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How we can use playcaller tendencies to find fantasy football upside

Scheme vs. talent is a fun recurring debate on football Twitter. I’m of the opinion that the latter variable is far more important — winning is more about the Jims and Joes than X’s and O’s.

Still, coaching tendencies also undoubtedly have an impact on team production. We’ve seen players (cc: Russell Wilson) overcome inadequate coaching plenty of times in the past, but identifying consistent tendencies from each offense around the league can help fantasy football managers identify value.

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What follows is a nugget or two on all 32 playcallers in an effort to gather some corresponding fantasy takeaways entering the 2020 season. Note that many teams utilize multiple coaches to discuss play calls and few provide the official designation.

Arizona Cardinals

Playcaller: HC Kliff Kingsbury

Tendency: Using four WRs on the field isn’t something many offenses make a habit of doing. This wasn’t the case in Arizona, as Kingsbury brought the air raid to the NFL in a big way. Overall, Kyler Murray (261) had more than 200 additional dropbacks in formations featuring at least four WRs than the next-closest QB in 2019. You’d have to go back to Ryan Fitzpatrick’s days in Chan Gailey’s pass-happy Jets offenses during the 2015-2016 seasons to find a comparable QB.

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