Few outside the Lions organization realized how instrumental Morton was to designing the offense in 2022, but Gruden, who won a Super Bowl with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and employed Morton as a senior offensive assistant on his staffs with the Oakland/Las Vegas Raiders in 2019-21, said Morton’s influence was hard to miss.
“A lot of the stuff that they’re already doing are ideas and things that he brought there because they’re just very recognizable to the things that we did,” Gruden said. “I’m sure he’s going to be a great addition. And I know they lost a heck of a coach, but John Morton, you talk about a guy that can scheme them up, man, he’s at the top of the food chain in terms of the guys I’ve worked with.”
The Lions had one of the best offenses in the NFL the past three years with Ben Johnson calling plays.
They’ve scored more points than anyone since the start of the 2022 season – 1,478, including a league-high 564 this year, the fourth-most in NFL history – and Jared Goff has played the best football of his career.
…John Morton spent the 2022 season as a senior offensive assistant with the Lions before leaving to become pass game coordinator for Sean Payton and the Denver Broncos the past two years. In Detroit, Morton worked behind the scenes to design the Lions offense with Johnson, a first-time coordinator who is roundly regarded as one of the best play callers in the NFL.
“He was a big part of it,” Goff told the Free Press at the Super Bowl. “That was Ben’s first year as a coordinator and I think he helped Ben a ton. I think Ben would say that himself. But yeah, it’ll be exciting for him. I’m excited to work with him and get going
Dude ran the fastest 40 at the combine in 1993 at 4.39. That’s awesome. Played and coached for Gruden. Yea I think this guy will be good. Plus already has worked with most often guys on offense.
I do wonder just how much of our offense under Ben came from John. A lot of the concepts we’ve used were staples in some of his earlier offenses, whereas they hadn’t really been a part of Ben’s experience to that point. Morton was clearly the more experienced guy, but he was also new to us coming in from the Raiders after the whole Gruden-McDaniels changeover, so obviously he wouldn’t be coming in as our OC. I just think it’s possible a good chunk of the offense was Morton’s.
I don’t want to take away from Ben though. He expanded on it and was clearly a smart guy. Had a gift for setting plays up down the line and for the most part, knowing just when a certain play would work (I know there are some high profile examples of this backfiring, but the vast majority hit).
I always thought some of the play call verbiage on the few occasions that I heard it being discussed sounded rather Grudenesque. Though I imagine that’s decently common.
Gradkowski was drafted by Gruden and played for him a few years too. Interesting connections for Dan Campbell. Hiring Gruden and Payton guys.
I really like that Goff and Morton were together the year we developed the offense in 2022. So the learning curve should be minimal. Fraley and Brunell remain as well. So I don’t expect many changes for olinemen and blocking schemes.
In a word: a lot. Dan and John allowed Ben to grow into his role unimpeded by pressure. He learned from them. Bc of his own genius and his own ability he made it his own. But John is no one’s 2nd option.
Against Washington a team that scored a bunch of points and our team weak on defense.
Maybe you game plan on offense to run the ball a ton and go with a short passing game plan to keep the clock moving and minimize the possessions for Washington. Because your defense does not have the horses to stop them many times.
I think the offense will be fine under Morton.
Dan may have to remind Morton that he wants to be a ground focused offense.
Morton seems to have a history of passing the ball a little more that Ben has the last couple of years.
That was quite the hype article for Morton
Interesting that he allegedly has no HC aspirations.
If the guy works out then I guess we can expect him to be around for a while
Holmes and Campbell seem like masters in hiring top tier coaching talent.
Johnson had some excellent game plan development characteristics. Setting up opposing defenses with looks before fooling them.
He had some great trick plays but I think sometimes got too cute when he didn’t need to. Apparently sometimes asking more if his OL than they could effectively deliver.
I’m hoping Morton will end up being a step up from Johnson. A better aged, more mature version of Johnson.
As much as we don’t like where he went. the results and some of his play calls in his last Lion game we must admit Ben Johnson was an elite play caller and OC in his time in Detroit.
Morron will be different but it will be difficult to be a step up (Ben had the best, most balanced offense in the league).
I am hoping that Morton doesn’t allow the offense to take a step back.
I actually think this more the norm. Lots of guys prefer to stay focused on the strat and scheme side of the game and away from the driving the ship side. Listen in any company you have 200 Eng and 1 CEO. And most of those Eng want nothing to do with the top spot. I would have expected the football world to be very similar.
