Good news, Baker & Bucky: Coen is Staying ☀️

Make sure to stay tuned later on today for the latest episode of the Upper Hand Fantasy Podcast! Faraz and Zach preview next week’s senior bowl and look back at some of the most notably running backs in terms of efficiency from 2023!

Ben Johnson was hired as the Bears’ new head coach, and Faraz has some thoughts on the Lions moving into 2025 without their chief mastermind on offense. Check it out here!

• Patriots hire former OC and Raiders HC Josh McDaniels to serve as the team’s offensive coordinator

  • New England and their new head coach Mike Vrabel turn to a familiar face in McDaniels to take up the task of developing Drake Maye in his sophomore year in the NFL. It’s not exactly a slam-dunk hire or an earth-shatteringly bad one, but it’s worth noting the familiarity that McDaniels has with the Patriots and the way things operate in New England. For what it’s worth, McDaniels oversaw an offense that ranked top-4 in points for 7 straight seasons with the Patriots from 2012 to 2018 – although we all know that having Tom Brady at quarterback certainly went a long way in making that happen. Fortunately, he has possibly the best quarterback in the fold he’s had since his days with Brady in Drake Maye, and if the Patriots are able to bring in some talent around him, New England could field an intriguing offense for fantasy in 2025. One thing is clear with this hire, however – it’s an upgrade from the previous situation and coaching staff, and fantasy managers should trust McDaniels more than Alex Van Pelt to unlock the full potential of Maye. Maye was already a solid QB2 start this past year despite playing behind a slipshod offensive line with few viable weapons in the receiving game, so any upgrade in his situation could push him into QB1 consideration if he can avoid a sophomore slump.

• Buccaneers OC Liam Coen withdraws from consideration for Jaguars head coaching job, signs extension with Tampa Bay

  • Not surprisingly, the Jaguars moved on from GM Trent Baalke shortly after watching both of this year’s top head coaching candidates (Ben Johnson and Aaron Glenn) land elsewhere and seeing Coen withdraw himself from consideration for job in Jacksonville. Can you blame Coen for sticking around in Tampa Bay, though? Who would want to take on a project like Trevor Lawrence when you have Baker Mayfield at home (imagine telling that to somebody in 2021). All jokes aside, the search for a head coach rolls on in Jacksonville with Robert Saleh and Joe Brady emerging as the most notable names connected to the job. Meanwhile, Coen returns to the Buccaneers and an offense that performed at an exceptionally high level under his playcalling, highlighted by a massive 4500+ yard, 40+ TD season from Baker Mayfield. Coen signing a new extension with the team ensures that Baker Mayfield, Bucky Irving, and co. will be able to pick up in 2025 right where they left off in 2024, which is music to fantasy managers’ ears. Mayfield will have a solid chance at running things back as a top-10 QB in 2024, while Bucky Irving could be primed for a true breakout in a second year in Coen’s productive system.

• Cowboys hold first and second interviews with current OC Brian Schottenheimer for their vacant HC position

  • Not exactly fantastic news for fantasy managers or Cowboys fans alike, but this seems to have become the norm for offseasons in Dallas. Schottenheimer has been the Cowboys offensive coordinator for the past two seasons under Mike McCarthy, but was more of a figurehead as McCarthy handled the playcalling for the team as the head coach for the duration of Schotty’s tenure. Likewise, Schottenheimer has also served exclusively as an offensive coordinator for each of his 14 years in the NFL, producing and offense that ranked top-10 in points scored in four of his past five years coaching (2023 in Dallas, plus three seasons in Seattle from 2018-20). Just how much credit Schotty deserves for the number 1 ranked offense in points per game Dallas fielded in 2023 is up for debate, but outside of those three years in Seattle with Russell Wilson, Schottenheimer has coached just one other season with a top-10 scoring offense from the beginning of his career in 2006 to 2014 (2008 with the Jets). With no head coaching experience, it’s hard to say whether or not he would be a good fit in Dallas, but he does have the advantage of having been a part of the Cowboys for the past two years and is a coach that QB Dak Prescott would be familiar working with. However, there’s likely a better chance that the Cowboys offense looks closer to what we saw early this past season if Schotty is hired than the high-powered unit that led the league in scoring in 2023.

Good Call: Kyren Williams would be the guy in the Rams backfield, fend off Blake Corum

We were all over this one for the entire offseason, and mainly because Kyren Williams was not only a favorite of HC Sean McVay’s but also because he was one of the most efficient running backs in the league and had one of the few bell-cow roles in 2023. He finished as the overall RB7 on the season despite only starting 12 games, and finished the season red hot heading into his third year in 2024.

When the Rams drafted Michigan RB Blake Corum in the third round of the 2024 draft, though, a lot of people panicked about Williams’ status as the Rams’ unquestioned lead back. It was understandable: we had seen Cam Akers finish a season strong and follow it up as a massive disappointment the year after. But the truth of the matter was that Corum just wasn’t the same efficient RB that he was prior to his injury in college coming into the NFL, and he never played a role as anything besides a change-of-pace back to give Williams a breather. Williams ended up finishing as the RB7 once again in PPR, logging 356 touches, over 1400 yards, and 16 total touchdowns.

Next season, though, Williams’ role could change slightly given his inefficiency this season. As you’ll find out in the next few weeks, Williams wasn’t anywhere close to the efficient RB he was in 2023 this past season, and he ranked among the league’s worst in a few key metrics. If Corum gets healthier and takes advantage of opportunities over the offseason, Williams might not be a player we’re pounding the table for once again in 2025.

Bad Call: Anthony Richardson had overall QB1 upside, was worth targeting at his overall QB5 price

There’s an argument to be made that the Jets might have jumped the gun a bit when they originally benched Anthony Richardson for Joe Flacco early in 2024, but our worst fears with Richardson were certainly realized: despite being one of the most unique talents when it comes to running the football, Richardson was so bad in the passing game that it wound up affecting not only his fantasy production, but also his real-life claim to being a starting quarterback.

Don’t get it twisted: Richardson still has one of the best skillsets in the league and can very well be molded into a game-breaking fantasy quarterback. But he’s only completed more than 20 passes in a game just twice in his career. He’ll have to turn things around in the passing game (or at least bring it up to par) if he wants to have any shot of coming through as a fantasy QB1. The bottom line, though, is that Richardson was unable to come through this season, and a big part of that had to do with his struggles in the passing game.

His overall QB5 price seemed like a steal given that he was among the leagues’s in fantasy points per drop back in 2023, but between his benching, injuries, and downright questionable play at times, Richardson fell off the map as a viable fantasy starter. His price in drafts next season will undoubtedly be much lower, and that could open the door to extract some value.