John Morton's tenure as the offensive coordinator for the Detroit Lions could be described with one word: underwhelming.
In Morton's defense (somewhat), the Lions' offensive line was in pretty poor shape headed into 2026, with the sudden retirement of Frank Ragnow and the shifting of Graham Glasgow over to center after he'd been a much more effective guard for the Lions. That, coupled with Taylor Decker losing a step or two last season, didn't help to fortify Morton's position.
Of course, the Lions' offense didn't really fall off that much. They were still a high-flying unit, but they didn't get much support from the defense to keep things from getting too chaotic.
That's what made the teams' hire of Drew Petzing as their next offensive coordinator seem like such a huge deal. The Athletic's Colton Pouncy hit on that point recently, naming the Petzing hire as the most intriguing offseason move for Detroit ahead of training camp.
"Factoring in his experience coaching different positions (QBs, WRs and TEs), his work with play-action, his creativity in the running game and his easygoing personality, it’s easy to see why head coach Dan Campbell went with Petzing. But after John Morton flopped, Campbell needs to nail this hire"
Petzing might be Lions' most exciting addition ahead of 2026 season
Petzing is coming on to replace a coordinator in Morton who, simply, never seemed to mesh with the Lions or their top offensive playmakers.
There was a notable drop off in the utilization and involvement of players like Jameson Williams and David Montgomery throughout the 2025 season with Morton at the helm, and that might've played a part in the eventual trade of Montgomery to the Houston Texans.
Petzing is unlikely to be on that type of time. The coordinator cherishes the run game as an ample resource for a teams' offense, evidenced by how much he attempted to utilize the Arizona Cardinals' running back room over the last few seasons.
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Second overall in explosive rush rate over the last three seasons, in addition to seventh overall in offensive rushing success rate, are very commendable bars for Petzing to have cleared prior to his hiring in Detroit.
Detroit wants to lean on its strengths and get back to "basics" this season. That means a ton of Jahmyr Gibbs, a ton of Amon-Ra St. Brown, and a ton of explosive playmaking between Jared Goff and Williams.
Hiring Petzing helps to unlock those basics again, and to get the Lions back into the contention conversation (assuming their defense can finally carry their weight, of course).
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