Lions notes: Former NFL quarterback says Darrell Bevell often called the ‘perfect play’

It’s now been over 24 hours since the Detroit Lions named former Seahawks offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell as their next play-caller on offense. In the mad scramble for information, we asked our friends at Seahawks blog Field Gulls what they think, we’ve investigated Bevell based on his quotes from the past 10 years, and we’ve looked at his statistics and made our own analysis.

Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press took things one step further by talking to some former NFL players that played under Bevell. Speaking to quarterbacks Sage Rosenfels (worked under Bevell in 2009 with the Vikings) and Tarvaris Jackson (2006-10 with the Vikings; 2011, 2013-15 with the Seahawks), Birkett got a unique look at the Lions’ new offensive coordinator by some of the players that know him most.

“He’s going to be very quarterback friendly,” Jackson said. “Whatever you’re comfortable with, he’s going to make sure you get.”

That’s sure to be good news for Matthew Stafford, who just lost Jim Bob Cooter—a coach Stafford has constantly backed and trusted.

But while we’ve heard plenty about Bevell’s scheme and affinity to run, we’ve heard very little about his ability to call plays... well, except for that one play. However, Rosenfels remembers Bevell often coming up with the exact right call for the situation.

|I felt like when Bevell was calling plays that year and it would come through my headset, I was like, ‘Oh, that’s the perfect call,’” Rosenfels said. |I remember many, many times that year thinking that, that he found that play on his call sheet and it jumped out at me that it was sort of the perfect play to call in that situation.”

• Don Muhlbach made the Pro Bowl, so the Detroit Lions did what any good social media manager would: MADE LONG SNAPPER HIGHLIGHTS:

• How will the hiring of Darrell Bevell change their offseason needs? Erik Schlitt of Lions Wire looked at Bevell’s personnel tendencies to see what positions may be a priority in free agency and the draft.

• In case you forgot, Damon Harrison Sr. is a run defense wizard and Pro Football Focus wants to make sure you never forget it:

• Will Birchfield of 97.1 The Ticket has an interesting theory on the Bevell hire. Are the Lions tailoring their offense around their best offensive player now? And is their best player no longer Matthew Stafford?

• Darius Slay has been making the basketball rounds this week, and on Wednesday he stopped by Little Caesars Arena to watch the Pistons. Blake Griffin was nice enough to take part in a jersey swap after the game:

• The Athletic’s Chris Burke has a deep dive on the Bevell hire and pulls out this very interesting nugget comparing Stafford and Russell Wilson from 2012 to 2017:

|Only in 2017 did Stafford play more aggressively downfield than his Seattle counterpart.”