as one of the top 10 graded running backs in the league by Pro Football Focus.

Gibbs really made big strides as a receiver in 2025. After catching 52 passes in each of his first two seasons, he recorded career highs in receptions (77), receiving yards (616) and receiving touchdowns (5).

The Lions were 4-0 this season when recording a 100-yard rusher in a game with Gibbs having three of those and the second part of Detroit's terrific running back duo, David Montgomery, recording the other Week 3 in Baltimore. Only Indianapolis (5-0) had more wins when registering a 100-yard rusher.

The Lions continued to be one of the most explosive rushing offenses in the NFL in 2025 recording 68 runs of 10-plus yards. Only Baltimore (89), Philadelphia (76), Tampa Bay (74), Arizona (73) and Green Bay (70) had more. Detroit's 14 runs of 20-plus yards were sixth most and their three runs of 50-plus yards trailed only New England (5).

Gibbs and Montgomery both played in all 17 games for the Lions this season, again proving to be two of the more durable running backs in the league.

The bad: It was sort of a tale of two seasons for Detroit's run game comparing the first half of the year to the second. Over their first nine games, Detroit rushed for at least 100 yards in six contests with two 200-yard rushing performances mixed in there vs. Baltimore Week 3 and Washington Week 10. But in their last eight games, they had just four 100-yard rushing performances.

Detroit averaged 136.3 yards per contest on the ground with 13 touchdowns over the first nine games and were 6-3 over that stretch. That average fell to 101.2 over the last eight games with eight touchdowns, and they were 3-5 down the stretch missing the playoffs. The Lions had just one rushing touchdown over their last four games of the season.

Detroit built one of the best rushing attacks in the NFL over the previous two seasons by leaning on both Gibbs and Montgomery in the backfield, but 2025 saw the biggest discrepancy in carries between the two backs in the three years they've been together in Detroit. Montgomery saw career lows in attempts (158) and yards (716) as Gibbs got 85 more carries than Montgomery despite Montgomery being healthy and available for all 17 games.

Gibbs got 65 more carries in 2024, but Montgomery missed three games due to injury. Detroit's run game is at its best and most versatile when both Gibbs and Montgomery play a big role. Over the first nine games Montgomery had just two games where he didn't reach double-digit carries. Over the final eight games, he reached at least 10 carries in just one contest.

The Lions tied for 10th in the league in the number of negative rushes - non-kneeldowns - on the season with 42.

Detroit averaged at least 4.0 yards per carry on 41.9 percent of their rushes this season which ranked 27th. That percentage was 48.5 last season which ranked 10th best in the league.

Key stat: Detroit averaged 4.14 yards per carry when running toward the left side of the line of scrimmage, 4.16 per carry running up the middle and 5.29 yards when running toward the right side with right tackle Penei Sewell and right guard Tate Ratledge.

Free agents: None

Gibbs, Montgomery, Jacob Saylors and Sione Vaki are all under contract for 2026.

Draft: Notre Dame's Jeremiyah Love is the consensus top running back in the 2026 NFL Draft class but overall it's not as strong a group as past years.

The Lions still have Gibbs under contract for another season and there's a high likelihood they pick up the fifth-year option of his rookie contract this offseason. Montgomery signed a two-year extension in 2024 that keeps him in Detroit through the 2027 season.

The Lions coaching staff also likes the promise both Saylors and Vaki have shown, particularly on special teams. Lions general manager Brad Holmes is always looking to add competition at every position group, but adding to the running back room this offseason doesn't seem like a big priority unless Montgomery pushes for an exit for a bigger role somewhere else.

Quotable: "Obviously, I know that it was a tough year for him in terms of the lack of touches," Holmes said of Montgomery after the season. "I'm not going to say that we went into it planning it to be that way. I think he handled it like a pro. Look, those are discussions that we're going to have to have a lot more in depth in terms of what is the best plan for him going forward, is it somewhere else or whatever the case be.

"Just really appreciate everything that he has done for us, if it does end up going that way. I hope it doesn't because we love David Montgomery. He's a good football player and wish that we would've been able to get more utilization from him. I know Dan (Campbell) feels the same way.

"But those are conversations that we're going to have to have because I've got a lot of respect for that player. He deserves to be in a situation where his skillset can be utilized, and so yeah would love for it to be here, but if it can't be here, then you'd just love to see where could work out best for him."