Detroit

Lions

Skipper spent time on the Cowboys, Broncos, Patriots, Raiders and Colts’ practice squads after entering the NFL as an undrafted free agent in 2017. He was signed to the Texans’ active roster in 2019 before signing on with the Lions later that year. Although he bounced between the Lions’ active roster and other practice squads after that, the six-plus seasons spent on the Lions’ active roster ultimately define his career. He caught a nine-yard touchdown pass against the Bills in Week 15, 2024. He is reportedly volunteering as an offensive line coach at this year’s East-West Shrine Bowl.

Specifically, Petzing ran with much heavier personnel than the Lions are used to seeing and have run a lot of 13-personnel (three tight ends, one running back) since 2023. We doubt the Lions will go quite that big quite that often — that means one of Jameson Williams or Amon-Ra St. Brown is off the field — but we do think that Trey McBride’s success under Petzing generally augurs well for LaPorta in 2026. Of course, given that LaPorta (back) seems questionable for training camp after surgery, we don’t exactly know that the Lions will be able to pull this off. LaPorta seems like a boom-bust pick in Best Ball drafts from where we sit in January.

It was truly a storied courtship as the Lions ... never were directly reported to have interviewed Petzing. We’re not sure who Petzing’s agent is, but he needs to put in some work with the #sources next go around. It’s possible that Kevin Stefanski’s elevation to Falcons head coach hurried this hire along, as Petzing coached under Stefanski in Cleveland and would have been a potential offensive coordinator candidate for the Falcons as well. Petzing did not exactly oversee a complex and exciting offense in Arizona as both Kyler Murray and Marvin Harrison Jr. flatlined, though he did oversee the renaissance of the Jacoby Brissett Pass Yards Machine as well. We’re surprised this is the direction the Lions went, but as long as Dan Campbell is overseeing things, it’s hard to drastically downgrade the Lions skill position players for fantasy purposes.

The Dolphins were the first team to interview Sheppard this coaching cycle. The first-year defensive coordinator saw his defense rank 22nd in points allowed and 18th in yards allowed in his first year at the helm, but the Lions again dealt with several injuries on the defensive side of the ball.

The news comes from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Gerry Dulac, who notes that Smith “will also interview with the Detroit Lions to be their offensive coordinator.” The implication seems to be that Smith will speak to the Lions on Friday as well.

The Buccaneers, Eagles, Lions and Chargers are interested in hiring McDaniel for their offensive coordinator vacancies. ESPN’s Jeff Darlington notes that the Eagles, Lions and Chargers are all run by offensive-minded head coaches. Buccaneers head coach Todd Bowles previously held defensive coordinator roles with the Buccaneers (2019-2021), Cardinals (2013-2014) and Eagles (2012). He allows his offensive coordinators “full autonomy of the offense,” which could appeal to a former head coach like McDaniel, who may wish to avoid butting heads with an offensive-minded head coach over scheme and staff.

The Lions are in need of a new OC after firing John Morton. Morton lasted one season on the job and was stripped of play-calling duties late in the year. Head coach Dan Campbell took over that responsibility from Week 10 onward. The offense got more aggressive under Campebll but wasn’t that much more successful. Campbell is expected to give over play-calling duties to his next coordinator. Smith would likely get a lot out of Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery, but his history of run-first football would not bode well for Jared Goff and the rest of the passing attack. For a team chasing the loss of offensive guru Ben Johnson, Smith would be a markedly underwhelming hire.

Robinson is from the Sean McVay coaching tree and has spent the last two seasons as the Falcons’ offensive coordinator. Though the mixture of Michael Penix Jr. and Kirk Cousins at quarterback did not work out, Robinson got productive seasons out of Drake London and Kyle Pitts to go along with a dual All-Pro 2025 season from Bijan Robinson. The Lions are continuing to look for a new offensive coordinator and Robinson has some history with Jared Goff from their days with the Rams.

Sheppard’s unit played pretty well in his first season as defensive coordinator despite injuries hitting the unit hard. The Lions finished fifth in defensive DVOA and there was almost no dropoff from Aaron Glenn leaving for the Jets. Sheppard, 38, could be a name that picks up some more buzz before this hiring cycle is over.

Kafka also has an interview scheduled with the Lions for their offensive coordinator vacancy. The Giants offense struggled for most of last year, though they did use three quarterbacks including rookie Jaxson Dart. Kafka never actually played with a full suite of options as Giants offensive coordinator and would be mildly interesting in a spot with better personnel. His roots with Andy Reid have led several reporters to conclude he might draw an interview there once the Chiefs moves on from Matt Nagy. (Or once Matt Nagy moves on from the Chiefs.)