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Detroit Lions Podcast Daily DLP: Drew Petzing Is the New OC
A new OC with familiar roots
The Detroit Lions hired Drew Petzing as offensive coordinator. The hire ties Detroit to the Kevin Stefanski tree and a system built on timing and detail. Petzing coached tight ends in Cleveland in 2020 and 2021. Those Browns made the playoffs and won a playoff game for the first time in more than thirty years.
His Cleveland work stands out. Petzing helped turn David Njoku from a talented but inconsistent former first rounder into a much better pro. The improvement started with focus. Route depths got precise. A nine-yard out was nine yards, not seven or ten. The blocking jumped too. Njoku became a Pro Bowl caliber tight end. Harrison Bryant arrived as a glorified big wideout and improved as a blocker and in the finer points of spacing. The common thread was attention to detail.
Scheme overlap that fits Detroit
Petzing comes from the Stefanski offense that traces back through Minnesota and the Norv Turner and Shanahan Kubiak family of ideas. It is a timing and precision attack. It aims for yards after the catch and hits weak points. It mixes in deep shots from base looks. That is also the foundation Ben Johnson used in Detroit. The language changes, but the structure aligns.
In Cleveland, the core pieces were Nick Chubb at running back, Odell Beckham and Jarvis Landry at wide receiver, and Njoku with Bryant at tight end. Baker Mayfield ran the show. The line was strong aside from a sore spot at left tackle. The results were a middle-of-the-pack offense, about fourteenth, that strung together long drives. It was not an all-or-nothing unit. It generated explosives out of its core formations.
Landry was a draft comp for Amon-Ra St. Brown. St. Brown is the better athlete now, but the play style echoes. If you frame J-Mo as the OBJ role from that one good Cleveland year before injuries, the parallels are easy to see.
Tight ends and 12 personnel on deck
The Lions need more help at tight end. The head coach played tight end in the NFL and is a former tight ends coach. He likes 12 personnel, with one back and two tight ends. Petzing’s track record with Njoku and Bryant pairs with that preference. Coincidentally, Njoku is a free agent this offseason.
Petzing also served as quarterbacks coach in Cleveland in 2022. That matters for Detroit. Jared Goff is different from Baker Mayfield. Goff is more careful, less mobile, and a better decision maker. That profile fits the Stefanski-style approach. Within a familiar NFL framework, the Detroit Lions can carry over what already works and sharpen the edges under their new offensive coordinator. This is a continuity bet with clear intent.
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