We know that coaches try to create an environment for their players to succeed. We also know that coaches have tendencies and preferences for how they utilize their players. Yet, in the fantasy world, these tendencies tend to be unaccounted for, overlooked, or spoken about in terms of personal anecdotes that may or may not be true.
This article contains charts and information to give you a stronger understanding of the impact coaching can have on your fantasy players from the NFC South for the 2022-2023 season.
Carolina Panthers
Matt Rhule (Head Coach)
Ben McAdoo (Offensive Coordinator)
Notes
- Carolina Panthers head coach Matt Rhule has generally gotten below-average production from his running back room as a whole during his career as a head coach thus far. While it’s important to note that Christian McCaffrey has missed significant time during the last two years, it seems clear that McCaffrey’s ceiling is slightly lower in this offense than the Scott Turner/Norv Turner one he was a part of in 2019.
- Carolina Panthers offensive coordinator Ben McAdoo is expected to be the team’s primary offensive play-caller on gamedays. He generally took more of a running back by committee approach during his time in New York…he never had a back as talented as McCaffrey, though.
- As much as Rhule and McAdoo get clowned on, they are both actually above average at utilizing and getting fantasy production out of their wide receiver rooms…this bodes well for D.J. Moore and the rest of the Carolina Panthers wide receivers (Robbie Anderson & Terrace Marshall).
- For the tight end position, Rhule has been well below average in utilizing the position, whereas McAdoo has been more mediocre….based on this information, it is unlikely we get anything to write home about from the tight end position in Carolina.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Byron Leftwich (Offensive Coordinator)
Notes
- Looking at Tampa Bay Buccaneers offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich, he has been pretty great across the board at getting production out of his offense as a whole.
- If you plan on rostering Leonard Fournette, Rachaad White, or one of the other Buccaneers running backs, it’s important to know that Leftwich’s running back room as a whole has seen fairly average usage in both the passing game and the ground game.
- Leftwich’s wide receiver room as a whole has been phenomenal over the course of his career, so there should be multiple fantasy-relevant wide receivers in Tampa Bay. Mike Evans and Chris Godwin are the easy bets (assuming Godwin is healthy), but it could also be worth it to take a shot on Julio Jones, Russell Gage, Tyler Johnson, or Breshad Perriman late in drafts.
- Leftwich has utilized his tight end room at a slightly above-average rate compared to the typical offensive play-caller, but it’s harder to say how this will look with future Hall of Famer Rob Gronkowski no longer on the roster…the Buccaneers’ primary pass-catching tight end is more than likely going to be closer to streaming level in 2022.
New Orleans Saints
Pete Carmichael (Offensive Coordinator)
Notes
- The New Orleans Saints saw their head coach and primary play-caller Sean Payton retire this offseason. Luckily, their long-time offensive coordinator Pete Carmichael will stick around. He should be able to keep largely the same system in place.
- Carmichael has done a good job of utilizing his running backs – particularly in the passing game. This bodes well for the team’s primary pass-catching back, Alvin Kamara.
- Looking at Carmichael’s past history with wide receiver utilization, his receivers have put up efficient numbers, but have actually been targeted at a lower rate than the league average. This means that at least one of the Saints wide receivers likely won’t live up to fantasy expectations in 2022, so keep that in mind when deciding where to draft Michael Thomas, Chris Olave, and Jarvis Landry.
- Carmichael historically has a good track record with tight ends, but it has trailed off quite a bit in recent years with no Jimmy Graham or even Jared Cook…Adam Trautman is still looking like more of a streamer for 2022.
Atlanta Falcons
Arthur Smith (Head Coach)
Dave Ragone (Offensive Coordinator)
Dave Ragone (Falcons OC)
Notes
- Atlanta Falcons head coach Arthur Smith has taken a couple of different approaches with his running back room depending on the talent available to him. As the Tennessee Titans’ offensive coordinator, he absolutely fed Derrick Henry on the ground but barely got the team’s running backs involved in the passing game. As the Atlanta Falcons’ head coach last year, his offense gave his backs an average number of carries and a slightly above average number of targets…keep this in mind when trying to figure out where to draft Cordarrelle Patterson, Tyler Allgeier, or Damien Williams.
- Smith has never featured his wide receiver room at a high rate, even when he had A.J. Brown in Tennessee…outside of Drake London, none of the Falcons’ wide receivers are worth drafting in 2022.
- Smith loves to feature his tight ends in the passing game…this combined with Kyle Pitts‘ talent make Pitts one of the most intriguing tight ends to invest in for the 2022 season.
- Atlanta Falcons offensive coordinator Dave Ragone has only worked one year under Smith so far…pay more attention to Smith’s numbers.
Feature image by Michael Packard (@CollectingPack on Twitter)