Ben Johnson lauds sneaky down the depth chart position battle for the Lions

Entering his third season in the post, Ben Johnson is recognized as one of the best offensive coordinators in the NFL (if not the best). Before adding passing game coordinator duties at the end of the 2021, he was the Lions' tight ends coach. Over the course of his rise up the assistant ranks, he was a tight ends coach a couple other times too.

The top two spots on the Lions' tight end depth chart this year are locked in: Sam LaPorta and Brock Wright. Beyond that is up for competition, with incumbents James Mitchell and Shane Zylstra joined by offseason additions Parker Hesse and Sean McKeon. Head coach Dan Campbell specifically gave Hesse a shoutout after the first day of padded practice this week.

Johnson spoke to the media before Thursday's practice, and he spoke very highly of how the tight end group looks.

Ben Johnson highly praises Lions' tight end group

Via Nolan Bianchi of the Detroit News, here's what Johnson said about the Lions' tight ends.

"It’s the best room that I’ve been around in 13 years now, from top to bottom, one to six,” Johnson said. “These guys, they've all played ball in this league, and you can tell it with their approach and how they block, how they run routes out on the field. It’s been very impressive.”

The "best room that I've ever been around in 13 years" is a rare stretch toward hyperbole for Johnson, but he also noted the heated competition among the tight ends and the sneaky importance of the TE3 role.

"That room, the competition is lights out right now,” Johnson said. “In terms of the third spot, I think Coach Campbell, myself, Brad, we all (believe) that spot needs to be able to wear a lot of hats because you just don’t know. You got LaPorta with his skill set, you got Wright with his skill set, and that third spot needs to be smart enough to fill in either spot if need be, so the versatility is at a premium.”

"Fipp certainly needs help there on special teams and so that plays a part also,” Johnson said. “But we need a smart player that can wear multiple hats. It’s a bonus if we can get some backfield work, if he can do some fullback-type jobs, or if he can split out wide. The more you can do increases your value right there.”

Without a traditional fullback on the roster, someone in the tight end group who can take whatever snaps may come there would be beneficial. Overall versatility, up to including special teams, will be a differentiator in the competition. Said competition, likely for one or two additional spots on the 53-man roster allocated to tight end (after LaPorta and Wright), may go right down to final roster cuts with tough decisions having to be made.