A new season always brings change to the league. Rookies during their first starts. Veterans in different uniforms. Understandably, our focus is on the players. They’re on our rosters! But there’s another layer to consider.

Innovators like Kyle Shanahan and Sean McVay have pushed playcalling into the spotlight. We see their vision of explosive runs offset by passes over the middle every week. So, when teams switch playcallers, their tendencies should factor into our expectations for the offense.

Playcaller and Scheme Changes For 2025

New England Patriots

• Playcaller: Josh McDaniels
• Previous Stops: Patriots, Raiders
• Tendencies: Balanced passing attack, efficient playcalling, average pace of play

Yes, I know. 

The words “Josh McDaniels” and “efficient playcalling” don’t belong anywhere near each other after his last HC stint. But consider this:

McDaniels’ play-action and pre-snap motion rates were hovering around the league average as he trotted out Aidan O’Connell, Jimmy Garoppolo, and Brian Hoyer. The Patriots were third in early-down passing rate when McDaniels and Tom Brady were ruling the AFC. Drake Maye’s mobility and flashes of arm talent have him as a fringe top-12 fantasy option. Any personnel upgrades and a boost from McDaniels’s playcalling will push him into the Top 10 during his sophomore season.

Houston Texans

• Playcaller: Nick Caley
• Previous Stops: Rams (Passing Game Coordinator)
• Tendencies: Balanced passing attack, highly efficient playcalling, average pace of play 

This year will be Nick Caley’s first season calling plays. So, I’m projecting what life in Houston will be like. However, there are a few similarities between the Rams and Texans, making the prediction reasonable.

Both squads had offensive line problems. Neither made it past the top half of the league in pass-block win rate. Now, add in catastrophic injuries to their WRs. So, I’d like to say adding a Sean McVay disciple would elevate any passing game. But, if Zac Robinson’s move to Atlanta in ’24 taught us anything, they’re more practical.

The Rams (and, coincidentally, the Falcons) used pre-snap motion at the highest rates in the league. Combined with a heavy dose of play-action (18.0%, fourth-highest rate in 2024), McVay and Caley made Matthew Stafford’s job as easy as possible. LA’s strongest performers were their RB1 and WR1. Focusing on the same positions in Houston would be the best approach to the Texans’ offense in 2025.

Jacksonville Jaguars

• Playcaller: Liam Coen
• Previous Stops: Buccaneers, Rams
• Tendencies: Pass-oriented, dynamic playcalling, up-tempo pace of play

We’ve got two instances of first-time HC Liam Coen steering an offense. In ’22, alongside Sean McVay, the Rams ranked 14th in early-down passing rate despite Matthew Stafford sustaining multiple injuries. Even better, LA was throwing the ball on 69.0% of its plays from inside the 10-yard line. Those same inclinations came with Coen to Florida.

Only Patrick Mahomes and Joe Burrow had more attempts within the 10-yard line than Baker Mayfield last season. Plus, Coen involved all of his personnel with route-running abilities. Cade Otton’s 23.5% target share vaulted him into the TE1 discussion in the absence of Mike Evans and Chris Godwin. Tampa used both of its RBs as receivers at a top-4 rate. As a result, guys like Brenton Strange and Travis Etienne (after a poor ’24 outing) should be on our radar over the offseason.

Las Vegas Raiders

• Playcaller: Chip Kelly
• Previous Stops: 49ers, Eagles
• Tendencies: Pass-oriented, efficient playcalling, heavy play volume

Chip Kelly’s first foray into game-planning at the NFL level was unforgettable. The Eagles led the league in plays per game for two straight years. In 2014, prior to his season-ending injury, Nick Foles was third in passing aDOT (a hilarious 10.3 yards) and fourth in attempts.

A Chip Kelly-Geno Smith combo will turn heads in Las Vegas. Smith earned top-10 marks in passing success rate on intermediate throws. Jakobi Meyers and Brock Bowers were top-20 producers in yardage. Assuming the Raiders grab an RB in the draft, this offense will be an underrated squad for fantasy in 2025.

Seattle Seahawks

• Playcaller: Klint Kubiak
• Previous Stops: Saints, 49ers (Passing Game Coordinator), Broncos (Passing Game Coordinator)
• Tendencies: Balanced passing attack, adaptive play-calling, average pace of play

Klint Kubiak’s offenses have had a -2.0% pass rate over expectation in three of his last four stops. It’s not to say the dropbacks have been lacking. Kirk Cousins averaged 35.1 dropbacks per game back in ’21, and the combination of Derek Carr and Spencer Rattler averaged 32.8. In fact, Kubiak leaned into his QB’s style of play. Russell Wilson was throwing the ball 9.5 yards down the field. Kirk Cousins “park and barked” his way to nearly 600 dropbacks. Kubiak’s ability to weave in TEs and RBs will keep guys like Noah Fant and Zach Charbonnet viable for our purposes. However, the biggest test will be how Cooper Kupp and Jaxon Smith-Njigba integrate into the passing game.

Chicago Bears

• Playcaller: Ben Johnson
• Previous Stops: Lions
• Tendencies: Run-oriented, highly efficient play-calling, average pace of play

After watching Ben Johnson in Detroit, we know his deal. The Lions ran the highest rate of play-action concepts last season and were the most successful passing team in the league (54.5% success rate). Jared Goff made the Top 12 in explosive passing rate two years straight. But his 35.0 dropbacks per game (19th in the league) made him tough to trust each week. 

In either case, Johnson’s ingenuity will revive our hope in Caleb Williams. The 2024 1.01 operated better under center than from shotgun (0.03 vs -0.07 EPA per dropback). With a high-end blocking unit, Goff played under center at over twice the league average (37.5%). The Bears have already made strides to improve the line. Under Johnson’s guidance, Williams and the passing game should be our draft targets.

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