As it stands for the moment, the NFL is playing its season in full come September. As the season approaches, I’m going to be taking a look at the landscape of the NFL, position by position, over the course of the next several weeks. We’ll be talking about the who’s who of the NFL in our own little version of the NFL Network’s “Top 100 Players” bit they do every year. Up first, we’re talking about the top 10 NFL offensive coordinators for 2020!
THE TOP 10 NFL OFFENSIVE COORDINATORS FOR 2020
10. Pat Shurmur, Denver Broncos – Shurmur is out as a head coach, and back in a role he may be better suited for anyway. Not to mention, he has a load of talent to work with in Denver. This Broncos offense should be fun to watch.
9. Tom Clements/Kliff Kingsbury, Arizona Cardinals – Look, I’m going to be honest – when it comes to who the “true OC” is in Arizona, I have no idea. They’ve got some sort of tandem deal in effect that sees Kingsbury as the head coach and Clements as the passing game coordinator. But, the bottom line is that this unit has to be mentioned on this list, because they have some special cooking out there in the dessert. There’s a reason players are calling Kingsbury a “mad genius,” and now he has DeAndre Hopkins at his disposal? There was no reason this team should’ve been as competitive as it was in 2019 – I expect them to really make a push in 2020.
8. Arthur Smith, Tennessee Titans – If I had put Smith on this list a year ago, you would’ve called me a stark raving mad lunatic. But, there’s something to be said for figuring things out as you go, and that’s just what Smith did his first year on the job. As he got better in 2019, the Titans ascended to one of the best offenses in the league (that no one seems to be talking about).
7. Brian Schottenheimer, Seattle Seahawks – With Marshawn Lynch and the Legion of Boom era behind him, Pete Carroll had to get creative to reinvent the Seahawks. Schottenheimer came aboard in 2018 and helped rebuild the Seahawks running game and reshape what the Seahawks do around Russell Wilson. It’s working so far.
6. Greg Roman, Baltimore Ravens – It’s hard to argue with the results that the Ravens got with longtime coordinator Roman calling offense in Baltimore. They had the best record in the AFC, ran the ball at a historic rate, and Lamar Jackson earned MVP honors. Not a bad first year in Baltimore.
5. Jason Garrett, New York Giants – Okay, okay – grill me if you must. But, I’m a big time believer in this staff that Joe Judge has put together. Garrett has experience as the architect of some good Cowboys offenses and the Giants have some big time weaponry in Saquon Barkley and a building block quarterback in Daniel Jones. With Garrett, this Giants offense could take the next step in 2020.
4. Josh McDaniels, New England Patriots – McDaniels is perennially a head coaching candidate because of his ability to consistently retool that Pats offense. With a dire lack of play-makers on offense, McDaniels was tasked with getting the most of what he had in 2019, and though the Pats had some serious questions on offense, they found a way to put points on the board. He’s bound to be a head coach again.
3. Doug Pederson, Philadelphia Eagles – Pederson is one of my favorite play-callers in the NFL. He’s just so creative with his personnel, and that unit always seems to get it done. This year, they’ve added some new weapons for Carson Wentz, so they should be one of the league’s best offenses.
2. Kyle Shanahan, San Francisco 49ers – Maybe the 49ers offense isn’t quite as loaded with talent as the Chiefs, so considering that fact relative to where this team ranked in terms of offense is an indicator of just how good Shanahan is at calling plays. He’s one of the brightest offensive minds in the game today.
1. Eric Bieniemy, Kansas City Chiefs – Andy Reid rightfully gets a lot of credit for turning the Chiefs into a Super Bowl champion. But, that offense has really kicked into another gear since Bieniemy assumed the position in 2018 – Patrick Mahomes was MVP that year, and the Chiefs won the Super Bowl the next. This guy is going to make for a fine head coach one day – some even think he might be the coach-in-waiting for Reid’s eventual retirement.
OTHER 2020 NFL TOP 10S
Stoney Keeley is the Editor in Chief of The SoBros Network. He is a strong supporter of Team GSD and #BeBetter. “Big Natural” covers the Tennessee Titans, Nashville, and a whole wealth of nonsense. Follow on Twitter @StoneyKeeley
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