Jahmyr Gibbs is one of the NFL's most explosive and exciting playmakers, but that's not something that happens overnight. That skillset was already clear through his collegiate career, and that's why the Detroit Lions made him the No. 12 pick in the 2023 NFL draft.
Gibbs' game-changing presence also didn't just come out of nowhere in college, either. Before averaging over 100 yards from scrimmage per game in both his season at Georgia Tech and his lone season at Alabama, he was a four-star recruit out of high school. And watching his highlight tape, it's a little surprising he wasn't a five-star.
Jahmyr Gibbs High-School Highlight Video
What's especially cool is that this video was put together five years ago — before Gibbs had ever even played a single collegiate snap. This isn't someone going back and cherry picking to make a video about a known star, but rather is what colleges were looking at when Gibbs was coming out of high school.
It's not often someone makes the game of football look this easy, even at the high school level.
It's hard to pick out even a few of the most impressive plays, but the 55-yard touchdown at 22 seconds is definitely one of the best, splitting two defenders in the backfield before making another three miss and outrunning the entire defense while it looks like he's just jogging.
If you really want to see his speed, it's the 65-yarder at 1:38 in the video that might show it best. Or perhaps at 6:05, when he takes a screen pass all the way to the left sideline, comes horizontally across the entire field, and beats the defense for a touchdown at the right pylon.
Anyway you cut it, these highlights were special. And it probably won't surprise you to learn that a guy who made plays like this put up some serious video-game stats.
Jahmyr Gibbs High-School Football Stats
Senior Year
- Games: 11
- Carries: 233
- Yards: 2,554
- Yards per game: 232.2
- Yards per carry: 11.0
- Touchdowns: 40
Yeah, you read that right, averaging 232.2 yards and 3.6 touchdowns per game for the entire season. His numbers through the rest of his career weren't quite so crazy, but it's not like they were anything to scoff at either.
Junior Year
- Games: 10
- Carries: 163
- Yards: 1,431
- Yards per game: 143.1
- Yards per carry: 8.8
- Touchdowns: 20
Sophomore Year
- Games: 11
- Carries: 134
- Yards: 897
- Yards per game: 81.5
- Yards per carry: 6.7
- Touchdowns: 10