When we last saw Darrell Bevell, he was closing out his run (as an offensive coordinator) in Seattle with a pair of subpar years. Pete Carroll didn’t like that they weren’t running the ball often enough or effectively enough, so he fired him (and also canned offensive line coach Tom Cable). Now the Lions are dusting him off and handing him the keys to their offense.
Both of Bevell’s last two offenses in Seattle ranked in the bottom 10 in rushing. While he sat out the 2018 season, Brian Schottenheimer took over as the Seahawks offensive coordinator and installed a more run-centric offense (the Seahawks ranked 1st in rushing but just 25th in passing).
Now Bevell is tasked with orchestrating Detroit’s offense. He’s replacing Jim Bob Cooter.
While Bevell’s last two teams have been more effective passing the ball, the larger body of work indicates he’s a more balanced play caller.
Prior to those last two seasons in Seattle, Bevell had been an offensive coordinator for 10 NFL teams (five seasons with the Seahawks, and five with the Vikings). Using standard fantasy scoring, 80 percent of those teams (including 8 of the last 9) ranked in the top 10 in rushing production. Yet all but two of those teams ranked below-average in passing production.
Some chance, I think, that Kerryon Johnson (pictured) gets plenty of carries and emerges as a top-10 running back. He was effective at times as a rookie before missing the last six games.
I am not as optimistic about the chances of Matthew Stafford re-emerging as a top-10 quarterback.
| DARRELL BEVELL OFFENSES | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Team | Win | Points | Rk |
| 2006 | Minnesota Vikings | 6-10 | 282 | 26 |
| 2007 | Minnesota Vikings | 8-8 | 365 | 15 |
| 2008 | Minnesota Vikings | 10-6 | 379 | 12 |
| 2009 | Minnesota Vikings | 12-4 | 470 | 2 |
| 2010 | Minnesota Vikings | 6-10 | 281 | 29 |
| 2011 | Seattle Seahawks | 7-9 | 321 | 23 |
| 2012 | Seattle Seahawks | 11-5 | 412 | 9 |
| 2013 | Seattle Seahawks | 13-3 | 417 | 8 |
| 2014 | Seattle Seahawks | 12-4 | 394 | 10 |
| 2015 | Seattle Seahawks | 10-6 | 423 | 4 |
| 2016 | Seattle Seahawks | 10-5-1 | 354 | 18 |
| 2017 | Seattle Seahawks | 9-7 | 366 | 11 |
| DARRELL BEVELL RUSHING | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Team | Att | Yds | Avg | TD | Points | Rk |
| 2006 | Minnesota Vikings | 442 | 1,820 | 4.1 | 12 | 254.0 | 19 |
| 2007 | Minnesota Vikings | 494 | 2,634 | 5.3 | 22 | 395.4 | 1 |
| 2008 | Minnesota Vikings | 519 | 2,332 | 4.5 | 15 | 323.2 | 7 |
| 2009 | Minnesota Vikings | 467 | 1,918 | 4.1 | 19 | 305.8 | 10 |
| 2010 | Minnesota Vikings | 441 | 1,942 | 4.4 | 16 | 290.2 | 9 |
| 2011 | Seattle Seahawks | 444 | 1,756 | 4.0 | 15 | 265.6 | 14 |
| 2012 | Seattle Seahawks | 536 | 2,579 | 4.8 | 16 | 353.9 | 4 |
| 2013 | Seattle Seahawks | 509 | 2,188 | 4.3 | 14 | 302.8 | 8 |
| 2014 | Seattle Seahawks | 525 | 2,762 | 5.3 | 20 | 396.2 | 1 |
| 2015 | Seattle Seahawks | 500 | 2,268 | 4.5 | 10 | 286.8 | 9 |
| 2016 | Seattle Seahawks | 403 | 1,591 | 3.9 | 13 | 237.1 | 20 |
| 2017 | Seattle Seahawks | 409 | 1,629 | 4.0 | 4 | 186.9 | 28 |
| DARRELL BEVELL PASSING | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Team | Pct | Yds | TD | Int | Sck | Pts |
| 2006 | Minnesota Vikings | 61% | 3,402 | 13 | 20 | 43 | 418.2 |
| 2007 | Minnesota Vikings | 58% | 2,938 | 12 | 14 | 38 | 365.8 |
| 2008 | Minnesota Vikings | 59% | 3,217 | 22 | 17 | 43 | 453.7 |
| 2009 | Minnesota Vikings | 68% | 4,403 | 34 | 7 | 34 | 644.3 |
| 2010 | Minnesota Vikings | 60% | 3,327 | 14 | 26 | 36 | 416.7 |
| 2011 | Seattle Seahawks | 59% | 3,444 | 15 | 14 | 50 | 434.4 |
| 2012 | Seattle Seahawks | 64% | 3,234 | 27 | 10 | 33 | 485.4 |
| 2013 | Seattle Seahawks | 64% | 3,508 | 27 | 9 | 44 | 512.8 |
| 2014 | Seattle Seahawks | 63% | 3,250 | 20 | 7 | 42 | 445.0 |
| 2015 | Seattle Seahawks | 68% | 4,061 | 34 | 8 | 46 | 610.1 |
| 2016 | Seattle Seahawks | 65% | 4,422 | 23 | 12 | 42 | 580.2 |
| 2017 | Seattle Seahawks | 61% | 3,979 | 34 | 12 | 43 | 601.9 |
—Ian Allan