While the majority of the 2024 Minnesota Vikings coaching staff is set to return for the 2025 season, the Detroit Lions have had to hire several new coaches recently following the departures of offensive coordinator Ben Johnson and defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn.
On Monday, The Athletic's Dianna Russini, Colton Pouncy, and RJ Kraft shared that the Lions are expected to hire John Morton as the team's new offensive coordinator. Morton spent the past two seasons as the passing game coordinator for the Denver Broncos and his only previous experience as an offensive coordinator was back in 2017 when he ran the offense for the New York Jets.
During that 2017 season with Morton calling the plays, the Jets offense ranked 24th in the NFL in points scored per drive, 22nd in expected points added, and 24th in offensive DVOA.
Minnesota Vikings coach very familiar with rumored new Detroit Lions offensive coordinator
When Morton was New York's offensive coordinator in 2017, his starting quarterback that season was Josh McCown, who is currently the quarterbacks coach for the Vikings. McCown's experience in Morton's offense could definitely come in handy during Minnesota's two battles with Detroit next season.
Morton only ended up lasting one year with the Jets before getting fired. Apparently, his departure had to reportedly do with being "too pass-reliant," multiple players being "unhappy with his play-calling," clashing with several members of New York's coaching staff, and an inability to "design and execute a consistent running game," according to ESPN's Rich Cimini.
Now, Morton was a senior offensive assistant for the Lions in 2022 when they finished the season ranked fourth in points scored per offensive drive, so he's definitely familiar with what Detroit's offense likes to run. But he wasn't the play-caller for that Lions team, and it's hard to believe that he's going to be a better play-caller than Johnson, who was like a mad scientist when it came to running Detroit's offense.
Will the Lions' offense still be good next season? Barring injuries, that seems likely. But is Detroit's offense going to be as unstoppable as they were in 2024? The chances of that happening don't seem as high with Morton now being expected to take over as the Lions' new play-caller.
Detroit's locker room isn't full of a bunch of shy introverts. If Lions players have any problems with how Morton runs the team's offense, they're not going to be quiet about it.
So, there is definitely an increased potential for disaster for Detroit next season based on who the team has reportedly selected to be its new offensive coordinator, and that could be just what the Vikings need to take back the NFC North crown in 2025.