NFL Coaching Matters: 2022 Detroit Lions Offense and Coaching Staff Preview

July 19, 2022

Eli Grabanski breaks down the 2022 Detroit Lions' coaching staff in search of buy-lows, fantasy football sleepers, and risers based on play-calling and historical data.

After every NFL season, NFL teams take the time to evaluate not only the players but also the coaching staff and front office as well. While many teams choose to retain the same head coach, offensive coordinator, and defensive coordinator, a few other teams opt to go in a new direction with their coaching staff.

The Detroit Lions will have the same head coach (Dan Campbell) and defensive coordinator (Aaron Glenn) in 2022 but will make a change with their offensive coordinator position as the team goes from Anthony Lynn to Ben Johnson.

This article will look at the potential impact this coaching staff will have on the players and try to pinpoint the Lions players' fantasy values in it.

The Baseline

To get a better understanding of the value the Lions coaches bring to this team, we can look at the NFL league averages in each of the past two years in a variety of statistical categories and then compare them to the averages achieved by the Lions coaches. Here are 'The Baseline' NFL league averages over the past couple of years:

QB Impact

RB Impact

WR Impact

TE Impact

Defense Impact

Previous Coaching Staff

In order to get an understanding of how the Lions' fantasy players may be impacted this year, we also need to look at one of the key members of the Detroit Lions' previous coaching staff: former offensive coordinator Anthony Lynn. By doing this, we will have a better understanding of where the new coaching staff is starting from and where the primary changes will occur.

Former Offensive Coordinator: Anthony Lynn

Anthony Lynn was the Detroit Lions offensive coordinator in 2021, but was let go this offseason. Prior to his time in Detroit, he spent 14 games as the Buffalo Bills interim offensive coordinator (2016) before spending four seasons as the Los Angeles Chargers head coach (2017-2020). Below are some statistics from Lynn's offenses during his career in an offensive coordinator or head coaching role.

QB Impact

RB Impact

WR Impact

TE Impact

2022 Offense

2022 Head Coach: Dan Campbell

Dan Campbell was a bit of a surprising head coaching hire for the Detroit Lions initially, but he has won over the hearts of Lions fans during the 2021 season and has shown the potential of being a good NFL coach. Prior to becoming the Lions' head coach, Campbell played tight end for ten years in the NFL, spending time with the New York Giants (1999-2002), Dallas Cowboys (2003-2005), and Detroit Lions (2006-2008). After his playing career, he joined the Miami Dolphins coaching staff initially as an offensive coaching intern (2010) before becoming the team's tight ends coach (2011-2015). During the 2015 NFL season, head coach Joe Philbin was fired after a 1-3 start for the Dolphins and Dan Campbell served as the team's interim head coach for the rest of the season, going 5-7 over their last 12 games. Over the next five seasons, Campbell has served as the New Orleans Saints assistant head coach and tight ends coach (2016-2020) before becoming the Lions head coach in 2021. Given Campbell's offensive background, let's take a look at how his offenses have performed during his time as a head coach.

QB Impact

RB Impact

WR Impact

TE Impact

2022 Offensive Coordinator: Ben Johnson

Ben Johnson will take over as the Detroit Lions offensive coordinator during the 2022 season, after the team decided to fire Anthony Lynn. He served as the tight ends coach last season and even worked with Dan Campbell on the offensive play-calling when the team decided to takeaway offensive play-calling duties from Anthony Lynn. Let's take a look at Ben Johnson's previous coaching background to try and help get better insight into how the Lions offense may look in 2022.

Dan Campbell and Ben Johnson Takeaways & Expectations

Because Dan Campbell has more experience in an offensive coordinator or head coaching role and Ben Johnson has not formally been an offensive coordinator prior to 2022 (though he did serve as a bit of a de facto one in 2022), we will primarily focus on Campbell's previous tendencies in this section.

Over the course of the 29 games that Dan Campbell has served as an NFL head coach, his offense has averaged 34.83 passing attempts per game. This number of passing attempts is right around the league averages we've seen the last few years and suggest that it's likely they are around the middle-of-the-pack in passing attempts again in 2022.

Besides passing, it is also important to look at the rushing usage of Campbell's quarterbacks during his time as a head coach. Over the course of his time as a head coach, Campbell's quarterbacks averaged just 1.62 carries per game.

Overall, Dan Campbell's offenses have seen a mediocre number of passing opportunities and a below-average number of quarterback carries. This information is less than inspiring if you plan on rostering Jared Goff in your fantasy league(s) for the 2022 NFL season and suggests that he should be viewed as more of a streamer.

Looking at the running back position, Dan Campbell has seen his running back room average 21.72 carries, 92.34 rushing yards, and 0.69 rushing touchdowns per game on the ground over the course of his 29-game career as a head coach.

These career numbers are right around the league averages we've seen the last couple of seasons for running backs and mean that D'Andre Swift should get a decent amount of work on the ground. Besides the amount of volume (carries) on the ground that Campbell saw from his running backs, we also need to consider how that volume was distributed during this time – was Dan Campbell's team rolling with a bell-cow or a running back by committee approach?

Looking at the data, in Dan Campbell's season with the Dolphins he took more of a bell-cow approach with lead back Lamar Miller taking 157 of the team's 238 tailback carries (65.97%) for 741 rushing yards and eight rushing touchdowns over the last 12 games of the season. With the Detroit Lions last year, it was a little more of a running back by committee approach on the ground with Jamaal Williams seeing 153 carries over 13 games, D'Andre Swift seeing 151 carries over 13 games, and the rest of the backfield seeing 88 carries on the season.

The final aspect we should look at regarding Dan Campbell's running backs is how much he has traditionally utilized them as pass-catchers. During his time as an NFL head coach, Campbell's running back room has averaged 5.90 receptions on 7.28 targets for 46 receiving yards and 0.14 receiving touchdowns per game.

These receptions, targets, and receiving yards averages are all higher than the league averages we've seen the last couple of seasons. Overall, the running back usage from Dan Campbell's running back room is fairly mediocre and suggests that he won't necessarily raise or lower the value of the Lions running backs with his presence. Based on this and D'Andre Swift's talent, Swift should be drafted as a back-end RB1 going into the 2022 season.

Looking at the wide receiver position, Campbell's offense has seen his wide receivers average 12.55 receptions on 19.79 targets for 156.38 receiving yards and 0.83 receiving touchdowns per game.

These career averages are right around the league averages we've seen the last few seasons. Based on this information, there's probably only room for one or two fantasy-relevant wide receivers on the Lions. D.J. Chark, Amon-Ra St. Brown, and Jameson Williams are fine to take shots on in the mid-late rounds of your fantasy drafts as lottery tickets, just don't go overboard reaching for them since there's a good chance at least one of them doesn't live up to expectations.

Lastly, Dan Campbell's usage of tight ends has generally been a little subpar. Over the course of his career as a head coach, Campbell's tight end room has averaged 4.17 receptions on 6.17 targets for 38.62 receiving yards and 0.34 receiving touchdowns per game.

While this usage is below average, it's important to remember there's a decent chance that the team goes in a different direction with this position's usage now that former tight ends coach Ben Johnson is the new offensive coordinator of the team. T.J. Hockenson should still be a mid-range TE1 for the 2022 season with this usage, but it's hard to say if he will be able to take the next step and become one of the elite fantasy tight ends that he's getting drafted right after.

Fantasy Relevant Players: Jared Goff, Tim Boyle, David Blough, D'Andre Swift, Jamaal Williams, Craig Reynolds, Jermar Jefferson, Amon-Ra St. Brown, D.J. Chark Jr., Jameson Williams, Josh Reynolds, Quintez Cephus, Kalif Raymond, T.J. Hockenson, and Brock Wright

2022 Defense

2022 Defensive Coordinator: Aaron Glenn

The 2021 season was the first season that Aaron Glenn served as a defensive coordinator at any level. As a coach, he's spent the last five seasons as the New Orleans Saints defensive backs coach and had a hand in the development of players like Vonn Bell, Marcus Lattimore, and C.J. Gardner-Johnson. He also played cornerback at the NFL level for the New York Jets (1994-2001), Houston Texans (2002-2004), Dallas Cowboys (2005-2006), Jacksonville Jaguars (2007), and New Orleans Saints (2008). Above are some defensive statistics of his teams over the course of his career as a defensive coordinator or head coach.

Other Notable Assistants

Special Teams Coordinator: Dave Fipp - The Detroit Lions will have the same special teams coordinator in 2022 – Dave Fipp. Dave Fipp joined the Detroit Lions coaching staff in 2021 and has been coaching since 1998. Prior to joining the Lions, he had most recently been the Philadelphia Eagles' special teams coordinator (2013-2020). Fipp has also worked in the NFL as an assistant special teams coach for the San Francisco 49ers (2008-2010) and Miami Dolphins (2011-2012).

QB Coach: Mark Brunell - 2022 will be Mark Brunell's second year coaching at the NFL level after spending eight seasons coaching at the Episcopal School of Jacksonville (2013-2020). He also played quarterback at the NFL level for the Green Bay Packers (1993-1994), Jacksonville Jaguars (1995-2003), Washington Redskins (2004-2007), New Orleans Saints (2008-2009), and New York Jets (2010-2011).

RB Coach: Duce Staley - Duce Staley became the Detroit Lions running backs coach as well as assistant head coach in 2021. He previously spent time coaching for the Philadelphia Eagles as a special teams quality control coach (2011-2012), running backs coach (2013-2020), and assistant head coach (2018-2020). Staley also played in the NFL for the Philadelphia Eagles (1997-2003) and Pittsburgh Steelers (2004-2006).

WR Coach: Antwaan Randle El - Antwaan Randle El will enter his second year as the Detroit Lions' wide receivers coach in 2022 after previously spending time as an offensive assistant for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2019-2020). Randle El also played wide receiver in the NFL for the Pittsburgh Steelers (2002-2005, 2010) and Washington Redskins (2006-2009).

TE Coach: Tanner Engstrand - One change that the Detroit Lions had to make to their coaching staff was hiring a new tight ends coach after last year's tight ends coach, Ben Johnson, was promoted to offensive coordinator. The new tight ends coach will be Tanner Engstrand, who has been on the Detroit Lions coaching staff since 2020. Engstrand has also previously served as an offensive coordinator for the XFL DC Defenders and worked in a variety of roles at the college level for the University of Michigan and the University of San Diego.

OL Coach: Hank Fraley - Hank Fraley has been with the Detroit Lions since 2018 and has served as the team's offensive line coach since 2020. He's helped coach offensive lines at the college and NFL levels since 2012, and also played center at the NFL level for the Philadelphia Eagles (2000-2005), Cleveland Browns (2006-2009), and St. Louis Rams (2010).

DL Coach: Todd Wash - Todd Wash joined the Detroit Lions coaching staff in 2021 as the defensive line coach after previously spending five seasons as the Jacksonville Jaguars defensive coordinator (2016-2020). At the NFL level, he's previously served as a defensive line coach for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2008-2010), Seattle Seahawks (2011-2012), and Jacksonville Jaguars (2013-2015).

LB Coach: Kelvin Sheppard - The Detroit Lions are doing a bit of shuffling around with their job titles on the defensive side of the ball, with Kelvin Sheppard's job title changing from outside linebackers coach in 2021 to just plain linebackers coach in 2022. Prior to joining the Lions in 2021, he served as the director of player development for LSU during the 2020 season. Sheppard also played linebacker in the NFL for the Buffalo Bills (2011-2012), Indianapolis Colts (2013), Miami Dolphins (2014-2015), and New York Giants (2016-2017).

OLB Coach: David Corrao - The Detroit Lions did some shifting around with their linebackers coaches this offseason – letting 2021's inside linebackers coach Mark Deleone go, shifting Kelvin Sheppard from outside linebackers coach to linebackers coach, and hiring David Corrao as the team's new outside linebackers coach. Prior to taking on this role, Corrao had served as the Detroit Lions' director of football research from 2018 to 2021 as well as coaching in a variety of roles for the Miami Dolphins from 2008 to 2015.

DB Coach: Aubrey Pleasant - Aubrey Pleasant joined the Detroit Lions coaching staff in 2021 and has served as the defensive backs coach as well as passing game coordinator during this time. At the NFL level, he's spent time as a coaching intern for the Cleveland Browns (2013), an offensive assistant for the Washington Redskins (2013), a defensive quality control coach for the team formerly known as the Washington Redskins (2014-2016), and as the cornerback's coach of the Los Angeles Rams (2017-2020).

Safeties: Brian Duker - The Detroit Lions decided to promote Brian Duker from defensive assistant coach to safeties coach this offseason. Prior to joining the Lions in 2021, Duker had worked in a variety of roles on the defensive side of the ball for the Cleveland Browns (2015), San Francisco 49ers (2016), and Baltimore Ravens (2018-2020).

Enjoy this series? Be sure to check out all of the other 'Coaching Matters' team previews!

AFC North: Cleveland Browns, Pittsburgh Steelers, Baltimore Ravens, Cincinnati Bengals

AFC South: Houston Texans, Jacksonville Jaguars, Tennessee Titans, Indianapolis Colts

AFC West: Kansas City Chiefs, Denver Broncos, Los Angeles Chargers, Las Vegas Raiders

AFC East: Miami Dolphins, Buffalo Bills, New England Patriots, New York Jets

NFC North: Chicago Bears and Green Bay Packers

Follow Eli Grabanski on Twitter: @3li_handles

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