Upon leaving for Chicago, former Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson noted that the "runway has been built" in Detroit. New OC John Morton believes his familiarity will help foster that clear runway.
An Auburn Hills, Michigan native, Morton spent a year in Detroit as a senior offensive assistant in 2022 before leaving to join Sean Payton in Denver the past two years.
Morton told Fox 2 Detroit's Dan Miller on Monday that his previous work with Jared Goff will inform how he plans to install the offense.
"I think it's big because it all starts with the quarterback," Morton said. "Just kind of knowing him -- and when I was here, I was in the quarterback room. So, I have a feel of what he likes, what he doesn't. That's important as a play-caller. We'll continue here when the players come back and stuff, so I'll get to know more about him and the plays that he really likes a lot and what they've been doing good here."
Morton reiterated that the offense will be "predicated" on the quarterback, just as when Johnson ran the ship. The 55-year-old coordinator harkened back to his days in New Orleans with Drew Brees, citing that building an offense around the future Hall of Fame quarterback keyed its consistency.
Morton called plays as the New York Jets offense coordinator in 2017 under Todd Bowles but was fired after one season. He's been in non-play-calling roles for the past six seasons. Morton confirmed he'd call plays but reiterated that the key would be continuing the familiarity and getting the "players' input" in the scheme.
"They've already established a philosophy here," he said. "It's just my job to continue the vision of how (coach) Dan (Campbell) wants things. We'll tinker with things here and there, and we'll see how we can make it better."
Morton takes over the No. 1 scoring offense and one of the most creative schemes in the NFL. The new OC has said all the right things since returning to Detroit, but we won't know precisely how his play-calling and scheme will differ from Johnson's until the fire of the regular season begins.
