the bills DC said the hardest OC interesting to prepare for was Ben Johnson and we're going to talk about where we H what's kind of the ceiling of this offense so let's get to this video um and it's the bills defensive coordinator talking about just offensive coordinators that give him problems maybe the hardest to prepare for and you're going to you're going to want to hear this because it it speaks to what kind of offensive coordinat Ben Johnson is let's get to it Ben Johnson gotcha who is the toughest offensive coordinator in the NFL right now to prepare against Ben Johnson gotcha what makes him so tough it was funny we were just having this conversation today I think Detroit does a great job and this is from years ago they do a lot of things and they do them well which that's hard to do that's hard to do and it's hard to prepare for give me your favorite Bobby who is the tough there you go I mean it are you surprised no I I mean Ben Ben Johnson is an absolute magician and I I think what what makes the lion so hard to prepare for is they're so good at running the football and they have the best offensive line it's like their personnel absolutely matters on top of Johnson's creativity it's like the match made in heaven they have they have everything they need to do what Ben and Dan want to do they have the offensive line they have the running backs they have a receiver at a tight end they have a quarterback that knows to execute I mean when you put all those things together Boer it's just it's like how do you you just need guys to just drop footballs or Jared to be off or you just need something to go wrong I mean that's essentially you're praying you're praying he is in a great spot like Ben Ben is and I think that's a reason why he hasn't chose to leave yet because he knows like the offense that he's in right now and that he's running being one of the best in the NFL like like he said when he had the uh the interview this year he was like why would I leave a great position to go to somewhere where it's like I might struggle for a couple years so I think Ben like knowing he has Jared gof to rely on he has top five wide receiver and I'm in Rod St Brown in my opinion the best running back duel in the entire NFL the best running back room um now that you in cioni vaki like you have the one of the best tight like everything you have the best offensive line I think I think it just gets better I went back and looked Jeff cuz I was I was interested when when you put this topic in there I was like I wonder like how much better benj Johnson can get or how much better he's gotten because in 2022 I'm GNA let me throw these stats at you let me get my flannel bag for you here real quick oh in 2022 all right I'm going by this is the offensive stats yards per game the Detroit Lions were fourth in yards per game in 2023 they moved up a spot and they became the third best team in yards per game in 2022 passing yards per game so how how did their passing game look Jared goth I'm and R like did these guys get better did Ben Johnson go out there and scheme a little bit better they were eighth in the NFL in 2022 went all the way up from e8th to 2nd in 2023 so it was a six team jump they went all the way up to the second best team in the NFL at passing the ball running the ball they were the 11th team the the 11th best Rush best rushing team in the entire NFL in 2022 they jumped all the way from 11th to top five so like everything everything Ben Johnson's doing I know you get jir Gibbs and guys get better you bring in Graham like you do these different things and then in points per game they're top five for the back past two years in points per game so like this offense Ben Johnson just continues to get better and I think part of it too I think what it comes down to it's just like dude these guys are getting another year together you thought Ben Johnson was going to leave last year nope he's gonna stay he's gonna take you to an NFC Championship game he's gonna improve in every statistical category guess what he's going to do this year he's gonna stay because he wants to go win a Super Bowl and this offense guess what it's going to do it's only going to get better and it can only go up from here like there's no taking a step back in a Ben Johnson offense this year like the third yard third most yards per game guess what this makes me feel like he's going to do this year he's going to go out there and have the best best offense in the entire NFL and I don't think that's like a crazy thing to say I think I think like I know I I'm I go down a little bit on this wide receiver room I think they find a way to to to to work these guys in bring in new guys make Aman R gets better Sam Le Porto gets better jir Gibbs we talked about the jump that he we think he's gonna have they still have the number one offense in the NFL like offensive line in the NFL like I don't see how this offense just doesn't Elevate for being there for three years how often do you see a offensive coordinator as good as him stay for three seasons it it doesn't happen um and that's I guess a combination of the situation and how young he is because he has so he has he's going to be in the NFL for so long and I mean just hit on the situation he's he's in a very good situation great he loves where he is loves the city loves the the coach he works for it's like perfect for him so he's not under pressure to leave um and even some of these comments which I think silent makes a great Point here I didn't even think about this uh silent says what makes y'all impossible is that y'all are so damn good at every Personnel Group most teams run mainly 11 but the Lions can run multiple and do them very well I mean the Lions can run 11 12 13 21 22 I mean they could run they have enough gr great players to just mix it up and be great in different situations and and again to Ryan's point and what you just mentioned about the continuity that matters too because guys are you know when you have when you have contenders unless the head coach is the play caller usually then that helps but if you just have great OC's continuity is not really there because those guys are being hired uh pretty consistently I mean look at Shane styken to Brian Johnson who was their their um their offensive coordinator this past season it looked completely different it looked actually they regressed and they got rid of them so that happens and they they've had Ben Johnson which I I think Ben will be one scary head coach he's going to be very good I know people bring up the leadership St dude if you're if you're as good of an OC as he is you can lead men I mean those guys listen to him you know what I mean like there he obviously has the leadership he he his message gets across to the players like so I I I think that's a little overstated in my opinion just because we have like Macho Dan Campbell people try to compare Ben to him and like oh he's not a lead like no there's different different styles of leadership we've all been around different leaders uh I lead different than you lead Boer there's always different styles and I think Ben style will absolutely translate to a head coach I think he'll be very very good in my opinion gotta have the right situation just like any head coach if you go to a terrible team it's gonna be harder to dig them out but I I think Ben will work in most situations obviously and he's gonna make sure he's in a good situation so that yeah that's incredible uh it's gonna go he mentioned OC but one day it's going to be one of the hardest had coaches to prepare for in my opinion very detailed or very very detailed guy uh I mean Tom says imagine if Andy Reid retires and Ben Johnson goes to the Chiefs the NFL would be over oh my gosh that would be there's no way that happens though I don't I don't think right no that would be the perfect like he would wait for that I'll tell you that probably I think it's like it shows it does show like the fact that he hasn't left yet in in the past two seasons like after 2022 it felt like he had any position he wanted to and then he ends up staying we're like it was like breaking news in Detroit like there's no way the number one head coaching candidate in the NF F came back and then you go to the NFC Championship Game and again the number one head coaching candidate he goes out there and meets with all these teams and then all of a sudden he's like no I'm staying again like I I feel like it's unheard of for that to happen like you do not see that nowadays because NFL had coaching jobs such like a like there's only 32 of those jobs and same with the OC's but like that's the top of the top here in in the game of football is the NFL head coach and the fact that he's able to like he has the control to say hey no I don't want to do it this offseason back-to-back off Seasons I think that's like some respect and it is crazy what Washington did to him kind of putting out there and trying slander in his name too that was ridiculous uh Jeff Olson says I actually think the Lions offense will take a step back this year the loss of Jonah Jackson will be felt Oh you mean the upgrade of uh zitler yeah I I would I would understand Jeff's point to some extent if they just put Colby in there instead of Kevin zitler that just feels weird they upgraded at the position I yeah I um I don't think that's true because they upgraded uh and I think be I think Jonah's good don't get me wrong I know people have a tendency to trash guys when they leave the Lions but when they're here people love him like I think he's good but Kevin zitler is is very good as well [Music]