ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler on Whether Bijan or Jahmyr Gibbs is the NFL’s Best RB

Rich's opening premise was that nobody needs to be told the NFL is a quarterback driven league, and then he proved it by pointing out that Jeremy Fowler has published position rankings all month and only one of them got anybody talking.

Fowler did not argue. He explained the scheduling strategy instead.

"We had to roll out the quarterbacks on a Monday," he told Rich. "So we kind of hide offensive linemen on the weekends and then hit them with quarterback on a Monday."

The series, built from interviews with coaches, executives and scouts, started July 6th with running backs and worked through edge rushers, defensive tackles, tight ends, offensive tackles and interior offensive linemen before landing on quarterbacks. And yet the list Rich actually wanted to dig into was the first one, because the vote at the top was close enough to be an argument.

Bijan Robinson won it. Jahmyr Gibbs was right behind him. Both are 24.

"That was actually really tight in the voting among executives, scouts, and coaches," Fowler said, adding that the two are "set to jockey for position for the next half decade."

What is interesting is not the margin. It is the conviction on the losing side.

"The people that think Gibbs is the best are very convinced," Fowler said. "They say there's no one like him with the ball in his hands in the game of football."

Robinson's case, according to Fowler, is breadth. He is a little bigger, a little more well-rounded, more of a pass catcher, and better equipped to make something out of nothing when the play breaks down and the blocking fails. That all-around game is what got him the nod.

Fowler also volunteered that the result may not hold, and the reason is workload. Gibbs has averaged about 225 carries per year, which Fowler called pretty modest, because he has been a part-time player. With David Montgomery gone, that changes.

"He's going to be used in a big way, cuz they feel like he can run between the tackles effectively," Fowler said. "I think Gibbs has more to offer than he's even shown."

Then he dropped the number that ends most arguments about whether Gibbs has been underused. Thirty-nine rushing touchdowns in three years as a part-time running back.

"Which is insane," Fowler said.

The economics point the same direction for both. Robinson and Gibbs are contract eligible, and Fowler expects the conversation to start at $20 million or more per year. Pay a back that, and you hand him the lion's share of the carries. Robinson already gets that in Atlanta, more so now that Allgeier is gone. Rich noted that Isaiah Pacheco is still around, but the general sense is that Gibbs is simply going to get it most of the time now.

Which, as Rich pointed out, is a large part of why Lions fans are genuinely excited about this season.