Lions OC Ben Johnson Is NFL's Best Head Coaching Candidate

The two have now rushed for nearly 1,400 yards combined in the first 10 games of the season, recording 16 touchdowns between them.

Gibbs is only in his second NFL season, but he is quickly ascending as one of the most electric ball carriers in football. According to Next Gen Stats, Gibbs is sixth in the NFL with 149 rushing yards over expected this season.

While Gibbs doesn't have the biggest workload, he's one of the league’s most efficient running backs.

Unlike other teams, the Lions don't need to lean on their home-run hitter in the backfield. Instead, Johnson and his staff are strategic with their usage of him, keeping him fresh and allowing him to go 100 percent on all of his touches to consistently generate explosive plays. 

According to PFF, Gibbs is behind just Derrick Henry and Saquon Barkley with 299 yards generated on breakaway runs.

Running the ball isn't exciting for many teams, but for the Lions, it gives them the offensive balance to pick apart secondaries with the passing game.

Jared Goff's Career Year

Jared Goff wasn't considered a franchise quarterback after the Los Angeles Rams traded him to Detroit. Now, he's having the best year of his career and is forcing his way into the MVP conversation.

Goff has had multiple games this season where he's completed 80 percent of his pass attempts, but Sunday's win was his best game of the year by far. He posted a perfect 158.3 passer rating with 412 yards, four touchdowns, and an absurd 14.2 yards per pass attempt.

According to RBSDM, Goff posted an unheard of 1.11 EPA per play and 37.8 total EPA generated in the win.

Goff now has 20 passing touchdowns and just nine interceptions on the year. What's incredible about his efficiency is that he doesn't have to rely on the deep ball.

His passing chart from Sunday shows no attempts to push the ball any further than about 20 yards downfield, peppering the intermediate passes all over the field.

It shouldn't be a surprise that Goff continues to thrive because of how Johnson and the Lions dial up the play-action pass. According to TruMedua, Goff has thrown nine touchdowns and three interceptions on play-action passes for a 131.8 passer rating, completing 76.9 of those passes with 11.7 yards per attempt.

Goff has had some productive seasons in his career, but the efficiency at which he is playing in 2024 is unlike anything he's done before, and it wouldn't be possible with Johnson's play calling.

Will Ben Johnson Stay or Go?

Johnson decided to stay with the Lions and remain their offensive coordinator for 2024 after multiple opportunities to be a head coach last offseason. After another dominant season for the Lions offense, there will be an even larger market for him, but it's unlikely that he'll leave for just any job.

After deciding to stay in Detroit last offseason, Johnson had some interesting quotes about why he decided not to take a head coaching job

"Something that really resonates with me is, OK, eight openings this past year," Johnson said back in May. "What would you set the over-under (at) in three years? How many still have jobs? I'd put the over-under at 4.5, I would say. I'd say there's a good chance five of them are out of jobs in three years, you know? And so when I look at it from that perspective, if I get the opportunity to go down that road, it's about how do I get to that second contract? How do I set myself up?"

That quote strongly suggests that Johnson isn't going to just take any job, especially for a team that's not in a good position to turn things around. An organization like Jacksonville, which is likely to have an opening, may not be appealing to Johnson given their historic struggles.

However, other pending vacancies could be appealing. The Chicago Bears have an exciting young quarterback in Caleb Williams and a handful of talented receivers. Still, there could be questions about loyalty and "betraying" Dan Campbell and the Lions by taking a job for an NFC North rival.

It's uncertain what other openings could be out there, but a surprise team like the Tampa Bay Buccaneers or even the Cincinnati Bengals, could emerge in the Johnson sweepstakes.

Regardless, it sounds like it will take the right situation and fit to convince Johnson to leave his current job as Lions offensive coordinator.