One brilliant thing about fantasy football is that people do not have to understand the intricacies of the NFL game to be great fantasy players. Success in fantasy football is dependent on understanding statistical trends and probabilities, not how to coach a football game. Conversely, being knowledgeable about the NFL game does not guarantee success in fantasy football. Fantasy football does not reward the person that knows the difference between a zone-blocking scheme versus a man-blocking scheme.

Fantasy football does not reward the person that understands that every team basically runs a variation of the Erhardt-Perkins, Air Coryell, or the West Coast Offense. Fantasy football is about receptions, yards, and touchdowns and understanding which players are more likely to produce big numbers on a given week in those statistical areas based on probable usage and matchups.

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Even though you do not need to be a walking encyclopedia of football terminology and NFL play-calling, an understanding of offensive strategy can be a very important tool in your fantasy football toolbox. While we really do not care if a player is in a West Coast Offense versus an Air Coryell Offense, we do care if the team runs the ball 55 percent of the time and only passes it 45 percent of the time.

We care if the team throws short passes to the slot receiver versus the running back versus the tight end. We care if the team looks to call power runs in the red zone or uses play-action passing to cross the goal line. How the team play calls in those situations impacts how the fantasy points are divided among the players each week. Those trends impact whether a fantasy owner wins or loses his or her fantasy matchup.

If you take a great player and put him in a great scheme, it will maximize his fantasy output. If you take a great player and put him in a bad scheme, it will hinder his productivity. The fantasy owners that understand those scheme fits and non-fits are able to maximize the value obtained in fantasy drafts by taking players that have the best chance to succeed in fantasy football. They are able to play matchups each week that maximizes fantasy points for the week.

I chose one fantasy-relevant player from each team and identify whether the offensive strategy and scheme that the team employs help or hurts that player’s fantasy football value. Let’s start with the players that are helped by their scheme and follow that with players that are hurt by their scheme.

Scheme Helps Fantasy Value

David Johnson (RB – ARI)
The Air Raid offense being implemented by rookie head coach Kliff Kingsbury and rookie QB Kyler Murray will probably benefit Johnson the most. Johnson is a duel-threat running back and he should be much closer to the 327.8 fantasy points he scored in 2016 than the 196.7 fantasy points he scored last year. Johnson will be the focal point of this offense and he should go from a fringe RB1 with volatility issues to a consistent RB1 that could see 275 rushing attempts and 100 receptions in the 2019 season.

Austin Hooper (TE – ATL)
Hooper was the sixth-ranked fantasy tight end last year in a down year for tight ends. He has a chance to be better in 2019. Dirk Koetter is the new offensive coordinator in 2019 and I think that means there will be a lot more opportunities for Hooper to shine in this offense. The Falcons will try to keep their same zone blocking West Coast scheme that made this one of the most explosive offenses in the NFL, but the one change fantasy owners should enjoy is the emphasis on the tight end. Tampa Bay was tenth, third, and sixth among fantasy tight end scoring the last three years. That offensive philosophy bodes well for Hooper and he has a chance for a breakout season in this offense.

D.J. Moore (WR – CAR)
Offensive coordinator Norv Turner comes from the Air Coryell coaching tree, which is an offense that likes to feature a power running game and use that running game to stretch the field vertically with play-action passes and vertical routes. That means there is the opportunity for big plays in the passing game and Moore is by far their best vertical threat on offense. Moore had 55 receptions for 788 yards and two touchdowns in 2018, but he only started 10 games last year and he was buried on the depth chart early in the season.

A vertical passing game benefits one of the best athletes in the 2018 NFL Draft and he could see an explosion as their featured wide receiver in his second season. A key for him though is that QB Cam Newton’s shoulder stays healthy, the scheme only helps if the quarterback is healthy enough to execute the deep throws. Newton is currently on a pitch count in the preseason, but his shoulder should be ready to go in Week 1.

Anthony Miller (WR – CHI)
Head Coach Matt Nagy is part of the Andy Reid coaching tree, which is a West Coast Offense that incorporates read option and Air Raid offense to give it a more modern look than the traditional West Coast Offense created by Bill Walsh. Nagy does not have the quarterback that Reid has in Kansas City to stretch the field vertically, but Bears QB Mitchell Trubisky showed a lot of promise in his second year and Miller had some big games as a rookie last year.

Miller had 33 receptions for 423 yards and seven touchdowns in 2018 and his ability to create space underneath will be a big part of their scheme this year. He should easily build on those numbers in an offense that will take advantage of his skill set to break big plays in the short passing game.

Joe Mixon (RB – CIN)
Head coach Zac Taylor is part of the Sean McVay coaching tree, which is a combination of West Coast Offense and Air Raid. The goal of this offense is to pass against loaded boxes and run the ball against spread out defenses, which creates mismatches and open field for big plays. The Rams featured RB Todd Gurley the last two years and the result was the top-scoring fantasy running back in the NFL both seasons. I could see the Bengals doing the same thing with Mixon, using his athletic ability to set the tone for an offense that needs him to have a monster year to be successful. Mixon is a first-round pick, but he could end up being the top-scoring player in all of fantasy football this year if the Bengals use him the same way the Rams used Gurley the last two years.

Nick Chubb (RB – CLE)
The Browns have a mishmash of offenses they could run as their head coaches and assistants have experience in West Coast, Air Raid, and Air Coryell. A lot of people are focused on second-year QB Baker Mayfield teaming up with WR Odell Beckham Jr., but their biggest star when offensive coordinator Freddie Kitchens took over play-calling last year was Chubb. Chubb tallied 140 carries for 788 yards and five touchdowns in seven games with Kitchens calling the plays. He would have tallied 1,801 yards rushing had that production come in a 16-game schedule.

It is going to be hard to stack eight players in the box this year with the addition of OBJ. Kitchens would be smart to stay committed to a great running game and Chubb should be a player that sees close to 20 carries per game if he stays healthy and the Browns do not become too pass-happy.

Aaron Jones (RB – GB)
The Packers are another team looking to bring the McVay offense to the Midwest and Jones was one of the best running backs in the league last year for a team that did not use the running backs much, especially in the passing game. Despite starting only eight games and having only 133 rushing attempts, he was the 23rd ranked fantasy running back.

The Packers passed the ball 640 times and ran it only 333 times, that is a big reason they hired head coach Matt LaFleur to bring balance to this offense. That should help Jones emerge as an RB1 in 2019, especially with him being the Week 1 starter and having more chances to be a factor in the passing game. Jones is dealing with a hamstring injury, but at this point, it is not expected to impact his Week 1 availability.

Lamar Miller (RB – HOU)
Even though the Texans have QB Deshaun Watson and WR DeAndre Hopkins, they are a team that runs a spread offense and looks to run the ball against a stretched out defense. The Texans were 27th in passing attempts and fourth in rushing attempts and Miller saw 235 touches, despite playing only 14 games. That is likely to go up this year, as 2018 backup RB Alfred Blue is in Jacksonville and 2018 backup RB D’Onta Foreman is in Indianapolis. That leaves Gregory Howell as the top backup running back on the roster, which means that Miller could see a ton of carries on an offense that loves to run the football and has no other proven running back on the roster.

Damien Williams (RB – KC)
Williams is an upside player this year that seized the opportunity when RB Kareem Hunt was released from the team at the end of last season. Hunt averaged 16.8 fantasy points per game in 2017 and he built on that with 19.7 fantasy points per game last year. Williams had big shoes to fill last year when Hunt was released and Williams delivered. In his last three regular-season games and two postseason games, he tallied 362 yards rushing, 24 receptions, 210 yards receiving, and eight total touchdowns. He averaged 23.4 fantasy points per game in half-point PPR leagues in that stretch, only Los Angeles Rams RB Todd Gurley averaged more points per game for the 2018 season.

It is a small sample size, but Andy Reid’s modern West Coast Offense utilizes the running back as well as any offense in the NFL. Williams has the chance to be an RB1 as the lead back on the most explosive offense in the NFL if he can take what he did at the end of last season and do that for an entire season. Williams is dealing with a hamstring injury, but at this point, it is not expected to impact his Week 1 availability.

Cooper Kupp (WR – LAR)
Head coach Sean McVay runs one of the most exciting offenses in the NFL. He has worked for West Coast Offenses, but his offense is more vertical than a traditional West Coast Offense and he incorporates Air Raid concepts to give it a more modern look. He looks to take advantage of spacing and mismatches that favor his receivers being covered by defenders that are too slow to keep up with his players in space. Kupp had 40 receptions for 562 yards and six touchdowns in eight games as their slot receiver thanks to that offensive philosophy and Kupp’s special talents in space. He is fully healthy to start training camp and he could be a WR2 with WR1 upside if he can stay healthy this year and the Rams build on how they have used him in 2017 and 2018.

Saquon Barkley (RB – NYG)
New York Giants head coach Pat Shurmur has worked in the West Coast Offense, he was the offensive coordinator for Chip Kelly’s Air Raid Offense, and he has worked for Mike Zimmer who runs a more traditional run-oriented West Coast Offense. It does not matter what offensive scheme he brings to the table, the name of the game in New York will be feeding the ball to Barkley early and often.

Veteran QB Eli Manning is in decline and rookie QB Daniel Jones will make starts this year. The passing game will be used only when necessary and the scheme will be to give Barkley the ball 30 times per game as a runner and a receiver and hope he can carry this team to the playoffs in 2019. Barkley is the safest player in fantasy football, which is why he is also the player with the highest ADP in fantasy football.

Dalvin Cook (RB – MIN)
The Vikings play calling was a disaster last season, they passed the ball 606 times and ran it only 357 times, which really hurt Cook’s fantasy value. He had only 133 rushing attempts in 11 games and he topped 15 rushing attempts only three times. The Vikings realized that was a mistake. They fired offensive coordinator John DeFilippo late in the season and brought in Gary Kubiak to advise new offensive coordinator, Kevin Stefanski.

The Vikings will still be a West Coast Offense, but they should have a better pass to run ratio, which will benefit Cook. He is among the most talented running backs in the league, but he needs more than 12 carries per game to make an impact both for the Vikings and fantasy owners.

Jared Cook (TE – NO)
The Saints run the Air Coryell scheme and their offensive play calling is amongst the most sophisticated in the NFL. One of the biggest additions of the offseason was adding Cook at tight end. The Saints utilize the tight end, whether it is TE Jimmy Graham’s record-breaking production from 2011 to 2014 to lesser names like Ben Watson and Coby Fleener since Graham was traded in the 2015 offseason.

The Saints tight end is at minimum a red zone threat with QB Drew Brees behind center. Cook figures to be more than just a red zone threat, he should be a huge part of this passing game in 2019. Cook should benefit from playing on a much better offense than he had in Oakland and he was the fifth-ranked fantasy tight end in that anemic Raiders offense last year.

James Conner (RB – PIT)
The Steelers utilize the Erhardt-Perkins system, which is the same system that New England uses, but they are not the running back by committee offense that New England often utilizes. The Steelers have had a top-10 fantasy running back each of the last five years and they have been in the top-15 eight times in the last 10 years.

Conner is the clear starter entering the 2019 season, which gives him a great chance to be a dominant fantasy running back if he stays healthy. Head coach Mike Tomlin is likely to give him the ball 20-25 times per game if his pass usage of running backs is any indication of how he will divide carries among the running backs in 2019.  Their tendency to feature one running back combined with having one of the best offensive lines in the league makes Conner a fantasy player with a ton of upside in 2019.

Tevin Coleman (RB – SF)
San Francisco ranked 13th in fantasy points scored by running backs last year, even though they lost starting RB Jerick McKinnon before the season started and played without starting QB Jimmy Garoppolo for 13 games last year. Head coach Kyle Shanahan’s West Coast Offense is one of the more RB friendly offenses in the NFL. Even though Coleman will be in a deep running back by committee, he has had success with Shanahan in Atlanta back in 2016 and he has a chance to excel in an offense that is made for running backs to have monster fantasy seasons.  He is in the best position to be the lead back in 2019 and the lead back in this offense will have a lot of fantasy appeal.

Chris Godwin (WR – TB)
Head coach Bruce Arians runs Air Coryell, which is going to benefit their receivers in the deep passing game. Arians has said that he would like Godwin to play the Larry Fitzgerald role in this offense. If Godwin can average the 138.8 targets that Fitzgerald saw from 2013 to 2017 with Arians as the head coach, Godwin has a chance to be a WR1 this year. Godwin should benefit from the departures of WRs DeSean Jackson and Adam Humphries. Godwin will not have to share targets with those guys in 2019 and he has a new head coach that wants to feed him the ball.  This scheme could be the perfect one to help him have a breakout season.

Scheme Hurts Fantasy Value

Marquise Brown (WR – BAL)
Brown was one of the more exciting wide receivers in the 2019 NFL Draft, but he went to the wrong team to have a fantasy impact. Baltimore runs a read-option running scheme that saw QB Lamar Jackson have only 170 passing attempts versus 147 rushing attempts last year. The Ravens do not have a strong enough passing game for Brown to have a significant impact in his rookie year. Their leading wide receiver this year could have less than 650 yards receiving and five touchdowns, which would be a disaster for a fantasy wide receiver.

John Brown (WR – BUF)
The Bills employ what I would call a bad offense more than a run-oriented offense. They like to run the ball because they have no ability to pass the ball. I understand that QB Josh Allen was only a rookie and he should improve this year, but rookies have had success in recent years and there is no excuse for the Bills being 31st in passing yards (2,794), 32nd in passing touchdowns (16), and 31st in interceptions (23). Brown was their big free-agent addition to the passing game.

The Bills are a run-oriented offense by necessity and unless Allen takes the jump in his second year, they are likely to remain an offense where wide receivers go to die and the passing game is an afterthought.  Brown is their best receiver, but that is not saying much in this offense.

Ezekiel Elliott (RB – DAL)
The Dallas offense is a variation of the Air Coryell and that starts with RB Ezekiel Elliott dominating in the power running game. The problem is not the scheme for Elliott. Elliott has 868 rushing attempts for 4,048 yards, and 28 rushing touchdowns in 40 career games. The scheme will allow him to be an RB1, which is what he is when he is healthy and on the field.

The problem is that Elliott is holding out and his holdout may spill into the regular season. He cannot be a featured running back if he is missing games and there is nobody in this offense that can set up the play-action passing and deep-passing game like Elliott. If Elliott misses games, it downgrades everyone in the offense. If he is not in game shape when he returns, it just becomes more of a problem for fantasy owners that have to wait for him to work his way back into game form.

Matthew Stafford (QB – DET)
Stafford has been one of the most durable quarterbacks in the NFL, but a big reason he was such a prominent fantasy player is that the Lions were an offense that looked to pass the ball. They have been trending away from a passing team in recent years.

Stafford’s pass attempts have gone from 602 in 2014 to 592 in 2015, 594 in 2016, 565 in 2017, and 555 in 2018. Last year was the first time they topped 400 rushing attempts since the 2013 season and the first time Stafford did not average more than 7.0 yards per attempt since 2012.

This was a more run-oriented offense that looked for short passes and fewer mistakes and the result was Stafford went from the seventh-ranked fantasy quarterback to 20th ranked. The current offensive scheme and lack of talent at wide receiver are going to prevent Stafford from being dominant in fantasy football in 2019.

Joe Flacco (QB – DEN)
The Broncos scheme is not really relevant from last year, because they have a new head coach, offensive coordinator, and quarterback in 2019. The problem is their quarterback has ranked 20th or lower in fantasy points the last four seasons and I do not think a new team will help him. The Broncos are hoping that a change of scenery will help Flacco, but the Broncos really need rookie QB Drew Lock to be able to make quality starts this year, otherwise their fantasy players are going to be hampered more by their quarterback than their scheme.

Marlon Mack (RB – IND)
The Colts are a West Coast Offense, but they passed the ball 61.6 percent of the time last year and they were just 17th in rushing attempts last year with 408 rushing attempts. That is bad news for Mack because he had only 17 receptions and the three games where he topped 20 carries, the Colts won those games by a combined score of 98-45.

I still like Mack as an RB2, but his upside is capped by the Colts being a pass-oriented offense and his lack of involvement in the passing game. He will need the Colts to have big leads in the fourth quarter for him to see 20 plus rushing attempts in most games. He will also need QB Andrew Luck‘s calf to be healthy by Week 1 because this offense will not have the same look if Luck is missing games due to injury.

Dede Westbrook (WR – JAC)
Even though they did sign QB Nick Foles to replace QB Blake Bortles, this offense is still going to be one of the more run-oriented offenses in the NFL. Their goal would be to give RB Leonard Fournette 300 carries this year and have their top wide receiver see only 100 targets or less.

Westbrook could see the most targets on the team as their slot receiver option, but New England Patriots WR Wes Welker used to see 145-170 targets when he was dominating that position. The Jaguars do not throw the ball enough or stretch the field enough for Westbrook to have a monster impact in 2019. He will be fantasy viable some weeks, but not a weekly play due to their power running scheme.

Mike Williams (WR – LAC)
My one criticism of this offense is that they do not involve enough people in the offense, even though they have a very deep pool of offensive talent. WR Keenan Allen had 136 targets last year, second on the team among wide receivers was WR Mike Williams with 66 targets. The year before, Allen had 159 targets and second among wide receivers was WR Tyrell Williams with 69 targets.

Even though Williams had 11 touchdowns on 66 targets, that is an unsustainable pace and the Chargers have not shown in two years with Anthony Lynn as head coach that they are willing to spread the ball. Mike Williams has WR3 appeal due to his touchdowns scoring ability. Unfortunately for him, Allen is too heavily targeted compared to the other wide receivers for anybody else to have a consistent fantasy impact.

Kenyan Drake (RB – MIA)
Offensive Coordinator Chad O’Shea spent the last decade in New England and one thing that the Patriots were never afraid to do is utilize multiple running backs in their Erhardt-Perkins scheme. It appears they are willing to do that again this year, as there is talk that Miami will make Kalen Ballage the starting running back this year.

Drake has a ton of ability, but he can only score fantasy points if the Dolphins give him the ball. He only had five games with double-digit carries last year and that could continue to be an issue with a new coaching staff this year if they make Ballage the starting running back.

Sony Michel (RB – NE)
The Patriots have had five running backs finish the season as their leading rusher in the last six seasons and the only one to go back-to-back years was RB LeGarrette Blount in 2015 and 2016. Bill Belichick will not hesitate to go with different running backs and even though Michel was the 25th ranked running back in his rookie season and he built on that with a monster postseason, there is no guarantee that holds up this year.

RB Damien Harris is receiving positive reviews early in training camp and RB James White will be involved in the passing game. New England leaned on the running game more last year, but the unpredictability of the Patriots scheme makes Michel a risky bet to be a top-20 fantasy running back in 2019.

Le’Veon Bell (RB – NYJ)
Adam Gase does not have an easy to label offense, he has worked both in West Coast and Air Coryell and his offense employs parts of both schemes. Both are friendly for dual-threat running backs that can excel as both running and receiving options, but Gase has also shown that he likes to employ a running back by committee.

In the last four seasons, the offenses Gase has employed have seen a running back top 220 rushing attempts and 900 yards rushing only one time. Bell would seem to be the lead back this year, but if he struggles from being away from football for a year or struggles behind a bad offensive line, Gase has shown he is not afraid to use an RBBC when the offense is not working. That is bad news for Bell owners that will be taking him in the first round.

Tyrell Williams (WR – OAK)
Jon Gruden runs the West Coast Offense in its more traditional Bill Walsh form and that means a lot of throws to running backs and tight ends and not as much stretching the field with the vertical passes. Williams is a vertical threat, which does not make him an ideal fit in this offense. He is also going to struggle in an offense that has not really been friendly for two wide receivers in the same season.

The last time Gruden had two 1,000-yard receivers on the same team was back in 2001 with Jerry Rice and Tim Brown. Gruden was out of football from 2009 to 2017, but that is eight straight seasons without having two 1,000-yard receivers. The Raiders may be better on offense this year with a second year under Gruden, but the scheme and the lack of talent make it unlikely that Williams has a big season as a free agent addition in Oakland.

Jordan Howard (RB – PHI)
The Eagles run a variation of the West Coast Offense that resembles the modern version used by Andy Reid. Doug Pederson loves to use running backs and the West Coast Offense utilizes the running back in both the running and passing game.

Their team has ranked 16th (2018), 13th (2017), and 10th (2016) amongst fantasy running backs the last three years. Their highest-ranked running back in those three seasons was Ryan Mathews back in 2016, which was 24th in fantasy points scored in standard leagues that season.

Howard is going to be fantasy relevant this year, but there is a chance that Miles Sanders, Corey Clement, and Wendell Smallwood could also be relevant. Howard is not going to be the back he was in Chicago the last three years in an offense that utilizes many different running backs.

DK Metcalf (WR – SEA)
Offensive Coordinator Brian Schottenheimer tends to utilize a more run-oriented scheme and that played out last year when the Seahawks passed the ball only 427 times and they ran the ball 534 times. That really makes it hard for multiple wide receivers to thrive in the offense when the ball sees the air only 427 times.

Doug Baldwin was the most targeted wide receiver in the offense last year and he saw only 73 targets in 13 games. Tyler Lockett was next with 70 targets. There will be a role to fill with Baldwin retiring this offseason, but this is going to be a ground and pound offense that throws the ball sparingly this year. Lockett will be a WR2 with upside, but there will not be enough balls in the air for Metcalf to make an impact, even if he is running with the starters early in training camp.

Corey Davis (WR – TEN)
I thought Davis had the potential to be a star when he was drafted back in 2017, but it just has not been in the cards his first two seasons. They have tried to embrace modern passing concepts, but they are hamstrung by QB Marcus Mariota’s inability to progress as an NFL quarterback, which has been in large part due to injury.

They promoted tight ends coach Arthur Smith to offensive coordinator when former offensive coordinator Matt LaFleur left to be the head coach in Green Bay. They’ll probably try to build on some of the McVay concepts that LaFleur brought to the building, but they ran the ball 456 times and passed it only 437 times last year. Davis saw only 112 targets, which is not enough for him to be an elite fantasy receiver on a team likely to feature Derrick Henry running the ball over feeding Davis in the passing game.

Dwayne Haskins (QB – WAS)
Jay Gruden utilizes the West Coast Offense with his own variations added into it, but any scheme needs a good quarterback running it to be successful. They decided not to sign QB Kirk Cousins to a long-term deal in the 2018 offseason and they allowed him to walk in free agency. They traded for QB Alex Smith who suffered a career-threatening injury last year. Now they have drafted Haskins and they need him to be ready to start in Week 1 of his rookie season.

This team is loaded with running backs, they have Adrian Peterson, Chris Thompson, and Derrius Guice all fighting for playing time. Expect this to be a conservative offense built on running the ball and short passes to the running backs, slot receivers, and tight ends until Haskins is ready to play with a more open playbook.

Did I mention that the franchise tackle Trent Williams is holding out and may not play this season? This could be among the worst passing offenses in the NFL this year, which really hurts anybody in the Washington passing game.

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Derek Lofland is a featured writer at FantasyPros. For more from Derek, check out his archive and follow him @DerekLofland.