Drew Petzing hasn’t called a single play for the Detroit Lions offense, but he’s already getting some praise from people inside the NFL.
On Wednesday, The Athletic dropped their top-10 offensive player caller rankings for the 2026 season. Their rankings are based the opinions of the people who have to go up against these playcallers: eight defensive play callers and assistant coaches from around the NFL.
While Petzing didn’t break the top-10 list, he was one of six coaches who got an honorable mention—sharing
such honors with coaches like Sean Payton, Kevin O’Connell, Todd Monken, and Joe Brady.
It’s not much, but it does show that Petzing built up a strong reputation over his last three seasons as the Arizona Cardinals’ offensive coordinator. During that time, Arizona’s offense ranked 24th, 12th, and 23rd in scoring, but Petzing was often praised for getting the most out of a mediocre-at-best offensive lineup. After his 2024 season, in which the Cardinals ranked 12th in scoring, 11th in offensive DVOA, and 10th in EPA/play, Petzing was getting some head coaching buzz. He even interviewed for the Chicago Bears’ job in 2025 before they opted to go with Ben Johnson.
Speaking of Johnson, the former Lions offensive coordinator came in at No. 3 on this year’s list. Elsewhere in the division, Packers head coach Matt LaFleur came in at fourth.
You can see the entire list of the top offensive playcallers here.
- Over on The Feed, 1951LION got the news he was hoping for on Jackson Meeks, a player they’re super hopeful about.
- Want more Lions training camp coverage? Check out Day 1 observations from: The Detroit News, Freep, ESPN, The Athletic, DetroitLions.com, and Detroit Football Network.
- You can also check out all the media scrums from Day 1 over on the Lions’ YouTube page. Featured on Wednesday: Sam LaPorta, Derrick Barnes, Rock Ya-Sin, and Blake Miller:
- Shout out to Lions legend Kevin Glover, who was voted into the Michigan Sports Hall of Fame!
- David Montgomery wants Jahmyr Gibbs to get paid:
