5 candidates to replace Ben Johnson as Lions offensive coordinator if he leaves for a head coaching job

1. Ken Dorsey

Current Job: None; Former Buffalo Bills offensive coordinator

There were some issues with Dorsey's play-calling at times this year, like abandoning the ground game when it was working. After a bad loss to the Denver Broncos in Week 10, marked by errors far and wide, Bills' head coach Sean McDermott made his offensive coordinator the scapegoat.

In 2022, his first year as Buffalo's offensive coordinator after Brian Daboll left to take the Giants' head coaching job, Dorsey guided an offense that was second in total yardage, second in scoring, seventh in passing and second in rushing. Most of those results were not much different this year (seventh in total yards, eighth in points, seventh in passing), but rushing volume and production was down. Josh Allen's turnover issues have been a difference maker this year, and that is clearly (not) Dorsey's fault.

As Dan Campbell was shaping his new staff, Dorsey interviewed for the Lions' offensive coordinator post that Anthony Lynn eventually got in 2021. It was easy to consider him a candidate for the job again a year later, before Johnson was eventually elevated to the post to officially replace Lynn.

If Johnson leaves for a head coaching job after the season, Dorsey would be a natural candidate to take his place in Detroit. Maybe Campbell takes advantage of a mulligan after hiring the poor fit that Lynn proved to be.