How Lions OC Ben Johnson Destroys Defenses
An insightful 8 minutes (5:20 on 1.5 speed) on several versions of the same play that went for 3 TD's and a game-clinching 1st down as the Lions went 8-2 down the stretch last year.
Retaining Ben Johnson as OC is probably the biggest reason for optimism this year with the Lions.
Drinking the Honolulu Blue Kool-aid picking them to with their first playoff game at home in forever.
(It appears the NFL blocked the image of the video but the link should still work.)
Ben Johnson hangs around as a middling NFL assistant for a number of years, including working for that disaster of a head coach Matt Patricia. Gets retained as a tight end coach by Dan Campbell where he is hanging around when Anthony Lynn flames out as OC. Out of nowhere he is a big success and becomes a legitimate head coaching candidate. A “destroyer of defenses.” Damn near the hottest thing going.
Go figure.
Gets retained as a tight end coach by Matt Campbell
That'd make him MCMC, which is also pretty cool. I prefer MCDC though.
Oops...corrected that. Must have some strange attraction to Iowa State.
I wouldn't say Johnson was "hanging around" when Lynn was fired. Campbell did the playcalling for the rest of the '22 season but it was Johnson who curated the plays. Management had an idea Johnson deserved the shot.
Sometimes all it takes is being in the right place and the right time and when your opportunity comes you have to be ready and BJ was. They knew he had a great mind but maybe didn't realize just how good until he got the chance.
Amazes me the pundits picking them for super bowl due to finishing 8-2, but we lost our top two rbs. And our defense is still a sieve, especially Anzalone. No team with such a bad defense has ever made it to Super Bowl. Usually these teams get annihilated in playoffs.
I'm not buying the Super Bowl either just yet, but JFC it's clear they've upgraded big time.
Yep lost top two RB's, and replaced them with better RB's. If you don't think they've upgraded on defense then I don't know what to tell you, I guess you missed free agency and the draft.
The Lions were the youngest team in the NFL in 2022 and finished on fire in the back end of the season. It does not amaze me that pundits are high on them. Oh yeah, and they are still a crazy 24 million under the salary cap right now.
Eh, they upgraded a bunch of low value positions. They don't have enough talent in the right places (RB, LB, S, TE are the least valuable positions in the NFL).
Plus, its the Lions. If there is a way to fail, they will find it.
If there is a way to fail they will find it. Until they don’t.
Defense was super young, played much better at the end of the year, now a year older with veteran additions, is it that hard to be at least a little excited? And if you honestly think Montgomery/Gibbs isn’t an upgrade over Jamaal/oft-injured-Swift then you’re in a irrecoverable part of BPONE.
Valenti...that you?
What amazes me is seeing the same Lions posts nearly every Offseason for the decade + I've either read or posted on this blog.
This year is different and the way the players actually care about the coach and want to play for him is a big reason for the optimism and also the talent they have is a big plus. Imagine when MP was here and the guys hated him and probably cared less if they lost for him. But know if they lose for Dan they take it personally and do t want to do that to him. Not saying they didn't want to win when Fatrica was the coach. I guarantee the Lions will make the playoffs the SB I don't think this year but it could be possible but next year I could see it. One step at a time. Lions are about to build a decade of winning and hopefully more.
Lost our top two RBs but likely upgraded both. Montgomery is better than Williams and Gibbs feels like a greater chance to stay health at this point.
They have also upgraded a bunch of spots on defense and I think people underrated Tracy Walkers return.
Excellent take Tot. Tracy Walker's return is huge. The secondary is now loaded barring injuries and unloading Okudah was addition by subtraction.
Montgomery is near the back end of his career. Swift was cheap and we've replaced him with someone more expensive, *and* wasted a mid 1st round pick to boot. It was stupid all the way around. Our GM made an ass of himself with his draft comments. Did *not* sound like the smartest guy in the room.
Dam you didn't read many of the smartest guys in football talk about the Lions draft and actually how good it was. 4 starters with our first 4 picks. They got the best safety in the draft, the best all around RB in the draft. Yea, some say Bijan was but he was 50/50 by teams compared to Gibbs. Laporta probably number 1 or 2 TE on most boards. Then jack Campbell most people thought he was a stud and best LB in draft also. Now you can talk about positional value all you want but when these guys end up being stars no one is going to complain about where they were picked.
"you can talk about positional value all you want"
The words of a sucker. Neg me to Colombia. RBs don't matter much. Picking one with mid 1st round pick is a sucker's game, and you are a sucker. He would have been available with the next pick.
Swift was one of the league's premier backs and he was cheap. Why not keep him?
I *like* the Iowa LB but mock drafts showed pretty clearly we bought him way too early. Though the draft value we gave up buying Campbell early is a lot less than the criminally stupid pick at #12.
If picking the RB at 12 and trading Swift was such a good idea, why was the buyer of Swift arguably the smartest GM in the game? What does he know that we don't?
Swift was one of the league's premier backs and he was cheap. Why not keep him?
1. He was injured and unavailable too often at crucial points in the season. He was on track to be great, but he doesn't seem able to get through a season in one piece.
2. The coaching staff believed that some of the injuries that kept him out of games should have been "play through-able," so there were concerns about his toughness.
3. Possibly because of his injuries, in the opinion of the coaches he ran too much east-west and avoided contact at the expense of yards.
The new guy Gibbs is as much a receiver as a running back, so it may not be correct to put him in the 1st round RB box. He could turn out to be the player they hoped Swift could have been but better.
And I don't know why the best GM in the league traded for Swift, except that he's an exciting prospect when he gets on the field and isn't just looking for a place to get on the ground. We'll have to see how he does this year in Philly.
It would have seemed more logical to keep Swift for one more cheap year then get the comp pick when he left in FA. But it seemed like the Lions staff wanted him out sooner rather than later--he did not have any fans among the coaches.
David Montgomery is only 26 and now gets to run behind a good offensive line.
On Gibbs, it is clear the team/system wants a lightning to Montgomery's thunder. Swift lacks the most important ability, availability, and needed yo be upgraded. It needed to happen.
Frankly, I don't give a damn if people think RBs are not worth a first anymore.
That's just stupid. Montgomery was below average in RYOE last year. And his RYOE has declined each year in the league. His age is a *negative* not a positive. And he's carried a heavy load. At over 650 carries he's not far from the traditional 800 carry cliff.
Here's a tweet from a Michigan guy that should help you understand Montgomery's performance level:
https://twitter.com/tejfbanalytics/status/1635818191363399680
It's got a graph and lots of bright colors to help you.
"I don't give a damn if people think RBs are not worth a first anymore.
That's because other people think, and you either don't or can't.
Precious few RBs are worth a first. Odds are pretty good he's not. 2nd rounder, towards the middle? Sure. But literally no one in the league was set to take him mid 1st. Except our GM.
You do realize that the defense has 4 new players in the secondary to go with the 2nd year guys that got better in that 8-2 stretch. That Houston only played those games. That Hutchinson will be better in year 2. It won’t be a top 10 unit but if it is 15-19 range that could be huge. Winning the Super Bowl? Probably not but this team will be good.
Imagine thinking losing a couple RBs is a big deal. You been hiding under a rock the last 20 years? There's a reason why RBs don't get drafted high very often anymore.
And the Lions' D front 7 showed solid improvement LY. Combine that with the spending on secondary help and its not surprising Detroit is touted as the fave to win the division. Minnesota got a lot of lucky bounces last year.
Though the new Minny GM is very, very sharp.
Anzalone is functional. I'm not on his hype train.
harbaugh has gone thru stretches where hes worked in quite a few delays, slides, etc, particularly with mcnamara. every team needs multiple man beaters on call sheet. take advantage of your personnel and put defense in conflict.
no real opinion on ben johnson one way or other - well see if the lions continue growth this fall
Ben Johnson's approach reminds me of some of those TE leak plays Harbaugh called a few years ago.
Ben Jonson: playwright, poet, destroyer of defenses.
Most people expect him to be a head coach next year. Which would be good because that would mean the Lions are successful and we probably won't the division. If that is the case we need someone to be his understudy to keep up the great stuff he has been doing.
Anyone have a clickable, non embedded link? The sizing of the YouTube embed prevents me from clicking it on Android
this is cool, thanks. The Lions are such a fun story this year