With the NFL season now comfortably behind us, it’s time to take one last look at the Detroit Lions’ 2024 season and celebrate the best moments.

It’s time for the Pride of Detroit Awards, or the PODies. Wait, that sounds like potties. Let’s just stick with the POD Awards.

For the next two weeks, our staff will make their picks for 10 different awards, but your vote will decide the winner. So we’ll try to sway your vote as much as possible, but don’t forget to scroll to the bottom of each article to cast your ballot.

In case you were wondering, you can check out last year’s winners here. You can also check out some of our 2024 predictions here.

We kick off the POD Awards with the “Breakout Player of the Year.” Here are our staff’s nominees:

Jeremy Reisman: Jahmyr Gibbs

Gibbs made anyone who complained about positional value look like a fool this year. While his rookie season was decent, it was more about how he and David Montgomery complemented each other. This year Gibbs established himself as the true RB1, and even cemented his status as a top-five (probably top-three) running back in the NFL.

Brandon Knapp: Jameson Williams

After overcoming multiple suspensions and off-the-field antics, Jamo proved the haters wrong in his best year yet in the NFL. I predicted that he would break 1,000 yards this year and he did that. He gave the offense a dynamic weapon that can do it all. Whether it’s run on jet sweeps, catch difficult passes, or outrun a defensive back, he pushed the offense to a new level in 2024.

Meko Scott: Jahmyr Gibbs

It feels odd labeling Jahmyr Gibbs a “breakout player” considering everything he did in his rookie season, but he also feels so deserving considering the performance he put on this past season. Once the Lions lost David Montgomery to a knee injury against the Buffalo Bills in Week 15, all eyes turned to Jah to carry the load for this teams rushing attack, and boy did he not disappoint! Gibbs would go on to have four straight games of over 100 yards rushing and finished the season among the elite players at his position in nearly every category. So, yeah, Sonic easily gets my vote for this one.

John Whiticar: Jameson Williams

We all knew that Jamo had this potential, but it had been a waiting game for Lions fans. In 2024, he finally showcased why he is a special talent. The sky is the limit for Williams, here’s hoping he continues to grow on and off the field.

Hamza Baccouche: Jameson Williams

I don’t think anyone is more deserving of this one than Jameson Williams. It took three years, but he finally showed his abilities week in and week out and was a consistent thread to attack the defense from every level. It was long overdue, and it’s great to see him finally carving out the role that has been envisioned for him since the start.

Max Gerber: Al-Quadin Muhammad

Muhammad stepped up admirably following injuries to Detroit’s other starting EDGE defenders Aidan Hutchinson and Marcus Davenport. The eight-year journeyman came off of the practice squad in November and immediately began making an impact for the Lions defense. In nine games (two starts), he recorded 3.0 sacks and 11 tackles. PFF credited Muhammad with 19 hurries and 24 pressures this season. For a player who wasn’t with the team until October, Muhammad found a way to step up in a reserve role and make a name for himself in Detroit.

Erik Schlitt: Amik Robertson

Robertson came to Detroit with minimal expectations—especially after the Lions drafted Terrion Arnold and Ennis Rakestraw—but he earned a starting nickel role out of training camp and established himself as a leader in the secondary. He showed off his positional range late in the season by starting on the outside and had a career game in Week 18, shutting down Justin Jefferson and helping lead the Lions to their second NFC North title.

Ty Schalter: Jahmyr Gibbs

Gibbs has always flashed special talent—but even in a year where the combo package of “Sonic & Knuckles” literally made a name for themselves together, Gibbs proved he has the physicality and durability to take on a much bigger share of the work without missing a beat.

Ryan Mathews: Jahmyr Gibbs

Gibbs finished 2023 on an absolute tear, so much so that it felt like he had shown what his ceiling could be in this league. In other words, if he showed up in 2024 as the same player he showed over the last couple months of 2023, that would have been good enough for this offense to continue to be as dynamic and devastating as it was a year ago.

Instead, Gibbs showed up to be an even better version of himself from a year ago in just about every way. He finished third in yards per attempt (5.6) to prove he could be even more efficient. He was more explosive on a carry-by-carry basis than any other runner, rushing for 10+ yards on 16.4% of his carries.

For someone who shares an incredible reverence for Barry Sanders as the greatest running back of all time, this shouldn’t be taken lightly: the door is open for Gibbs to go down as the best running back in the franchise’s history. So yeah, that means the greatest of all time, too.

Al Karsten: Jack Campbell

Jack Campbell was my preseason prediction for the award and he delivered in a big way. Stepping into the Mike linebacker role in his second season, he hit the ground running and became a stabilizing force for Detroit’s defense. Despite injuries decimating the linebacker group—Alex Anzalone, Derrick Barnes, Malcolm Rodriguez, and Jalen Reeves-Maybin all suffered serious or season-ending injuries—along with constant turnover on the defensive line, Campbell remained a stable presence.

Starting every game, he racked up 131 total tackles (36 more than his rookie year), five tackles for loss, 1.5 sacks, five quarterback hits, and a crucial forced fumble against the Seahawks. Campbell vaulted all the way up to PFF’s ninth-highest graded linebacker a year after being their 75th ranked in 2023. After a baptism-by-fire rookie campaign, Campbell’s breakout season cemented him as a cornerstone of the Lions’ defense moving forward.

Morgan Cannon: Jahmyr Gibbs

Tough to put him here after he had such a fantastic rookie season, but that is what happens you amass almost 2,000 yards from scrimmage and 20 total touchdowns. I feel as though the conversation went from Gibbs being an exciting young back in a great offense in 2023, to Gibbs being the focal point of a championship-caliber unit in 2024. To put it simply, there will be no shortage of people picking Gibbs as their Offensive Player of the Year in 2025, and a few may throw him in their MVP discourse, too.