Gene Clemons analyzes six NFL teams with a new combination of playcaller and player that will impact fantasy football during the 2025 season.

Every season players move around in free agency. Players are looking for a payday, the type of bag that could set their family up for generations to come. They often will not consider the fit. We immediately assume the production they had at their former team will be what they produce with their new squad and we are often wrong. 

Many times their production is not only based on the type of team they have around them, but the offensive coordinator and how the scheme actually fits their skill set. Other times the success of the player is simply based on how much the organization, the head coach, and the offensive coordinator believe in their abilities. Since the bulk of free agency has concluded, let's take an early look at some of the best matches of players and offensive coordinators for 2025.

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Najee Harris | RB | Chargers with Jim Harbaugh and Greg Roman

No running back in the NFL is happier to move on from their previous team than Najee Harris is to leave Pittsburgh. He's going from unimaginative subpar scheming and playcalling with the Steelers, to another team that is dedicated to running the ball but with a lot more creativity and with a much greater weapon at quarterback. 

The marriage between the Los Angeles Chargers and Harris could not be any better. The coaching staff loves bigger backs who understand how to press the hole, make one cut and get North and South. Harris will be playing with the chip on his shoulder looking to prove to the football world, especially the fantasy football world, that he is, in fact, not a bus but a product of a flawed offense. 

Nobody embraces the run game and its importance to team success like Jim Harbaugh and his right-hand man Greg Roman. Expect Harris to not only get the requisite carries to put him in consideration for RB1 status. He should see a much lighter box than he experienced in Pittsburgh thanks to the team's ability to pass consistently. He also has an offensive line full of first-round talent paving the way for him. 

DJ Moore | WR | Bears with Ben Johnson

The Bears have an emerging quarterback in Caleb Williams, who will be behind an improved offensive line when they open the 2025 season. The most important change is that former Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson has taken over as head coach of the team. With him comes one of the best offensive playcallers in the NFL. Johnson helped Amon-Ra St. Brown become one of the best receivers in the NFL and one of the best in fantasy. During Johnson's tenure as offensive coordinator with the Lions, St. Brown was one of the most targeted receivers in the league. Now Johnson inherits DJ Moore, a receiver who has banked over 90 receptions the past two seasons, but saw his yardage precipitously drop from his first season with the Bears to his second. Moore will embrace the St. Brown role in Johnson’s offense. With improved quarterback play from Williams in his second season and drastically improved offensive game planning, Moore could be poised for an even better season than his 2023 breakout year. That should make fantasy managers really excited. 

Brock Bowers | TE | Raiders with Chip Kelly

The best thing to come out of the Las Vegas Raiders hiring Pete Carroll is that Caroll was able to pry Chip Kelly away from Ohio State. Say what you want about Kelly as a head coach, but as an offensive coordinator he is one of the most innovative coaches of his time. Add to that Kelly has long been a proponent for using athletic tight ends to the best of their ability. It's not like Brock Bowers needed any more help being great, but he just received it. 

With Kelly, Bowers has an opportunity to not only be tops among tight ends, but he could produce the type of seasons that made Travis Kelce a first-round fantasy darling for many years. Kelly's offense thrives on an established run game, especially with the outside zone and he values getting the ball out of the hands of the quarterback quickly on short and intermediate passes. 

The tight end who can be a factor in the rushing attack—but also has movability and the athleticism to be a weapon in play action—can really thrive in Kelly's offense. That describes Bowers perfectly. When you factor in the addition of Geno Smith, who was fifth in the NFL with a 70.4% completion rate last season, it's all a recipe for Bowers to be out of this world in fantasy.

David Njoku | TE | Browns with OC Tommy Rees

David Njoku had a decent season in 2024 (64-505-5), but it was not like the 81 receptions, 882 yards and 6 touchdowns that he amassed in 2023. Many predicted a monster season from Njoku and were left rather unsatisfied with the results. He clearly has the talent to be a 1,000-yard, 10-touchdown performer at the position. 

Injuries early and late mixed with some quarterback inconsistencies during the season really hampered his ability to reach those numbers. It also seems that former offensive coordinator Ken Dorsey and head coach Kevin Stefanski never got on the same page about the offensive identity. 

In steps former Notre Dame and Alabama offensive coordinator Tommy Rees. Rees joined the Browns in 2024 as the tight ends coach and pass game specialist, and now he moves to OC. He has a relationship with Njoku and he comes from two programs that value utilizing the tight end in the offense. 

Rees will likely look to reestablish a more dominant rushing attack, which will open up the play-action passing windows more and Njoku should be the beneficiary of it. Also, look for him to get increased targets in the red zone and even close to the goal line. He may have the chance to eclipse those predicted numbers that he fell short of in 2024. 

Justin Fields | QB | Jets with OC Tanner Engstrand

Justin Fields is working on his third organization in only five seasons in the league. The reason is simple, the first two organizations did not believe in him and his abilities as a quarterback. In Chicago they first tried to turn him into a traditional pocket passer, working off timing throws and when that did not yield immediate success they unleashed his running ability. 

The next two seasons—as they changed coaches and coordinators consistently—never seemed to provide a clear-cut direction for Fields and it did not seem as if management was interested in finding one so they traded him to Pittsburgh. With the Steelers he started the season doing whatever was necessary to win, but they did not like the way he was winning games and turned the offense over to Russell Wilson. 

Through it all he has remained fantasy relevant. Last season he finished in the top 12 three of his six starts, and that included a Week 4 QB1 performance, finishing with 312 passing yards and 1 TD, adding 55 yards and 2 TDs on the ground. 

In 2023, he finished in the top 10 in six of his 12 full starts, including five top-5 performances. In 2022, he had nine top-10 performances and finished QB1 two weeks in a row. Now he has something that he’s never had in the NFL, a team that believes in him full of weapons and an offensive coordinator who has been around an offense with players who were doubted and turned them into an offensive juggernaut. It should all equate to consistent fantasy relevance this season. 

Drake Maye | QB | Patriots with OC Josh McDaniels

In Josh McDaniels’ only full season as head coach with the Raiders he produced the leading rusher in the league. At the same time his quarterback duo of Derek Carr and Jarrett Stidham combined to throw for over 4,100 yards and 28 touchdowns. Npw he returns to New England for his third stint as offensive coordinator, this time under new head coach Mike Vrabel. 

Vrabel will be excited about the dedication to the run game McDaniel brings and second-year quarterback Drake Make should be excited about his potential production as well. 

First, Maye will give McDaniels a rushing element from the position that he had back when he was the head coach in Denver when Kyle Orton and Tim Tebow were his quarterbacks. That season the two combined for over 4,300 yards and 25 touchdowns through the air as well as over 300 yards and 6 touchdowns on the ground. 

Maye has the ability to dwarf those numbers while still maintaining the more rugged identity that Vrabel wants to establish. He could be better than 2020 Ryan Tannehill when he threw for 33 touchdowns and rushed for another 7.  

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