On Monday, the Detroit Lions shocked a lot of people by reportedly agreeing to make former Cardinals offensive coordinator Drew Petzing their new offensive coordinator.
Now, part of the shock was that there hadn’t been any connection made public between Petzing and the Lions. There were seven other known candidates at the time, and so Petzing was completely off most people’s radar. But according to Dave Birkett, the Lions did plenty of research on Petzing behind the scenes. They reportedly interviewed him last week, and even had him talk ball with quarterback Jared Goff over the weekend.
But it’s fair to say some of the reaction was because many believed the Lions had the kind of attractive job opening that could lure a coordinator candidate with a better and more proven resume.
Now, immediate backlash is to be expected when a candidate comes out of nowhere. But with nearly 24 hours to research the guy, looking at some expert opinions on the hire, and considering the fit, it’s time to give a more measured reaction. Today’s Question of the Day is:
What grade do you give the Lions’ hiring of Drew Petzing as OC?
My answer: Admittedly, I’m still doing a lot of research and have a bigger piece breaking down Petzing’s three years as Cardinals offensive coordinator coming later on Tuesday morning. But let me give a quick breakdown of what I do and don’t like.
One of my biggest concerns with this hire was how the Lions were going to give the offense a fresh look without doing a complete overhaul or trying to make Jared Goff someone he is not. This hire seems to fit that concern like a glove. Petzing’s reputation is that of a coach who values the under-center run game with heavy personnel, and a myriad of good schematic tricks to create good matchups. If you watched Detroit’s run game in 2025—and, subsequently, the Bears’ run game—you could see how Detroit was missing Ben Johnson in that aspect. Throw in a heavy reliance on play-action in the passing game, and the philosophical fit seems perfect.
Yet, because Petzing has never worked with Dan Campbell and his only connection to the Lions is a stint with Hank Fraley in Minnesota and a personal relationship with Ben Johnson, he’s going to bring some much-needed fresh perspective to the offense, as well.
I like that he did create a borderline top-10 offense in 2024 with a mediocre-at-best quarterback and a skill position group that was still very young and developing, including rookie Marvin Harrison Jr., second-year receiver Michael Wilson, and third-year stud tight end Trey McBride. To take that young set of players and produce some impressive numbers is a very good sign.
What I don’t like? Well, the 2025 season was a complete mess. Injuries certainly played a huge part, because… well, just look at this:
But it’s still extremely disheartening to see the run game completely fall off, ranking bottom five in many categories.
Additionally, I’m a little concerned about the situational play-calling. Here’s how the Cardinals ranked in fourth-down conversion rate in each of his seasons:
2023: 44.1% (27th)
2024: 44.4% (28th)
2025: 42.9% (29th)
To be fair, though, he was actually pretty darn good on third down every season.
2023: 39.1% (14th)
2024:43.0% (eighth)
2025: 41.5% (ninth)
Finally, there’s the “bigger fish” argument. While I don’t think there was any perfect candidates out there—Mike McDaniel, the favorite of many, also saw his offense fall off a cliff in the past two seasons (partially because of injury)—it does feel weird that the Lions were one of the first teams to pull the trigger on a guy who hasn’t created much buzz for the other vacancies. That doesn’t mean he wasn’t in demand or didn’t interview anywhere else—we’ll see as more information becomes public—but it’s clear most analysts saw better candidates for Detroit.
Put that all together, and this feels like a B or B- overall. I see the vision, there’s proof of concept in that 2024 season, but some serious concerns about Petzing are more than just knee-jerk reactions.
What grade do you give the hiring and why? Scroll down to the comment section and let us know why!
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