Can You Trust the Detroit Lions’ Offense in 2026?

By Shane Hallam | Updated on Fri, Dec 26 2025 4:56 AM UTC

The Detroit Lions put up a dud in Week 17 against the Minnesota Vikings. RB Jahmyr Gibbs went 17-41-0 on the ground. He usually makes up for poor rushing with his receiving, but that wasn’t the case this week. Gibbs only went 2-23-0 through the air on 3 targets. That’s only 8.4 PPR fantasy points, his worst performance since Week 9 against the Vikings. RB David Montgomery only managed 5 PPR points with WR Jameson Williams only scoring 5.7. WR Amon-Ra St. Brown was the only Lion to come through in PPR going 8-68-0 on 13 targets. This poor performance marks a disappointing end to the Lions’ season, and questions linger about how elite they will be in 2026

2026 Fantasy Football Impact

One of the key questions for 2026 will be the run game. Gibbs has now run 69 times for 192 yards with just a 21% success rate over the past six games. His 2.78 yards per carry currently sits as the worst among RBs with 50+ carries over that span. Though Gibbs receiving has carried him, it should raise some red flags about his 2026 fantasy potential.

Montgomery has fared better on the ground, but has less opportunities. He has run 40 times for 181 yards over the last six weeks, 4.53 yards per carry. Gibbs has seen a significant uptick in snaps and carries over Montgomery since HC Dan Campbell has taken over the playcalling in Week 10.

QB Jared Goff struggled against the Vikings as well going 18/29 for 197 yards and a TD. He threw two interceptions and lost 3 fumbles throughout the game. The Vikings' pass rush was relentless, but Goff couldn’t manuever the pocket or hold onto the pocket. As a pocket passer, his fantasy potential remains neutered despite seven top-10 QB performances this year, including three straight heading into this week.

The low floor for Goff just makes it difficult to trust him as a season long starter, especially in difficult match-ups.

We will see where ADP settles in 2026, but the Lions offense could be one to generally avoid if the red flags don’t lower the value on their major players. Even with TE Sam LaPorta returning next year, questions will linger throughout the offseason.

Shane Hallam, Writer

Shane has over 20 years of experience creating content and playing every fantasy football format, including redraft, dynasty, devy, C2C, IDP, CFF, and more. He is a multi-year winner of $500 dynasty leagues on the FFPC and a King's Classic Champion. Shane utilizes deep film and scheme study to enhance his fantasy performance. He led the industry in 2024 preseason Kicker Rankings and ranked second in preseason QB Rankings. He also ranked eighth in preseason IDP rankings.