The Detroit Lions are in a position to compete for another Super Bowl in 2025, despite the fact that much-ballyhooed offensive coordinator Ben Johnson and defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn have taken head coaching jobs with the Chicago Bears and New York Jets, respectively.
The Lions’ offense was the straw that stirred this team's drink in the last few seasons, as they were capable of building two 1,000-yard rushers in Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery while helping Jared Goff fall just short of 5,000 yards through the air. Coordinators like that don't just grow on trees.
Head coach Dan Campbell doesn't seem to think that losing Johnson is going to be the major bump in the road that the national media does. In fact, Campbell believes that the players are what make this offense as good as it is, not Johnson's ability to pick plays out.
"This is a Detroit Lion offense, is what it is. ... This offense is Jared Goff, (Amon-Ra) St. Brown,(Jahmyr) Gibbs, (David) Montgomery," Campbell said. "It's Frank (Ragnow); it's (Penei) Sewell; it's (Taylor) Decker... "We can say, 'Well this is our scheme, this is what we're running.' No, no, no," Campbell said. " (The players are) the ones who make it what it is. That's our playbook, those guys."
Dan Campbell says Lions offense will succeed without Ben Johnson
The Lions not only lost Johnson, but also wide receivers coach Antwaan Randle El (now assistant head coach in Chicago) and passing game coordinator Tanner Engstrand (now offensive coordinator in New York).
John Morton, formerly a Jets OC and Sean Payton assistant with both the Saints and Broncos, was hired to replace Johnson. His passing game was efficient in New York, and he is sure to bring over some Payton concepts that Goff would love to integrate into the offense.
This may seem like a shot at Johnson to the uninitiated, but the reality of the situation is that Campbell knows his roster has such a high baseline floor of competency that he could lean on them to once again steer the ship. Johnson's creativity will be missed, but his developmental pixie dust is all over this roster.
The days of scoring 30 points every single game without breaking a sweat might be gone, but the Lions have put together enough talent together that the floor will be very high for this group with or without Johnson in the mix.
