Mr. Scot

As a non fantasy football player, what's a "handcuff"?

I'm not...yet. Definitely has my interest though

Oy

Why would Washington trade him, though? (especially after seeing Carson Wentz sh-t the bed this past Sunday)

The amazing performances put on by the Detroit offense through the first three weeks of the 2022 NFL Season are starting to draw some attention and interest to young Lions OC Ben Johnson. Among those praising Johnson for his work… Not bad... To be clear, Johnson is way younger than what I normally like as a head coaching candidate (just 36) but he’s been coaching at the NFL level for as many years (since 2012) as others like Ken Dorsey and has risen through the ranks at a reasonably steady pace. As illustrated above, Johnson is garnering high praise from numerous circles. The Athletic’s offensive analyst Ted Nguyen recently wrote a piece about how the Lions offense saw a weakness in the widespread use of defensive guru Vic Fangio’s concepts and figured out how to attack it. That approach certainly looks to be working so far. Throw in too that if you look back at his resumé, you’ll find some pretty hefty connections to the Carolinas. Born in Charleston, South Carolina, Johnson attended high school in Asheville, North Carolina. Upon graduating, he became a walk on quarterback for the UNC Tarheels behind both TJ Yates and current Panthers receiver coach Joe Dailey. Yates would later play for the Miami Dolphins, along with former Panther QB Matt Moore, when Johnson was an assistant there. Also while at UNC, Johnson was a teammate to Hakeem Nicks, Brandon Tate, Cameron Thomas, former (temporary) Panther Hilee Taylor and Connor Barth among others. Looking at his college coaches, quarterback coach John Shoop had previously served on the offensive staff of the Panthers from their inaugural season through 1998. Retired former Colts coach - and Ron Rivera friend - Chuck Pagano was the Tarheels DC for one of his seasons there. Longtime NFL OL Coach (and also Rivera associate) Hal Hunter was on board for a bit as well. Hunter later coached in Cleveland alongside current Panthers ST coach Chris Tabor (Pep Hamilton was the OC at the time). Mind you, Tabor’s not the only Panthers staffer with a connection of sorts to Johnson. Others are, in fact a little more direct... Let's start with original Panthers head coach Dom Capers who was a defensive assistant last season in Detroit. Among current Panther staffers besides the aforementioned Dailey, quarterback coach Sean Ryan and DL coach Paul Pasqualoni each spent time on the Lions staff with him. Johnson even has a shirttail connection with Panthers assistant GM Dan Morgan via former Morgan colleague Joe Schoen who was in the Dolphins personnel department (as was former Panthers college scouting director Eric Stokes) for a few seasons while Johnson and now Lions head coach Dan Campbell were on the coaching staff. Said staff also included current RB coach Jeff Nixon and former Panthers player Mike Wahle. For what some might find the most "fun" connection though, you’ve gotta go back to Johnson’s very first coaching gig.. From 2009 to 2011, Johnson was a graduate assistant and later tight ends coach for a college football program in the Northeastern US. Specifically, Boston College. Those three years just happened to coincide with the college career of a certain former Panther who’s best known for playing linebacker. Yeah…that guy. Substantive? Maybe not, but interesting / amusing. Well...to me, aanyway, but what does it all really add up to? Bottom Line: Unless and until Matt Rhule is fired, not a whole lot. Likewise, even if Johnson has more Carolinas connections than Kevin Bacon, he still has to finish out this season well and garner more significant head coaching interest. Mind you, there’s already some buzz around him, but not necessarily enough to make Johnson a major player on the coaching scene just yet. That said, having researched his path to now, I definitely find him intriguing as a possibility. Johnson is getting praise for the kind of work you want to see in the guy running your team: knowledge of league trends, offensive innovation, the ability to properly evaluate and use the players you have and even maximize the positive traits of some lesser guys (Jared Goff for example, who’s looked better since Johnson started working with him) and more. Factor in also that with our current offensive line personnel stacked toward the run game, having them run plays designed by Johnson could be...interesting Still, for the moment it’s only a “keep in the back of your mind” sort of thing. In the crazy world of the NFL though, weirder things have happened.

Sam may not be a very good quarterback, but I suspect he at least has better things to do with his time than dumb sh-t like this...

To be fair, that's hard to accurately judge with the current OC... He's not doing anyone any favors.

I think that question is being asked...

And there are words for that kind (which tend to be unkind)

Train wrecks and dumpster fires tend to do that...

That's a really difficult fight though. Probably worthwhile, but not easy.

Answer to this depends on what team he's signed with or been traded to and what their quarterback situation is. Until we know those details, it's a pretty tough question to answer.

Stefanski is a WCO guy if I remember correctly...

I wouldn't go so far as to say I'm souring on him. I've always acknowledged that he has his flaws. One analysis I'd seen on him suggested that he might be a better number two receiver than number one.

If the choices are between McAdoo sabotaging Mayfield or just doing a sh-tty job, I'd cast my vote for number two.

Say what you will about the Panthers right now, but at least this wasn't us Mark Sanchez was the happiest man alive when this occurred.

From Person's article... Mayfield’s late arrival in Charlotte — he was acquired after OTAs and minicamp ended — has affected his timing. And it likely didn’t help that Rhule dragged the quarterback competition late into the preseason.

Kind of the same thing we're running into on the other side with a DC who prefers man paired with a DB coach who favors zone. You definitely get the impression they didn't take these things into account.

Both are true, honestly. More than one analyst has pointed out that our receivers (Moore particularly) aren't getting open that well. At the same time though, Mayfield has been missing some of the guys who do.

See above (yes, I anticipated this)

Granted, and one of the things you typically see in a Coryell for example is a fair amount of variance in formation, motion, etc. So again, I'm not sure what McAdoo is McAdoing

Perhaps but again, not the question.

When Joe Brady was the OC, we were running a Sean Payton influenced WCO. From what I knew of Ben McAdoo and where he cut his teeth, I was expecting something at least somewhat West Coast like from him as well. But so far this season, I'm not seeing the hallmarks of a typical WCO, especially not when it comes to the use of runningbacks in the passing game. Also true that this yyea we don't really have an offensive line built for that kind of attack. Head coach Matt Rhule's mantra of "run the ball / stop the run" might make you think Coryell or E-P, but it's also kind of hard to say it looks like either of those. So I'm curious, for those who've been watching and analyzing the designs and playcalls McAdoo is putting out there, what do you see? Note: To be clear, I'm looking at system fits. "A bad one" or "an awful one" might technically be correct, but that's not where I'm going

An agenda Yesterday I found out I had minions. Today I've got an agenda too My "agenda" is to talk about the Panthers. Sorry if my point of view is different than yours. Not really sorry but hey...

Mariota only joined the Falcons this past offseason.