It seems everyone in the NFL-world agrees that current Detroit Lions offensive Coordinator Ben Johnson is, by all accounts, set to be the next head coach for the Las Vegas Raiders. Well, almost everyone. While most believe this to be the case, one NFL insider isn’t convinced; not yet, anyway.
ESPN’s Adam Schefter took to the Pat McAfee Show on Friday to give his thoughts on the pairing that seems certain in Sin City.
“I know everyone’s got Ben Johnson anointed to the Raiders.. I’m not in that camp right now,” Schefter told McAfee. “I’m not going to believe it until I see it.”
Here’s my question. I don’t know where he’s going to go. He’s going to have, I think, three realistic options. But why is everyone ignoring Chicago when it comes to Ben Johnson?”
While McAfee reasons it’s likely because the Bears organization is thought to be “shite,” which may be true for some, there’s a more well-thought out answer to that question. Their signal caller Caleb Williams isn’t at all the type of quarterback that fits the mold Johnson prefers his quarterbacks to be made from.
While Williams is unquestionably an extraordinary talent, one thing he isn’t is a quarterback who plays “on schedule”; staying in his designated lane as opposed to venturing out and doing his own thing.
And, in truth, Williams shouldn’t be subjected to such a system. Not only would this highlight his weaknesses, but it would actively drown out the fantastic talent he does have, forcing him to stay in a lane that his talent well exceeds.
Ben Johnson’s scheme requires a quarterback who’s proficient in staying on time and on schedule. That simply isn’t Caleb Williams’ game.
Adam Schefter isn’t on the “Las Vegas Raiders and Ben Johnson” train
Overall, Schefter doesn’t mean to say he believes Johnson won’t end up as the head coach in Sin City. Only, he can’t come to understand why there’s a belief the Raiders are the only team that have a chance to land Detroit’s offensive guru.
To Schefter’s point, it’s hard to believe Johnson wouldn’t, at the very least, be curious as to what’s going on in Jacksonville.
Two notable running backs grace the Jacksonville Jaguars’ roster. For a play-caller who called 500+ running plays both in 2023 and 2024, making the Detroit Lions join the Philadelphia Eagles and Baltimore Ravens as the only three clubs to do this, you can bet establishing the run is important to Johnson. That is, after all, why Detroit gave him Jahmyr Gibbs with the 12th-overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft.
And while the duo of Travis Etienne and Tank Bigsby is no Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery, they’re much closer to the two than anything the Bears and Raiders currently offer.
Beyond that, Brian Thomar Jr. gives the Jaguars a premier wide-out for years to come. Don’t forget Evan Engram, either, who recorded the second-most single-season catches by a tight end in league history in 2023. However, Jacksonville’s quarterback Trevor Lawrence is cut from the same cloth as Caleb Williams. That may be a turnoff for Johnson.
There’s also the Commanders ordeal.
Last year, Johnson was in talks with Washington to be their next head coach starting in 2024. However, the 38-year-old backed out before he committed.
Schefter is unsure why Johnson would turn down the Washington Commanders job, which came equipped with the second-overall pick and therefore his choice of either Heisman winner Jayden Daniels or Drake Maye, to take over a 4-13 football team.
That, too, has an explanation.
Johnson and the Washington Commanders
Johnson has been waiting for the situation that he feels is right to him. He knows he has options, and he plans to take full advantage of that.
“When we’re talking about picking situations.. If you’re picking the Raiders, you’re telling me that Ben Johnson turned down the chance to go coach Jayden Daniels last year, turned that down, so he could go to a place this year in Las Vegas without a top pick, without a quarterback, that plays in a division with Patrick Mahomes, Justin Herbert, Bo Nix, Andy Reid, Jim Harbaugh, Sean Payton. Does that make sense to you?”
Well, actually, yes.
Per Schefter’s own colleague, ESPN’s Jenna Laine, Johnson didn’t feel the connection between himself and Washington’s ownership.
“Was told that Ben Johnson was ‘turned off’ by Commanders ownership,” Laine wrote. “That they’re ‘basketball guys’ and felt they were a little too confident in their football opinions.”
While it’s certainly true that the Commanders are made up of what one may consider “basketball guys,” being their acting-owner Josh Harris is also in charge of the Philadelphia 76ers in addition to Los Angeles Lakers legend Magic Johnson being an actively-contributing minority owner of Washington’s football team, it’s an explanation that more-likely means there was a difference of opinion somewhere rather than Johnson frowning on those involved with basketball.
More than that, Johnson was open about wanting to experience the playoffs again. Not only did he want to continue what he started in Detroit, referring to his situation as “unfinished business,” but the Lions’ play-caller wanted to continue winning in the playoffs.
The Commanders not only made the playoffs this season, but also won a game. Still, there’s no possible way Johnson could’ve known that; he knew his Detroit team would, though.
In the end..
The AFC West isn’t an easy division, to say the least, but it’s nothing Johnson isn’t currently dealing with, and triumphing over. Just as three AFC West teams made this year’s postseason, three NFC North clubs did as well. More than that, the team with the third-best record in the entire NFL this season plays in Johnson’s division.
A tough division is not only no concern for the six-year Detroit coach, but it’s now the norm for him.
Schefter’s skepticism is fair, but there does seem to be rather easy explanations for most of his concerns. In any case, it proves that Ben Johnson and the Las Vegas Raiders are, at this moment, by no means a sure thing.
*Top Photo: Daniel Bartel/Imagn Images
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