The real ramp-up to the 2026 NFL season is nearly here. On Saturday, Detroit Lions rookies will report to training camp and then Lions veterans will arrive the following Tuesday on July 28.
With just 10 days until the Lions' training camp fan schedule begins on Sunday, Aug. 2, it's a good time to recap the offseason that was. That goes for fans that have bled every Honolulu blue second of it, and it goes for Lions fans that are looking to get back up to speed on everything they might have missed.
Let's start this 10-part series by taking a look at one of the new, key figures in the Motor City: first-year offensive coordinator Drew Petzing.
The Detroit Lions hired Drew Petzing as its new offensive coordinator
A quick look at the Lions' offensive numbers from the 2025 season looks good:
- Scoring offense: 28.3 points per game (ranked tied-4th in the NFL)
- Total offense: 373.2 yards per game (ranked 5th)
- Passing offense: 253.1 passing yards per game (ranked 3rd)
- Rushing offense: 120.1 rushing yards per game (ranked 14th)
By most accounts, it was a successful
offensive season statistically for the Lions. But, compared to its 2024 output, it was a step backwards by Detroit. The Lions were the NFL's top scoring offense under then-offensive coordinator Ben Johnson in 2024, averaging 33.2 points per game. Detroit also ranked second in total offense in 2024, averaging 409.5 yards of total offense per game.
But, the biggest discrepancy came in the run game. The Lions ranked sixth in rushing offense in 2024, putting up 146.4 rushing yards per game. Detroit obviously sunk to 14th and 120.1 rushing yards per game last season. Notably, star running back Jahmyr Gibbs saw his yards per carry average drop from 5.6 in 2024 to 5.0 in 2025.
There's some important context to those numbers. Frank Ragnow's surprise retirement in June of 2025 threw a wrench into the Lions' plans up front and, ultimately, into its offensive outlook entirely.
Something felt amiss with the Lions' offense in key moments last season. Detroit stripped offensive coordinator John Morton of play-calling duties just eight games into last season and then announced Morton's firing shortly after the 2025 campaign concluded.
That sparked a nearly two-week coaching search that ended with the Lions hiring Drew Petzing as its new OC.
Key Drew Petzing numbers of note
Petzing, 39, arrives in Detroit after a three-year stint as the Arizona Cardinals' offensive coordinator.
Recognized for his success in the run game and for his development of two-time Pro Bowl tight end Trey McBride, here's several key statistics from Petzing's Cardinals stint:
- Arizona ranked second in the NFL in rushing average (4.92) and ninth in rushing yards (6,399) during his three seasons leading the Cardinals' offense
- Trey McBride was named a first-team All-Pro in 2025 after leading all NFL tight ends in receptions (126). McBride's 126 receptions established a single-season NFL record among tight ends while his 1,239 receiving yards were the 11th-most in a season by a tight end in NFL history.
- In 2024, the Cardinals rushed for 2,451 yards and 18 touchdowns with a 5.3 yards per carry average. The rushing yards were the third most in Cardinals team history and the highest total since 1979. Arizona's 5.3 yards per carry average was the highest in team history.
- Arizona was one of only two teams in the NFL to average better than 5.0 yards per carry in both 2023 and 2024.
Petzing inherits one of the league's top offenses with an established quarterback in Jared Goff, star receivers in Amon-Ra St. Brown and Jameson Williams, arguably the best running back in Jahmyr Gibbs and an elite tight end in Sam LaPorta.
"When you listen to him and you sit down with him, and you listen to him talk, he understands quarterback play. He understands tight end. He understands O-line. He understands receivers. He's coached all of those. He can coach it from the ground up -- all of it.
"That gives the staff good direction, 'Here is what I want to do. How I want to do it. And what I want it to look like.' He's that point person, man. And what I would tell you, he's the same guy every day. It's unbelievable," Lions head coach Dan Campbell said of Petzing during OTAs.
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This article originally appeared on Lions Wire: Lions training camp primer: Detroit finds its new OC in Drew Petzing
