Detroit Lions running back David Montgomery (5). Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Montgomery: 2025 Is Lions' Year of Reckoning

Originally posted on Detroit Lions on SI
By Christian Booher | Last updated Jul 20, 2025 7:10 PM ET

Hunger is a main theme for the 2025 Detroit Lions.

After bowing out earlier than many anticipated in last year's playoffs, the Lions have their sights set on making big things happen in 2025. The key will be maintaining the high level of desire it takes to compete at a championship level.

Multiple Lions players spoke of being hungry for the 2025 season, including running back David Montgomery. This stems from coach Dan Campbell revealing that his opening message to the team dealt with the desire for more after last season ended with a crushing loss.

As Montgomery put it, the team wants it all after two straight years of coming up just short.

“Everybody’s tired of being close. It’s cool to be close at first, but you don’t want to get comfortable with being close all the time," Montgomery noted. "That’s not what you want to be known for, especially when you know you’ve got the guys you’ve got on this team. You want to finish it, so this is the year for us. The year of the reckoning and the year that we choose that we need to finish.”

Gibbs echoed this sentiment. He told reporters he'd do anything to win a championship, even if it meant playing defense. However, he knows talk won't do their job and as such is keeping a laser focus on their end goal.

“We know what we want to do, not much needs to be said about that," Gibbs said. "We’re just gonna work to try to get that.”

Gibbs, Montgomery excited to be together on field

The Lions' offense will have new leadership, and potentially a bit of a new flavor in 2025.

With John Morton leading the group, the Lions could explore new ways to deploy all of the talent at their disposal. One possible way would be to put talented running backs Gibbs and Montgomery on the field together in two-back personnel groupings.

The Lions explored some two-back sets during former coordinator Ben Johnson's tenure. With Morton, Gibbs and Montgomery could wind up seeing even more snaps working together in 2025.

“It’s super exciting,” Montgomery said. “Being able to have me and him on the field at the same time, it’ll be hard for defenses to prepare for. So it’ll be super exciting for us to be on the field at the same time.”

Gibbs has previously hinted at the team utilizing him more as a pass-catcher out of the backfield. With his speed, this would present another dynamic threat for opposing defenses to counter.

In each of his first two seasons, Gibbs had exactly 52 receptions. That number could increase in 2025, which could add another element to what has been one of the league's most explosive offenses.

This article first appeared on Detroit Lions on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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