Jared Goff has "watched a ton" of the Cardinals offense from the past few seasons and gone back and forth with Drew Petzing since Petzing was hired last month as the Lions' new offensive coordinator.
"Been on the phone with him and gone through some things. He’s very smart, very bright," Goff told reporters Monday at the Pro Bowl. "Can speak it, can say it, understands what I’m talking about. Really excited."
Dan Campbell and the Lions are hoping that Petzing will reinvigorate an offense that finished fourth in the NFL in scoring this season but struggled to find a flow from drive to drive and game to game.
The Lions tried to run back the offense they had under Ben Johnson by hiring a coordinator in John Morton who was familiar with the system and most of the key players, but Morton didn't show the same flexibility or savvy on game days as his predecessor. He also didn't have the benefit of an elite offensive line.
Goff said that everyone he's spoken to regarding Petzing gave "glowing" reviews, "in particular quarterbacks who have played for him." That includes Jacoby Brissett, who put up career-best numbers this season when he took over for the injured Kyler Murray as the Cardinals' starting quarterback, the sign of a coordinator who was able to reshape his offense on the fly.
"I think the thing that excites me the most is going to be his versatility," said Goff, via the Free Press. "He's not tied to an offense. We're going to kind of run what we're best at and what we should be doing, which, some of the stuff we've done the last few years, that's worked.
"And then I think he's got the right personality and demeanor and teaching ability, and most importantly, his intelligence and mental dexterity, for lack of a better word, to be able to kind of handle not only the complexities of what we're going to try to do, but, like, getting the ball to guys. That’s the hardest part of our offense. We’ve got so many mouths to feed and being able to spread it around in an efficient way."
Morton admitted that he "failed" Jameson Williams in the first half of this season when the star receiver was misused in the passing game, before Campbell took over as play-caller and instantly sparked Williams' season. Both Morton and Campbell also had a hard time finding touches for running back David Montgomery to the point that Montgomery might be seeking a new team next season.
From last season to this season, the Lions plunged from fourth in the NFL to 20th on third down, from seventh to 15th on fourth down and from third to eighth in the red zone. The rushing attack was the biggest culprit.
The Cardinals, meanwhile, had one of the top rushing attacks in the league from 2023 to 2024 when their offense under Petzing was mostly healthy. A steadier ground game will only help Goff, who still finished third in the league in passer rating (105.5) this season despite a leaky offensive line and a coordinator who was stripped of play-calling duties midway through the year.
Goff said that he "was in communication" with Campbell and Brad Holmes and others on the Lions' staff as they went through the interview process with various candidates and ultimately landed on Petzing. He called the 38-year-old, who ran the Cardinals offense for three seasons, a "home run hire."
"I think he speaks every language, and that's kind of the good thing," Goff said. "He understands what we're saying from a pass-game standpoint and how we want to do things, and how he wants to do things. By no means is he going to be running our stuff. We're running his offense, but there's going to be a certainly a blend of what I like, what he likes, what Saint likes, what Jamo [Jameson Williams] likes, and everybody."