Jahmyr Gibbs Proves He’s on a Hall of Fame Path With Latest Milestone

Gibbs is scoring touchdowns at a Hall of Fame pace.

Jahmyr Gibbs scores one of his three touchdowns against the Cowboys. / Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Jahmyr Gibbs made history on Thursday night during the Lions 44-30 win over the Dallas Cowboys. The Lions running back scored three touchdowns, which tied him with Lions and NFL legend Barry Sanders for the most touchdowns scored before the age of 24.

Sanders, the NFL's fourth leading rusher of all-time, scored 47 touchdowns in his first three seasons over the course of 46 games. Gibbs has now scored 47 in his first three seasons through 45 games. Randy Moss scored 44 touchdowns through his first 48 games. Emmett Smith scored 43 in 48 games before he turned 24 and Jim Brown rounds out the top five having scored 42 touchdowns in just 36 games before he turned 24.

Among the top 10 on that list, Maurice Jones-Drew, Christian McCaffery, Rob Gronkowski, and Clinton Portis are the only players who aren't in the Hall of Fame. Gronkowski will be there shortly.

That's the kind of company Gibbs is keeping right now. He's also seventh on Detroit's all-time rushing yards list and could crack the top five by the end of the year if Dan Campbell's new emphasis on involving Gibbs in the passing game doesn't get in the way.

Expect to see more and more of Jahmyr Gibbs as a pass-catcher - 31 targets in the last four games, and Lions HC Dan Campbell said “the more we give him in the passing game…the better he does.” pic.twitter.com/WxSxT93pTg

— Jeremy Fowler (@JFowlerESPN) December 5, 2025

There's obviously a lot that can happen in the next few years, but right now he's playing at a Hall of Fame level. With four games left in his third season he already has 4,726 yards from scrimmage. For some perspective on Gibbs’s current pace, Jerome Bettis, who played 12 seasons, is 25th all-time with 15,111 total yards.

Derrick Henry, in his 10th season, has scored 121 touchdowns and amassed 14,147 total yards. His 121 scores are the most of any active position player and good for a tie for 13th on the all-time list. Sanders is just behind him, with 109 total touchdowns in nine seasons. Looking at Gibbs current pace and even allowing it to drop off a bit... it doesn't seem like too far a stretch that he could climb to those levels he can stay healthy. And that's obviously the big concern with any football player.

For now though, Gibbs is putting together a truly remarkable career through three seasons. A lot can happen between now and the Hall of Fame, but after this start, he's definitely headed in the right direction.

---

FREE NEWSLETTER. SI BTN Newsletter. Start off your day with SI:CYMI. dark

More NFL on Sports Illustrated

feed