{"id":41165,"date":"2026-01-07T15:29:19","date_gmt":"2026-01-07T15:29:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=41165"},"modified":"2026-01-07T15:29:19","modified_gmt":"2026-01-07T15:29:19","slug":"lions-eyeing-former-qb-as-next-offensive-coordinator-report","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=41165","title":{"rendered":"Lions Eyeing Former QB As Next Offensive Coordinator: Report"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"post-featured-container-id\">\n<div id=\"post-featured\">\n<figure><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/GettyImages-2244647474-e1767798818650.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=780\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 820px) 95vw, 780px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/GettyImages-2244647474-e1767798818650.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=780 780w, https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/GettyImages-2244647474-e1767798818650.jpg?quality=15&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1100 1100w, https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/GettyImages-2244647474-e1767798818650.jpg?quality=35&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1350 1350w\" alt=\"Lions Eyeing Former QB As Next Offensive Coordinator: Report\" width=\"780\" height=\"437\" \/><\/figure>\n<div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Could a familiar face be heading to Detroit to coordinate the offense?<\/p>\n<p>Not hours after the Lions fired offensive coordinator John Morton, NFL Network insider Ian Rapoport called former Lions quarterback David Blough\u00a0\u201ca sneaky hot name\u201d to watch.<\/p>\n<p>In college, Blough was a record-setting passer at Purdue. He finished his college career second in Boilermaker history with 69 TD passes, just behind future Hall of Fame QB Drew Brees. He also finished 4th overall in school history in career passing yards (9,734) and 6th in single-season passing yards (3,705, which he did as a senior in 2018).<\/p>\n<p>Blough entered the league in 2019 as an undrafted rookie with the Cleveland Browns, and was traded to Detroit at the end of the preseason in a deal that included a swap of seventh-round picks. Injuries pushed him into action quickly. He made his first NFL start on Thanksgiving in 2019 and finished that season as Detroit\u2019s starter for the final stretch, going 0-5 in his five starts.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2>More on Former Lions QB David Blough as a Possible Candidate for Detroit\u2019s Next DC<\/h2>\n<p>In his three years with the Lions, Blough appeared in seven games (five starts) and completed 100-of-184 passes for 1,033 yards and four touchdowns, while also adding 55 rushing yards and a TD catch. Over his full NFL career, (he also spent a lone season in Arizona with the Cardinals in 2022), he played in nine games, finishing with 138 completions, 1,435 passing yards, six touchdowns and nine interceptions.<\/p>\n<p>Blough never lit the field on fire as a starter \u2014 or as a backup \u2014 in the NFL, but while his numbers weren\u2019t great, he still impressed some very important people.<\/p>\n<p>Current Lions coach Dan Campbell praised his football IQ back in 2023, calling him \u201ca smart football player\u201d who has \u201cseen it.\u201d Considering Campbell knows Blough personally and has spoken highly of the former QB\u2019s football acumen before, he looks to be an intriguing possibility right out of the gate.<\/p>\n<p>After his playing days wound down, Blough moved immediately into coaching with Washington, joining Dan Quinn\u2019s staff as an assistant quarterbacks coach in 2024. He had that role again this season, and he also gained added responsibility late in the year as an interim QBs coach. His coaching experience isn\u2019t vast, and at 30, he\u2019d become one of the youngest OCs in the NFL.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2>Lions Offense Took a Bit of a Dip in 2025<\/h2>\n<div id=\"attachment_3199886\">\n<figure><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/GettyImages-1190728847-e1623412403204.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=782\" alt=\"Lions Eyeing Former QB As Next Offensive Coordinator: Report\" width=\"782\" height=\"440\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-3199886\" data-lazy-load=\"\" \/><\/figure>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-3199886\">GettyEx-QB David Blough is a candidate for the Detroit Lions vacant OC position, according to Ian Rapoport.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Detroit\u2019s offense slipped a bit from 2024 to 2025. In 2024, Ben Johnson\u2019s unit was the league\u2019s top-scoring attack, scoring 33.1 points per game. Johnson left to coach the Bears, and it\u2019s fair to say the Lions miss his creativity and big plays.<\/p>\n<p>In 2025, the offense was still productive, but not as sharp. They finished tied for fourth in scoring and fifth in total offense, yet missed the playoffs, and Morton was stripped of play-calling duties during the year with Campbell taking over. The points dipped, with the offense scoring 28.3 points per game, nearly 5 points per game off the prior season.<\/p>\n<p>The team\u2019s run game also was a tad less dynamic. Detroit averaged 149.4 rushing yards per game in 2024, then fell to 120.1 in 2025, which ranked 14th.<\/p>\n<p>Thus, the next coordinator\u2014whether that ends up being Blough or someone else \u2014 will have a solid foundation to work with. It\u2019ll be interesting to see how serious Campbell and company are about bringing him on.<\/p>\n<p>Beth Mishler-Elmore Beth Mishler-Elmore is a Heavy sports contributor based in the Midwest, focusing on the NFL, NBA and WNBA. More about Beth Mishler-Elmore<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Could David Blough be the next offensive coordinator for the Detroit Lions? Discover his impressive college stats and background.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":41167,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-41165","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-detroit-lions"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Lions Eyeing Former QB As Next Offensive Coordinator: Report - Breaking News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=41165\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Lions Eyeing Former QB As Next Offensive Coordinator: Report - Breaking News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Could David Blough be the next offensive coordinator for the Detroit Lions? 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