Detroit Lions have a dark horse NFL MVP on the roster

The Detroit Lions could see a member of their team win the NFL MVP trophy at the end of the season. However, who that is might surprise a lot of people.

The Detroit Lions made the decision to fire former offensive coordinator Jim Bob Cooter this offseason after he failed to improve the offense for the second time in two years.

General manager Bob Quinn and head coach Matt Patricia decided they wanted to hand over the offense to former Seattle Seahawks offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell. This leads me to believe that if a Lion is going to win the NFL MVP award it will be running back Kerryon Johnson.

Bevell tends to have a dominant running game and middle of the pack passing game. Bevell has been in the top half of the league in rushing attempts in all but three years as an offensive coordinator and in the bottom half of the league in passing attempts in all but two years as offensive coordinator. This shows that Bevell is going to pound the ball on the ground, but this should also help the passing game to be more efficient.

Bevell has been the offensive coordinator for the Seattle Seahawks and the Minnesota Vikings. Over his time with those two teams his offenses rushed for an average of 131.9 yards per game (Seattle) and 133.2 yards per game (Minnesota). Most likely Bevell will have the Lions’ rushing yards per game north of 100.

Bevell already has the Lions looking like a run first team after his first offseason there. The Lions went out and completely remade their tight end group by signing the best one available in free agency in Jesse James and selecting the best one in the draft in T.J. Hockenson. The Lions also later doubled up on the position in the draft by taking Georgia’s Isaac Nauta in the seventh round.

All three of these tight ends are above average to elite blockers and will provide excellent movement in the run game. Bevell will come into Detroit and have a very talented back to work with. Kerryon Johnson, who stood out in a big way as a rookie, will be a huge benefactor from this new offense and will have the best chance of any Lion of winning the NFL MVP award.

Pro Football Focus, a site that watches and grades every play of every game, gave Johnson a good grade of 81.2 for his rookie season which was good for the 13th best grade given to a running back last year. Johnson definitely earned that grade as he rushed for 641 yards and three touchdowns on just 118 carries (in 10 games), which was good for an average of 5.4 yards per attempt. In the receiving game he caught 32 of 39 targets for 213 yards and a touchdown, good for 6.7 yards per reception.

Johnson can be a dominant force in any game and Bevell will be able to get the absolute best from the second year Lions runner. All of these factors point towards Johnson having a huge, breakout season under Bevell in year one of the new offense. And if the Lions manage to make, or maybe even win, a playoff game; expect the Lions player to be getting NFL MVP hype to be Kerryon Johnson.