The Detroit Lions were a top-five scoring offense in all three seasons Ben Johnson was the offensive coordinator, culminating in being the top-scoring offense in the NFL last season. Of course Johnson is gone, replaced by John Morton, and while the core principals of the system will remain Morton will naturally evolve things and put his stamp on certain aspects.
Now in the teeth of fantasy football draft season for 2025, few (if any) offenses are inspiring more polar opposite takes then the Lions' offense. And there's a solid case to be made in both directions, positive and negative, in the big picture and for individual players.
Last season, in 0.5-PPR scoring where applicable; through Week 17, the Lions had the QB6 (Jared Goff), the RB3 (Jahmyr Gibbs), the RB17 (David Montgomery), the WR3 (Amon-Ra St. Brown), the WR19 (Jameson Williams), and the TE7 (Sam LaPorta).
The Lions paved a path to plenty of fantasy titles last year, with multiple of the aforementioned players surging late in the season, and you could've had a formidable "stack" in many different forms. A stack (at least two players from the same team on a roster) tentacles from the quarterback, and a running back handcuff situation does not fit the bill.
Fantasy analyst is down on idea of stacking a fantasy roster with Lions
Andrew Ites of Pro Football Focus recently labeled three fantasy stacks as overpriced for 2025, starting with an elite (early-round) quarterback and moving to mid and late-round signal callers as the starting point. Goff was Ites' mid-round quarterback choice.
"The Detroit Lions enter the 2025 season with a new play-caller after losing Ben Johnson to the division rival Chicago Bears. They also lost key pieces of their offensive line via center Frank Ragnow‘s retirement and guard Kevin Zeitler‘s departure in free agency. "
"Jahmyr Gibbs and Amon-Ra St. Brown both usually get taken in the first round of fantasy drafts, and each has a distinct path to failure. Gibbs could continue to concede work to David Montgomery if he stays healthy all season, and St. Brown had offseason knee surgery as he enters a new offense that may emphasize him less in the passing game."
"Sam LaPorta and Jameson Williams also get drafted relatively early for young players who have had up-and-down careers thus far. Quarterback Jared Goff could be overvalued as a pure pocket passer who gets drafted alongside quarterbacks with much more upside in the running game, and we don’t know what he will look like without Johnson's high-powered scheme this season."
"The Lions may keep chugging along as one of the league’s best offenses, but several factors could cause them to falter a bit in 2025."
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The impact of offseason knee surgery, and the expected further emergence of Williams, on St. Brown's fantasy stock this year is being slightly overblown in some ways. Gibbs is lined up to have an expanded role as a pass catcher this year, which fortifies his fantasy ceiling regardless of Montgomery's role/health.
But beyond St. Brown and Gibbs, Goff is as up and down a fantasy signal caller as there is, Williams is similarly inconsistent until shown otherwise and LaPorta could be up-and-down again himself this year.
Taken as singular entities, the Lions will still have multiple fantasy assets this year. But stacking them together on one roster in a draft has downside to an extent it didn't a year ago, rooted in the simple uncertainty about how the offense will look.