Before the 2026 NFL season even got going, Jahmyr Gibbs was already being framed as more than just a big piece of the Detroit Lions offense. Several Sky Sports NFL analysts picked him as their offensive player of the year, and that says something important about how they see Detroit’s ceiling: not just as a team with star power, but as one built to make its most explosive runner central to everything it does.
Ndamukong Suh and Jason Bell were both among the analysts who backed Gibbs, and the reasoning was fairly direct. Suh called Gibbs the focal point for Detroit and the true number-one option on the offense, while also stressing that elite production was there for the taking as long as he stayed healthy. Bell’s view was similar in spirit: the Lions, he said, are going to find a way to feed Gibbs the ball and create explosive plays through him.
Why Gibbs stands out in the predictions
That is the key to the pick. This was not a case of analysts simply choosing a name-brand player because he is talented. It was a structural argument. If Detroit is going to hit its offensive stride, Gibbs is expected to be at the center of the game plan, and that makes him more than a running back collecting touches. It makes him a usage bet, a production bet and, in some ways, a team-identity bet.
The logic is also tied to durability. Suh’s phrasing mattered because it suggested the ceiling is obvious if Gibbs can stay on the field. That is often the tension with elite offensive projections: the talent may be clear, but the season-long outcome depends on whether health, volume and scheme all line up. In Gibbs’ case, the analysts seem to believe Detroit’s offensive design is already prepared to turn his involvement into top-tier numbers.
There is a broader lesson in that, too. Award predictions at the start of a season are rarely just about one player in isolation. They usually reveal how respected the surrounding offense is, and how much belief exists in the coaching staff’s ability to manufacture repeated advantages. In Gibbs’ case, the pick says the Lions are expected to do exactly that.
Sky Sports’ prediction piece also ranged across Super Bowl 61, MVP and defensive player of the year, but Gibbs’ selection stood out because it was repeated by multiple analysts and tied to a very specific football idea: Detroit will keep finding ways to make him the engine of the attack. If that proves true, the offensive player of the year race may end up looking less like a surprise than a confirmation.
