PlayerProfiler is home to award-winning dynasty rankings and tools. Our Dynasty Deluxe package includes complete Dynasty Rankings, Rookie Rankings, Trade Analyzer, Draft Planner, Mock Drafts, and more. Check it out. Below Ted Chmyz looks at the fantasy football impact of the 2025 NFL Coaching Changes.
One of the most underrated ways to gain an edge in fantasy football is by paying attention to coaching changes across the league. Everyone knows that system fit matters when discussing rookie prospects, but we sometimes forget how big an impact system and coaching can have on even seasoned NFL vets. With that in mind, this article will take a look at every team that changed either their head coach, their offensive coordinator, or both this offseason, breaking down the fantasy football implications. There’s a lot of them, so let’s get right into it!
Fantasy Football Implications Of 2025 NFLCoaching Changes
Chicago Bears: HC — Ben Johnson, OC — Declan Doyle
These teams are listed alphabetically, but we just happen to start with the most exciting change on this list. With a very impressive resume headlined by getting Jared Goff a fifth-place MVP finish last season, Ben Johnson was actually the hottest head coaching candidate for each of the last two cycles. He chose to stay put for one extra year in Detroit last offseason, but this year he jumped ship for an NFC North rival in the Bears.
Declan Doyle, who served as the Broncos’ tight end coach in 2024, is the Bears’ Offensive Coordinator nominally, but this will be Johnson’s offense. Based on his success in Detroit, that is undeniably a good thing for Chicago’s fantasy options … at least those he chooses to keep in place.
Winners
The obvious big winner is Caleb Williams. His rookie year wasn’t terrible, but it was undeniably disappointing, given the hype with which he entered the league. Johnson should make things easier on last year’s first-overall pick. In 2024, the Lions led the league with 3,544 passing yards on designed plays or plays targeting their first read. The Bears ranked second-to-last with over 1,000 fewer yards. Some easy-button throws will go a long way to increasing Caleb’s confidence (and fantasy value).
This rising tide should lift all boats in Chicago’s passing game, so expect D.J. Moore, Rome Odunze, and (to a lesser extent) Cole Kmet to also benefit from Johnson’s arrival. It may be tempting to map these names onto the weapons that Johnson had such success with in Detroit (aka “Who is playing the Amon-Ra St. Brown role?), but he should be sharp enough to fit his scheme to his personnel, not the other way around. Both Moore and Odunze had success on screens last year (Moore led the league in screen receiving yardage while Odunze ranked ninth in yards per screen reception). We know Johnson will find creative ways to get these playmakers the ball in space.
Losers
If we could assume that the Bears will roll into 2025 with the same running back room they had in 2024, both D’Andre Swift and Roschon Johnson would also be big winners. If we squint hard enough, they seem like a decent match for the thunder-and-lightning roles filled by Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery in Detroit. But we’ve already seen Swift on a Johnson-led team, when he was on the Lions in 2022. Swift finished that season with 99 carries, 163 fewer than Jamaal Williams and only 57 more than Justin Jackson. Detroit proceed to ship him off for a fourth-round pick. Now, Bears GM Ryan Poles is already making comments implying the Bears’ 2025 starting RB is not currently on their roster. With that in mind, we have to consider both Swift and Johnson losers under this new regime.
Cleveland Browns: OC — Tommy Rees
Honestly, it’s very hard to take too much away from this move. Rees is an internal promotion for the Browns, having served as their pass game specialist and tight ends coach in 2024. He replaces Ken Dorsey, who spent one year heading the offense to not much success. But Head Coach Kevin Stefanski will also remain heavily involved. Stefanski called the plays for Cleveland during the first half of last season and has already announced he intends to do so again in 2025.
Winners
Everyone. Yes, Rees is an unknown quantity and probably won’t have too much influence anyway, but it’s essentially impossible for the Browns’ offense to be worse than it was in 2024, in which they averaged a league-worst 15.2 points per game. Stefanski has also had some success as a play-caller in the past. The biggest question is who will be under center for the Browns with Deshaun Watson out indefinitely due to karma an Achilles injury.
Dallas Cowboys: HC — Brian Schottenheimer, OC — Klayton Adams
The Cowboys’ promotion of Schottenheimer, who served as their OC in each of the last two years, has been widely panned. But, especially from a fantasy perspective, this move might not be quite as bad as it seems. After all, the Cowboys had the league’s highest-scoring offense in 2023. Things went off the rails in 2024, but very few schemes are built to handle nine games of the Cooper Rush/Trey Lance experience.
I’m not going to break down individual winners or losers here, as promoting an OC to HC is unlikely to have too much of an impact. Adams, who served as the Cardinals’ offensive line coach last season, is an interesting addition, but Schottenheimer will reportedly still be calling plays. If I had to pick a side, I’m cautiously optimistic about the Cowboys’ offense as a whole — replacing the notoriously conservative Mike McCarthy with an offensive-minded head coach probably can’t hurt.
Detroit Lions: OC — John Morton
One might have expected the Lions to promote from within, given their offensive success in recent years. Instead, they hired Morton, who has served as the Broncos’ passing game coordinator in each of the last two years. Morton has a long resume that includes coaching alongside Sean Payton, Jim Harbaugh, Pete Carroll, and Jon Gruden.
Morton was also previously a member of Dan Campbell’s Lions staff, having served as a senior offensive assistant in 2022. With that in mind, I expect Detroit to try and maintain the status quo as much as possible. After all, they easily led the league in points per game in 2024.
Losers
Unfortunately, I have to call every Detroit player a loser. There’s nowhere to go but down from the dominance their offense displayed last season. It’s tough to know how much credit Ben Johnson deserved for that dominance, but we can confidently assume it isn’t zero. There’s a chance that Morton’s offense differs from Johnson’s in a way that happens to benefit a certain player, meaning we have some eventual winners. Maybe he will fully unleash Jahmyr Gibbs as a workhorse? But any prediction along those lines would be pure speculation at this point.
Houston Texans: OC — Nick Caley
The Texans’ last OC, Bobby Slowik, was a Kyle Shanahan disciple. After a productive 2023 that even had him in head coaching rumors, his offense regressed massively in 2024, resulting in his firing. Instead, the Texans turned to another NFC West coaching tree that has been picked bare in recent years, hiring Caley from his position as the Rams’ tight ends coach and pass game coordinator.
This is Caley’s first shot at a coordinator job, so we don’t know too much about his plan, which means this is another team without clear winners and losers. But we can make some educated guesses based on where he is coming from. The most obvious assumption is that Caley, who served as a tight ends coach not just for the Rams but also for the Patriots, will feature his TEs. If that is the case, we should see a boost to Dalton Schultz‘s fantasy value.
Beyond that, there’s no clear way to predict how the Texans’ offense will change this offseason. Slowik was often criticized for leaning too much on the run game in 2024, but the Texans actually ranked among the top 10 pass-heaviest teams in multiple measures of pass rate vs. expected. Hopefully, we will at least see Caley utilizing some of McVay’s motion-heavy scheme to make things easier on C.J. Stroud, who took a huge step back statistically in his sophomore year.
Jacksonville Jaguars: HC — Liam Coen, OC — Grant Udinski
After the aforementioned Johnson, Coen was the most exciting offensive head coaching candidate available this offseason. His Buccaneers offense finished fourth in points per game and third in yards per game in 2024. Technically, this wasn’t Coen’s first season as an NFL coordinator, as he also served as the Rams’ OC in 2022 … but we all know that Sean McVay is in charge in Los Angeles. Speaking of head coaches choosing to call plays, Coen has confirmed that he will do so in 2025. He is joined by Udinski, another relatively young coach who spent 2024 as an assistant offensive coordinator and assistant quarterbacks coach for the Vikings.
Winners
This situation is almost a mix of the Bears and the Browns. On the one hand, the Jaguars’ offense was fairly ineffective in 2024, so there’s not much room to go but up. Meanwhile, although he’s not quite as exciting as Johnson, Coen has built enough of a reputation that we can optimistically view him as a rising tide that should lift all boats.
Yes, young, exciting offensive head coaches do fail all the time, but Coen at least brings some hope with him to Duval. That makes every fantasy asset in Jacksonville a winner. Trevor Lawrence will hopefully follow in Baker Mayfield‘s footsteps and start to live up to his draft hype. Travis Etienne and Tank Bigsby will hope that Coen sticks with the game plan that saw the Buccaneers rank third in the league in running back targets last season. And Brian Thomas Jr., Christian Kirk (never mind), Gabriel Davis, and Evan Engram will hope Jacksonville can come anywhere near the 2.41 passing TDs per game that Tampa Bay managed under Coen last season.
Las Vegas Raiders: HC — Pete Carroll, OC — Chip Kelly
This one honestly doesn’t quite feel real. 73-year-old Pete Carroll and former Eagles/49ers head coach Chip Kelly are teaming up to help the Vegas Raiders reach relevancy for the first time in their existence. Where Kelly was once known as the eponymous architect of a unique, new-fangled offense, he is now a more traditional OC. Meanwhile, Carroll’s tenure in Seattle featured plenty of drama in which he may or may not have limited his own offensive coordinators’ decision-making powers.
The Raiders are yet another team with essentially nowhere to go but up (what a coincidence that teams hiring new coaches had terrible offenses last year). However, this is a situation where it’s not worth breaking individual players into winners and losers … mostly because we still have no idea who the Raiders’ key offensive players will be. At the very least, Vegas is all but guaranteed to have a new starting QB and RB by the start of the season. Of the players currently on their roster, the only truly fantasy-relevant options are Brock Bowers, a certified stud in any system, and Jakobi Meyers, a certified WR4 in any system. Adding theoretically competent coaching in Carroll and Kelly is a slight boost to both of them, but nothing major.
New England Patriots: HC — Mike Vrabel, OC — Josh McDaniels
From one team associated with Tom Brady to another, we have another duo of well-known names here. Vrabel was fired by the Titans after the 2023 season, essentially took 2024 off as a “coaching and personnel consultant” for the Browns, and now lands in New England. A defensive coach who is more known as a “leader of men” type than a scheme guru, he will hopefully bring general competency back to a Patriots team that couldn’t even manage to bench players properly in 2024. McDaniels, meanwhile, comes home to the only place where he has consistently had success in the NFL. This will be his 14th season as the Patriots’ OC, although it’s just his third without Tom Brady.
Winners
This has to be a win for Drake Maye. For all his flaws, McDaniels got competent play and 4,000 passing yards out of a rookie Mac Jones back in 2021. For what it’s worth, Vrabel should also be a clear upgrade culture-wise over Jerod Mayo, who reportedly lost the Patriots’ locker room early into his one-year tenure. There’s also an argument to be made that this is a win for DeMario Douglas and Hunter Henry — McDaniels’ offenses have often heavily featured slot receivers and tight ends. However, we may be running into a chicken vs. egg debate there, as Henry and Douglas are no Rob Gronkowski and Julian Edelman.
Losers
I’m going to make what is probably a controversial choice and call this a loss for Rhamondre Stevenson. Vrabel has had success with running backs (hello, Derrick Henry), but I don’t see Stevenson holding onto his job long enough to take advantage. Among 50 players with at least 100 rushes in 2024, Stevenson ranked third-worst in EPA per rush and eighth-worst in success rate. He also fumbled seven times, bringing his total to 14 fumbles in four seasons. If Vrabel and McDaniels want to build a strong running game to help their young quarterback, I predict they will use this year’s strong RB draft class to do it.
New Orleans Saints: HC — Kellen Moore, OC — Doug Nussmeier
Kellen Moore earned his first NFL head coaching job by managing the Eagles’ offense to a Super Bowl victory. This came after he spent the last six years as an NFL OC: four in Dallas, one with the Chargers, and this last year in Philadelphia. Moore is also yet another offensive-minded head coach who is bringing along a new OC but will still be the one calling plays. The one wrinkle here is that Nussmeier is a long-time quarterbacks coach and former college OC instead of a young riser fresh off a McVay/Shanahan tree.
Winners
I like this fit for Derek Carr, who should benefit from Moore’s playcalling and West Coast philosophy. Assuming they are healthy, Rashid Shaheed and Chris Olave should also thrive as downfield threats. Making an even bigger assumption of health, this is also a win for Taysom Hill. If the 34-year-old fullback/tight end/quarterback/running back can recover from his torn ACL, Moore should be able to find creative ways to use him. Could we even see Taysom taking the Tush Push?
Losers
This may seem odd to say when Moore was just the OC for Saquon Barkley‘s dominant season, but I don’t think this is a great fit for Alvin Kamara. For one, Moore bringing the Tush Push with him from Philly would cut into Kamara’s goal-line equity, which is a huge chunk of his value. Kamara’s other main source of fantasy value is his absurd receiving workload. But in his six years as an OC, Moore’s teams have never ranked higher than 19th in the league in RB target share, with an average ranking of 23rd. That’s despite having talented receiving backs in Ezekiel Elliott, Tony Pollard, Austin Ekeler, and Saquon Barkley. Without elite receiving work, Kamara’s declining rushing efficiency may come back to bite him in fantasy this season.
New York Jets: HC — Aaron Glenn, OC — Tanner Engstrand
Here we get another defensive head coach, as Glenn earned his first head coaching gig with his performance as the Lions’ defensive coordinator. Glenn brings another former member of the Detroit staff with him to New York, as Engstrand was the Lions’ passing game coordinator in 2024. Engstrand has previously served as the offensive coordinator for the University of San Diego and the DC Defenders (a team in the short-lived XFL).
Winners
Unfortunately, I can’t claim to be an expert (nor is there much information available) on the offensive philosophies of the DC Defenders or the 2017 San Diego Toreros. But the Jets were, not for the first time, comparable to the Browns in terms of sheer incompetence in 2024. Last year, New York’s offensive coordinator was Aaron Rodgers Nathaniel Hackett, and they finished ninth-worst in both points and yards per game (I honestly expected worse). With that in mind, I’m going to optimistically assume that Engstrand was partially responsible for the Lions’ massive success (or at least learned something along the way) and call every Jet a winner. In terms of fantasy-relevant options, that list is basically just Garrett Wilson and Breece Hall at this point.
Philadelphia Eagles: OC — Kevin Patullo
Patullo is a long-time offensive assistant getting his first shot at a coordinator job, so we have very little to go off of in terms of predicting his philosophy. Given that the Eagles chose to promote from within (Patullo was a pass game coordinator and associate head coach for them in 2024) coming off a dominant Super Bowl victory, we can expect they won’t change much.
With that in mind, this is another team where there’s no real logic in trying to pick individual winners and losers. You could certainly argue that losing the aforementioned Kellen Moore is a downgrade across the board for Philadelphia’s players, but I’m going to be optimistic and leave this as a neutral section.
San Francisco 49ers: OC — Klay Kubiak
This was another internal promotion, as Kubiak was an “offensive passing game specialist” for the 49ers last season. He replaces absolutely no one, as Kyle Shanahan is so in control of the 49ers’ offense that they didn’t even bother to have an offensive coordinator in 2024. Shanahan’s control is not going to change this year; the biggest impact this move will have is on Klay’s resume.
Seattle Seahawks: OC — Klint Kubiak
If you ever wanted proof of nepotism in the NFL, consider that we have back-to-back Kubiaks taking over at OC for NFC West teams. However, Klint will have more influence than his brother, as Seattle Head Coach Mike Macdonald is no Shanahan. The elder Kubiak served as the Saints’ offensive coordinator in 2024, which was a rocky ride, to say the least.
After the Saints scored 91 points in the first two weeks of the season, he was already generating head coaching buzz. But things fell off the rails from there, as New Orleans’ offense averaged just 16.5 points per game the rest of the way. To be fair to Klint, they were absolutely devastated by injuries, so the jury is still out on how much of that collapse was his fault.
Winners
The Saints led the league last season with an absurd 26-percent of their targets going to running backs. A large part of that can be attributed to personnel — they had Kamara and essentially zero healthy wide receivers — but it’s still a good sign for Kenneth Walker (and potentially Zach Charbonnet). The idea of the explosive Walker in Kubiak’s outside zone scheme is also exciting, although I should note that Walker actually performed worse in both yards per carry and success rate on zone runs in 2024. Still, a potential increase in targets and rush rate (more on that in the next category) should benefit Seattle’s RBs.
Losers
On the one hand, Kubiak will hopefully help Geno Smith as he did Derek Carr to start last season. Unfortunately, he will need to increase Smith’s efficiency, as Seattle’s passing offense seems destined for a decrease in volume in 2025. Last year, the Seahawks ranked fifth in both raw pass rate and pass rate over expected. Kubiak’s Saints, meanwhile, had the eighth-lowest pass rate vs. expected in the league. His 2021 Vikings team was also well below average in pass rate. Along with Geno, this decrease in volume could hurt Jaxon Smith-Njigba (who ranked sixth in the league in routes last season) and DK Metcalf (if his trade request isn’t fulfilled).
Tampa Bay Buccaneers: OC — Josh Grizzard
This is a very similar situation to the one in Philadelphia. The Buccaneers had their successful offensive coordinator poached for a head coaching job, and they responded by promoting from within. In fact, these two new OCs were even promoted from the same position, as both Grizzard and Patullo were pass game coordinators in 2024.
Unsurprisingly, my fantasy take for Tampa Bay is the same as it was for Philadelphia. There is an argument to be made that losing Coen is bad for all of the Buccaneers’ fantasy values. But given that we should expect to see a large amount of continuity in this offense, I’m going to give the man from Lizard Lick the benefit of the doubt for now.
Ted Chmyz is a fantasy football contributor for PlayerProfiler. Find him on Twitter @Tchmyz for more fantasy content or to ask questions.
