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One of the first coordinators to be hired this cycle was not a particularly hot name on the market. Everyone and their mother wants former Miami Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel to call offensive plays for their team next year, but that enthusiasm never built around Drew Petzing, who, like head coach Jonathan Gannon, was fired from the Arizona Cardinals after this season.
Petzing is a 38-year-old who had the offensive coordinator title for the Cardinals before signing with the Lions today. Before then, he had worked with Kevin Stefanski with both the Minnesota Vikings and the Cleveland Browns.
Here are some key stats from Petzing’s time in Arizona (the higher ranked, the better for all stats).
In general, the Cardinals threw a lot of short passes and avoided interceptions at a slightly above-average rate, but were only more efficient (ANY/A) than the Browns, Jets, Raiders, Panthers, Titans, Giants and Bears through the air under Petzing’s leadership in Arizona. Certainly nothing to write home about.
By far, the best stat on Petzing’s resume is his rushing yards per attempt number. With that being said, though, that also deserves some context. Quarterback Kyler Murray, a former first overall pick, ran the ball 151 times for 989 yards and a 6.5 yards per carry mark under Petzing. That’s substantially higher than the only running back who got more carries than Murray during Petzing’s time in Arizona (James Conner, 4.7) and the first back below Murray’s rush attempts (Michael Carter, 4.1).
When you just count running back carries, here’s what the NFL yards per carry averages have looked like since 2023:
This hiring, to me, signals that finding ways to run the football is the trait that the Lions looked for the most out of a potential offensive coordinator candidate. Petzing’s backs have put up good production, but there was still always the threat that mobile quarterback Kyler Murray could have pulled the ball on any play, something that won’t be a factor when Jared Goff is under center...
