The first round of the Detroit Lions’ 2023 NFL Draft was a whirlwind. The team was widely panned for breaking one of the analytics crowd’s cardinal rules: drafting a running back in the first round. Not only did they do that, but they were the second team to do that—acquiring Jahmyr Gibbs—who many believed to not even be the best back in the class.
While there is plenty of data to support why the Lions’ pick of Gibbs is—at the very least—risky, we chatted with Georgia Tech writer Kelly Quinlan of JacketsOnline.