Ben Johnson has only been the Detroit Lions offensive coordinator for one full season, but he’s already proven exceptional on the job. Building an offense around QB Jared Goff and what the quarterback does well, creatively aggressive playcalling, and engineering smartly conceived drives and play designs have all earned Johnson considerable acclaim and potential head coaching gigs.
His fantastic first season on the job has also earned Johnson the top offensive coordinator ranking from PFF and analyst Sam Monson. Johnson is No. 1, followed by former Lions quarterback Kellen Moore, now with the Chargers after building his strong reputation in Dallas.
Of note, the No. 9 man on the list is former Lions OC Jim Bob Cooter. He is taking over the position in Indianapolis after being the passing game coordinator for the Jaguars in 2022.
It’s been no secret that Lions wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown has used his fourth-round selection from the 2021 NFL Draft for motivation. He remembers the 16 wide receivers taken before him as a way to stay sharp on the field.
On Monday, St. Brown was interviewed on NFL Network’s Total Access with Mike Yam. During the interview, he was asked about his memory of the receivers selected before him.
He said, “I actually have my goals written down in my notebook. What I want to achieve every year. So, what I want to achieve this year going into the season, my personal goals, and then right below that I have the 16 receivers written down, where they went to college right below that. And so, I read that whole list three times before I go to practice every day. It’s something I’ll never forget. Something I make sure I’m always reminded of.”
#Lions WR1 Amon-Ra St. Brown knows all the receivers drafted ahead of him in the 2021 Draft.
While St. Brown was selected after players such as Ja’Marr Chase, Rondale Moore, DeVonta Smith and 13 others; he still has more career receptions than all of them. Through two seasons in the NFL, St. Brown has 196 receptions a figure that is tied with Michael Thomas and Justin Jefferson for most in NFL history.
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During the rest of the interview, St. Brown talked highly of general manager Brad Holmes and how the front office “did a great job of drafting.” He talked about Jahmyr Gibbs, Sam LaPorta and other weapons that are now part of the Lions offense.
He admitted it during the interview, it’s safe to say that St. Brown still thinks about the 2021 NFL Draft. For the full interview, you can watch it here.
On ESPN, Jeremy Fowler has been putting together lists of the top-10 players at each position in the NFL. This list is based off NFL executives, coaches and scouts.
Listed as an honorable mention for the edge rushers, here’s what was said about Hutchinson:
“Hutchinson led all rookies with 9.5 sacks and had three interceptions and 52 tackles.” One NFC executive had this to say about Hutchinson, “he’s more than a try-hard guy. He made plays where he’s baiting the quarterback into an interception by the sideline. He’s an athlete.”
Personally, I'd be letting Aidan Hutchinson "pin his ears back" and get after the QB as much as possible. That said, it's fun watching him drop into a seam-hook and pick one off. pic.twitter.com/1RT5cAqPAx
Also listed as an honorable mention was Trey Hendrickson, Khalil Mack, Cameron Jordan and Jaelan Phillips. The top-10 from the article can be found here.
As for Hutchinson, we all expected him to have a strong rookie season. I think it’s safe to say that he outperformed the expectations as a rookie. With praise happening from around the league, the expectations for Hutchinson will get higher. I think he’ll meet or surpass them this season and for much of his career in Detroit.
For some, it’s the “dead period” of the NFL season. This allows some general managers, coaches and players the opportunity to enjoy this quiet time with their families. For others, it’s a chance to get caught up on scouting or start the process of how to attack which players they’re going to scout.
On Tuesday morning, Peter Schrager of the NFL Network had Lions general manager Brad Holmes on his podcast called The Season with Peter Schrager. In the interview, Brad Holmes talked about how he became a scout, Aaron Donald and even talked about the movie Training Day.
One question that Schrager asked of Holmes was what he liked so much about Lions first round pick Jahmyr Gibbs.
Holmes said, “I first fell in love with him, obviously, and I didn’t know much about him as he was at Georgia Tech the year before. I first saw him at the Alabama-Texas game or earlier in the year and I saw his body type and this guy looks intriguing. And then I kind of saw what he was doing in both phases. Yeah, I mean he can run it, but what he can do as a receiver and the explosiveness and everything about him and we just kept doing work on him.”
Moments before that question, Holmes gave some praise to Schrager for being one of the only people in the media to mention Gibbs as a player to go early in the first round of the 2023 NFL Draft.
In addition to talking about Gibbs, there was questions about the Lions other first round pick, Jack Campbell. Holmes praised Campbell for the person and player he is, not just the position he plays. He said, “Jack Campbell is a hell of a football player. He’s going to be an anchor for our defense.”
You can listen to Holmes talk more in detail about the players he drafted in the 2023 NFL Draft to his path from college to an Enterprise rental car salesman. This episode of the podcast is available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube or wherever you get your favorite podcasts. The video of the interview is attached below. Enjoy!
C.J. Gardner-Johnson is now on his third NFL team in 15 months, but don’t mistake his transience for ineffectiveness. The new Lions safety remains an elite-level defensive back.
Gardner-Johnson, signed this offseason by Detroit after playing 2022 in Philadelphia, was ranked the No. 8 safety in the ESPN polling of over 75 NFL execsESPN polling of over 75 NFL execs, coaches and players.
The verbose veteran was acquired from the Saints in a curious trade, and Gardner-Johnson really paid off for the NFC champs. He picked off six passes and brought a real edge to the Eagles defense. Gardner-Johnson did that despite missing five games and playing much more strong safety than his typical role of slot DB and free safety, which is what he’s expected to play in Detroit.
The last paragraph of the segment on Gardner-Johnson helps explain why the Lions coveted him as a free agent.
Gardner-Johnson has an aggressive style of play — with his hitting and his talking — that a few voters characterized as an acquired taste. He’s fiery and confident, which might rankle some. But those who have gotten to know him say he loves football and brings a much-needed edge to a locker room
Detroit is looking to become more difficult to play against, and that’s certainly what Gardner-Johnson brings to the team, aside from his abundant plays on the ball.
The Detroit Lions have made some changes to their strength and conditioning coaching staff in advance of training camp. The Lions hired two new assistant coaches and have parted ways with another assistant.
Gone is former assistant coach Morris Henry, who had been with the Lions since the 2000 NFL season. No official announcement of any dismissal has been made but Henry no longer appears on the team’s official website.
In his place are two new coaches, Emmanuel “EJ” Hibbler and Corey Smith. Both come to Detroit from the college ranks. Smith most recently served as the strength and conditioning AD for Abilene Christian University in Texas.
Hibbler has years of experience working in the field beyond football. He spent some time at Michigan State working with the women’s volleyball team, and he also worked on the Arkansas Razorbacks football staff when Lions CB Jerry Jacobs was on the team.
Some Lions players might not be medically ready to roll at the start of training camp
The Detroit Lions report for training camp later this month. All 90 players on the team’s roster will be in the team’s training facility in Allen Park for the annual process of setting the roster and getting the team ready for the regular season.
Some players might not be physically ready to practice right away, however. Those players typically wind up being placed on one of two lists: physically unable to perform (PUP) or non-football injury (NFI).
There isn’t any practical difference in the football playing status between the PUP list and the NFI list. It deals more with the source of the injury and does carry some contractual ramifications, as nicely explained by the NFL.
Players who get placed on the active/PUP list or active/NFI list are allowed to do conditioning drills, participate in team meetings and work with coaches and staff individually. They also count toward the 90-man offseason roster. They are not permitted to participate in practices or team drills until activated, which require clearance by the team’s medical staff.
Here are some Lions who could begin training camp on one of the lists. As long as a player starts camp on the list, he can be activated at any time prior to the final roster cutdowns.
The latest episode of the Detroit Lions Podcast breaks down all sorts of Lions topics ahead of training camp
The Detroit Lions Podcast featuring Lions Wire’s Jeff Risdon is back after a couple of weeks off. In this latest episode, we cross the summer hump of the NFL calendar with several Lions topics and issues as we prepare for training camp later this month.
Among the Detroit topics discussed:
Lions shock and awe to start the season
Why the Rams and Lions both won their blockbuster trade
Why isn’t Jahmyr Gibbs signed yet?
Where the Lions stand in salary cap terms in both the short-term and the long haul
The Detroit Lions social media team dropped an ambiguous post that has the speculation machine running rampant. After the recent alternate helmet release, the team is now (maybe) teasing a (potential) color change to the (possibly) new uniforms.
This could mean any number of things. The old NFC Central, of which the Lions were a member before the NFL moved to eight divisions from six, was commonly known as the “black and blue division.”
Then again, the Lions also had some black jerseys as alternate colors back in the 2004-2006 seasons. With the long-awaited new uniforms coming as soon as 2024, could this be a teaser for a return of the popular black jerseys? The team can also change the color rush jerseys from the divisive grey uniforms, which pair with the blue alternate helmets in 2023. That also wouldn’t happen until 2024 at the earliest, but that’s also a possibility.
The Lions finished 9-8 in 2022. What does history say happens next?
The Detroit Lions rallied furiously from a 1-6 start in 2022 to finish 9-8. Now the world awaits what they can do in the follow-up season.
There isn’t a lot of historical data to pore over to research how teams that finished 9-8 did the following season. The 2022 campaign was just the second with 17 games after decades of NFL teams only playing 16 per season.
Here’s a look at how the teams who went 9-8 in 2021, the first season of 17 games, wound up performing in the 17 games of 2022, as well as how they built to the 9-8 from the 2020 year.
