7 thoughts on the Lions: Ben Johnson’s future, Dan Campbell, and more

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Barring an unlikely offensive collapse, Ben Johnson isn’t gonna be here next year. Start preparing yourselves for it now.

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Agreed. I think his degree of genius is likely a bit overstated. Very smart guy with a sharp and creative offensive kind but the player’s have to make the plays.

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Yeah I think that’s always the case, to be heard as a pundit you have to be a take-artist and hyperbole machine, so everything’s the greatest this and the best that. But I think Johnson’s very good.

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Where would he go? If I’m Ben Johnson, I am not rushing into taking a HC position this early unless if was a very good situation. Of all the openings available, would any classify as that? Maybe getting the chance to work with Bryce Young and the Texans is tempting? If Staley gets fired, getting a chance to work with an offense featuring Herbet, Allen, Williams, Slater, and Ekeler is probably the best situation. That is if Staley gets fired.

Personally I see him sticking around for another year or two and getting a little more experience under his belt. He is still very young and a lot of times you only get one shot at being a HC so I could see him being selective, especially with almost all of our offensive pieces contracted for 2023 (Williams, Chark, and Evan Brown are the only key pieces not.)

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This is wishcasting. I want all of that too. I just don’t think it’s happening. He may be the #1 offseason candidate to get a job at this point. Edit: Demeco Ryans is probably right there too.

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My thing with Joe Marino’s comment about not having weapons is that Goff has four Pro Bowl caliber offensive lineman including pro bowl level bookend tackles and an All Pro level center. Plus ARSB is turning out to be a top WR.

I wouldn’t say the cupboard is bare. A top offensive line can make a lot of coaches look good.

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Johnson has all ready said he wants to stay and grow as a coach a few more years.

Also wanted to post this for those who didn’t open the article

Lions are now 4th in the NFL in points per drive (2.45), trailing only the Chiefs, Eagles, and Bills.

Just 24.0% of the Detroit possessions have failed to gain a 1D or TD now, second in the league only behind the Chiefs (21.5%).

But lets draft a rookie QB high in the draft

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I mean, what else is he gonna say?

Look I hope you’re all correct and he stays, but I would be very, very surprised if he did. He’s been a coach for 12 years now, I highly doubt he stays for one more year of ‘learning’.

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Personally I see it as less of a sure thing. He’ll get interviewed for sure. I think the situation matters. If it’s a team with a young QB that hasn’t taken off or a broken QB then I think he’s a good fit. But he’s too smart to take Denver IMO and Paton is probably looking foe more experience. I think Irsay is going to have to be told no by Khaki pants before going after anyone else.

Carolina maybe? Houston if they move on from Lovie?

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Most of their fans want Demeco, and he did play there for awhile. Saints fans are the ones who want Johnson the most that I can see.

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Maybe Ben can say he’s related to Elizabeth Warren and then we can get a comp lick bc he’s 1/32 Native American.

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Seems like Ryans is the clear number 1 among defensive guys. I’d think Steichen and maybe Dorsey will be at least as heavily pursued as Ben. Maybe Bienemy as welll though he’s got some skeletons in his closet from what I understand.

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I dont see ben johnson going anywhere this off-season. He is the wrong color…hate to say it but after all those young white offense minds got jobs last off season… the uproar if it happens again like that would be too much for the league pr. Expect most of the open jobs to be filled by minorities this off season.

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It’s funny a lot of the Bills fans responding to that Joe Marino tweet (I’m pretty sure he’s the Locked On Bills guy) want Johnson to replace Dorsey as their OC. So I don’t know how hot he’ll be as a candidate. Definitely Steichen but I think Johnson will be above him.

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Did anyone else catch the kinda backhanded Goff comment? In one point he says

Yes, it’s time to give some love to Jared Goff

On Detroit’s 4-1 run, Goff has posted the following stat line:

104-of-156 (66.7% completions), 1,118 yards (7.2 Y/A), 7 TDs, 1 INT, 99.8 passer rating

You can try to qualify it all you want. Yes, he’s played some bad pass defenses along the way (Giants, Jaguars, and Bears all rank 27th or lower in pass defense DVOA). Yes, he’s made a couple of throws that were lucky to have not been picked off.

But he has also overcome some serious adversity over that span, too. The Lions’ run game has been incredibly inefficient over that span, averaging just 3.6 yards per carry in the last five games. Goff has had to deal with horrible guard play, leading to early pressure coming right up the middle.

The key for Goff has been limiting turnovers. When he can do that, the offense has been humming. In this five-game stretch, Goff has just a 3.4 turnover-worthy play percentage, whereas that number was at 4.5 for the first eight weeks of the season.

Goff went toe-to-toe with Josh Allen, was key to Detroit’s comeback win over the Bears (remember that 91-yard drive?), and he was the entire gameplan against the Jaguars last week”

Then he says

“Johnson may not have a ton of play-calling experience, but the man has been coaching at the NFL level for a decade. He’s put in plenty of dues, and no matter what you personally think about Jared Goff, people around the NFL are going to be damn impressed that a Goff-led offense is currently sixth in the NFL in points scored.”

So… Goff has led NFL best offenses before, he’s leading one now, and he’s doing great but it’s because of Ben Johnson? Doesn’t the QB have to execute the offense?

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I hope we retain, the guy righted The Titanic here, Goff is smoking hot. and we are staking wins together …every game we were thee underdogs, we won. never seen anything like this.

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How lucky can a guy be? To have hit 2 coaches, 1 the HC and 1 the OC that have shocked NFL defenses for the year!

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I mean, but he’s still gotta get the job done right? It goes both ways… how lucky are those coaches to have a QB execute their offense?

Honestly, I doubt it. Have it on extremely good authority he will be. If anything he will get a big raise. He loves it here. Will we eventually lose him? Yes but in like a 2 or so years. If someone throws a shit ton of money at him could he leave? Sure. But the word is 1) he loves it here…LOVES DAN. 2) wants to hone his skills….he is paying attention to San Diego and how badly that is going for the hot shot defensive Coordinator who left after one season as a coordinator w LA.

Need more….anyone notice how little he was on HK this summer??. That was by design. He isn’t really interested right now……he is focused on being the best coordinator he can be and learning from Dan and Staley on being a better coach. DAN is very respected in the coaching community.

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