Showering a division rival with praise isn’t exactly something you see too much in the NFL these days, but Micah Parsons couldn’t hold back when talking about Jahmyr Gibbs.
Parsons being a division rival of the Lions is still new, and he may not fully grasp the Green Bay-Detroit hatred yet, so he didn’t mind praising Gibbs a little bit recently.
The NFL released its annual top 100 players list and Gibbs came in at No. 9.
The top players on this list every year get a cool video made about them, with opposing coaches and players talking about what makes them deserving of that ranking. For Gibbs, Parsons was one of the players interviewed, and he had nothing but good things to say about his divisional counterpart, calling him “the fastest player I’ve ever seen on the field”.
Jahmyr Gibbs! No. 9 on Top 100 list pic.twitter.com/vW7260Lfv7
— DetroitSportsPodcast (@DetroitPodcast) August 25, 2026
Parsons felt OK about praising his division rival because he came in one spot ahead of Gibbs on the top-100 list at No. 8. All that love is going to disappear this season when the two line up on opposite sides, but it’s clear that there’s respect there. You know a player is really good when the best defensive player on a division rival is raving about them.
Other NFL stars also weighed in as Zaire Franklin said that “if you give him that seam, it’s over with,” and Kevin Byard III said, “he has the quickest 0-to-100 burst in this league.”
Cooper DeJean, Ashton Jeanty, James Cook, and Aaron Jones all raved about him, too, but Parsons’ words stood out a little more just because of the rivalry aspect. Jones, too, is a division rival with the Vikings, but he’s not on the field at the same time as Gibbs, so he doesn’t get to experience how difficult it is to defend him.
Parsons went one step further, saying that if you don’t gang tackle him, you’re not beating the Lions.
High praise.
Jahmyr Gibbs is one elite season away from history
Scoring 49 total touchdowns in his first three years in the NFL, Gibbs is on track to break some franchise records with the Lions.
If Detroit can keep him for his entire career, he’ll break some records previously held by Barry Sanders, like the all-time rushing mark. That’s still light-years away, seeing as Sanders had over 15,000 career rushing yards and Gibbs is at just over 3,500, but he’s already sixth on the all-time rushing leaders list in Lions history.
Now that David Montgomery is gone and the backups seem to be hampered already, Gibbs is going to take over the majority of the workload. He won’t have to split carries as much this season.
In that case, he could break his previous career-high in rushing yards, which was 1,412 back in 2024, and if he reaches 1,700, he will immediately jump into second place on the Lions’ all-time rushing leaders list. He’ll jump Billy Sims, who is currently at No. 2 with 5,106 career rushing yards. Gibbs is already three rushing touchdowns away from No. 2 on the Lions’ all-time list. Realistically, he could reach that in the season opener.
A 1,700-yard season would place him behind only Sanders in Lions history. In four years. Let that sink in.
Gibbs is so good that even rivals are gushing about him.
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