Jeremiyah Love to the Titans hive gets crazy boost from Lions coach Dan Campbell at NFL Owners Meetings

At the NFL's annual Owners Meetings in Phoenix, I asked Detroit Lions head coach Dan Campbell about his organization's experience with RB Jahmyr Gibbs. He was drafted shockingly early in 2023, has been a focal point of their offense for three years, and is the comparison we've heard Tennessee Titans brass make when it comes to Jeremiyah Love in this year's class.

What Campbell had to say should embolden advocates of Love like never before.

Dan Campbell reenforces Jeremiyah Love draft pick with Jahmyr Gibbs experience

"Yeah, no. We'd have taken him earlier. We would have taken him earlier. So, yeah."

That was the instant, confident answer Dan Campbell gave me when I asked about the value of taking a player like Jahmyr Gibbs at 12th overall in the draft. No, there wasn't an ounce of regret in the Lions' building about taking a devalued position so high. The smile on his face sent a clear message: positional value be damned when you're looking at a player like this.

That was the 2023 draft, when the Lions shocked the NFL world by taking Gibbs off the board as early has they did. He was the 33rd overall player on the Consensus Big Board heading into draft night. As is the case with just about any running back, that was largely thanks to positional value being baked into the equation. But the Lions didn't care.

Campbell's reasoning on Gibbs is right in line with the case Jeremiyah Love advocates have been making this year: he's more than a running back. I wrote more here about how much that might impact the Titans' thinking, and how it should comfort fans who are fundamentally uncomfortable with the idea of a RB that high. Usually, the "he's a weapon!" justification is more cope than not. But in Love's case, I think it has real validity.

"We didn't view Gibbs as a runner. He was a weapon," Campbell said, as if he's been reading too many tweets about Jeremiyah Love recently. "You know, he was a weapon, man. He was a little bit like Jamo (Jamison Williams). Like, we didn't necessarily view Jamo as a true receiver. We saw more weaponry. So, a lot of versatility, things you can do. And so, that's why it was, we felt like Gibbs, man, this guy is going to explode. Like, yes, he's a runner. He can run all schemes. He can run inside, outside, pin-and-pull the perimeters. But he's also, he can be lethal out in the backfield."

There's a reason why Titans GM Mike Borgonzi brought up the comparison of Gibbs (unprompted, I might add) when asked about Jeremiyah Love at his Combine press conference. If you read these quotes from Campbell about Gibbs and can't stop thinking about how one-to-one it feels to the Love conversation, you aren't alone. And Campbell emphasized that Gibbs' surplus value to the offense hasn't yet hit a ceiling.

"And we're not even there yet. We feel like this guy can play some receiver," Campbell explained. "You know, we tried to tinker with some stuff last year. He really grew. But I think we're just scratching the surface for some of that. He's, you know, he's a mismatched piece, man. And he is, he's dynamic. And he's a difference maker. They don't come around often."

Nearly 10% of Gibbs' snaps last season came lined up as a receiver. He finished the year with 1223 yards on the ground (7th most in the NFL) and 616 yards in the passing game (3rd most amongst RBs). In his past two seasons, he has averaged nearly 2000 yards from scrimmage and 19 touchdowns a year. This is a reasonable expectation for a blue chip player like Love, and his role could look strikingly similar.

If the Titans pull the trigger on Love in a month, I think this will be the thesis of their justification. He's a difference maker, and these kinds of difference makers just don't come around that often.