🎠 A Busy Day On The Coaching Carousel

Did you happen to notice the Super Bowl logo has Taylor Swift’s face hidden in it…

In today's Fantasy Life Newsletter presented by Money:

The AFC and NFC Championships are this weekend, but it’s the NFL coaching carousel dominating headlines this week.

Coaching moves are at an all-time high with not a single active offensive coordinator hired before 2022.

Here’s a quick roundup of everything that transpired on that front yesterday…

🤥 Arthur Smith Coming To An Offense Near You?

Let’s play a game with the following post: actual NFL report or Onion headline?

Arthur Smith receiving interest from “more than 7 teams” has big “my girlfriend goes to another school” energy.

Still, I shudder with fear just thinking about ‘ol Arthur destroying another offense filled with fantasy gold.

📈 The Titans land their new Head Coach

After shocking the league by parting ways with Mike Vrabel, the Titans have found their next head coach in Brian Callahan.

Callahan has served as the Cincinnati Bengals offensive coordinator for the past five seasons and orchestrated impressive output during that span:

• 26.1 points per game (7th in the NFL)

• 360.5 yards per game (8th)

• 265 passing yards (5th)

The big test will be whether he can carry over his success from Joe Burrow to a lesser talent in Will Levis, but considering that the Bengals offense stayed afloat with Jake Browning at the helm there’s reason for optimism.

📰 Miscellaneous coaching updates…

• The Eagles have now fired both their OC and DC with the release of Brian Johnson. Nick Sirianni will be replacing both positions this offseason.

• The Chargers are close to getting a deal done with Jim Harbaugh to be their next head coach.

• Texans OC Bobby Slowik remains a hot commodity on the interview circuit.

• The Panthers might poach Dave Canales from the Bucs.

• The Packers parted ways with DC Joe Barry this morning.

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Some players know how to turn it on in the playoffs. Today, Ian celebrates those playoff heroes…

“Big-time players make big-time plays in big-time games.”

Santana Moss was right then and he’s right now. Regular-season success is cool and all, but legends are truly made when players manage to ball out when the lights shine brightest in the playoffs.

That brings us to today’s goal: Remembering the top-five greatest individual playoff stretches since 2000 ranked from No. 1 to No. 5 based on my own agenda (and stats, but yeah).

These were truly some great days to be great.

♨️ Cardinals WR Larry Fitzgerald (2008-09)

Larry Legend lived up to the name during his magical 2008 postseason run. Somehow, Fitz caught 30-of-42 targets for 546 yards and seven (!!!) scores in four incredible playoff performances.

No one in NFL history has more receiving yards (546) or receiving TDs (7) than Fitz during a single playoff run – and the eye test was somehow even better than the numbers.

While the Cardinals would ultimately fall just short due to some Ben Roethlisberger-Santonio Holmes heroics, Fitzgerald’s postseason stretch for the ages has stood the test of time and deserves to be considered one of – if not THE – single-best playoff runs the game has ever seen.

♨️ Rams WR Cooper Kupp (2021-22)

Kupp’s historic triple-crown 2021-22 regular season somehow got even sweeter in the postseason when he went NUCLEAR in four consecutive matchups.

A Cardinals defense that had limited him to his worst performance of the season back in Week 4? Five catches, 61 yards and a TD.

What about the Buccaneers, who had allowed the fifth-fewest points per game and hadn’t allowed a QB to clear 300 yards since September? 9-183-1 – including an unbelievable last-second bomb to clinch the win.

Surely a 49ers squad that had already beaten the Rams twice and was widely considered one of the game’s best units could limit him? 11 receptions, 142 yards and a pair of scores.

And just when you thought the man couldn’t soar any higher: Kupp posts an 8-92-2 performance against the Bengals, caught the game-winning score and won the f*cking Super Bowl MVP.

Overall, his 478 receiving yards and six scores are second all-time to only Fitzgerald during a single playoff stretch. Of course, the ring and postseason hardware makes everything that much sweeter for Kupp, who shined brightest when it mattered most.

♨️ Ravens QB Joe Flacco (2012-13)

If you thought Flacco’s 2023 campaign was good, wait until you get a load of what he managed to pull off during four consecutive Ravens victories during their Super Bowl-winning 2012-13 campaign.

• vs. Colts: 282 pass yards-2 TD-0 INT

• vs. Broncos: 331-3-0

• vs. Patriots: 240-3-0

• vs. 49ers: 287-3-0

The most memorable throw from the entire ordeal was Flacco’s miracle 70-yard TD to Jacoby Jones which probably should have been intercepted by Broncos S Rahim Moore if we’re being honest with ourselves.

Regardless, Flacco found a way to out-duel Andrew Luck, Peyton Manning, Tom Brady and Colin Kaepernick in four consecutive weeks. Mind you, Kaepernick was just one game removed from putting up his own legendary playoff performance against the Packers (263-2-1 passing, 16-181-2 rushing).

Overall, Flacco joins Patrick Mahomes (2021), Joe Montana (1989) and Kurt Warner (2008) as the only QBs to ever throw for at least 11 TDs in one playoff stretch – and Montana is the only other one to do so with zero INTs along the way. The performances understandably helped fetch Flacco a six-year, $120.6 million deal in addition to his fancy new ring and Super Bowl MVP trophy.

📊 Where should Breece Hall go in 2024 drafts? A Way-Too-Early Mock Draft.

🤔 Can you guess the team who finished dead last in pass attempts? I bet not…

🎯 Offseason prep starts now. 4 TEs you should buy before 2024.

🦓 The officiating crew for the Super Bowl. Time to do some scouting.

✍️ Our final multi-game slate of the season. Freedman’s Favorites for the Conference Championships.

🤯 There’s no way this team had two Top 10 WRs, right? Right?!?!

☄️ The Raiders land a new general manager. From a division rival.

🧂 Will the Bills shake things up this offseason? Doesn’t sound like it.

The fantasy football season might be over, but we are NOT ready to unplug. Cooterdoodle is here to keep our minds in check by asking the age-old, evergreen question: “What Now?”

❓ What Now: Ask Questions

Over the next six months, you’ll find arguments to support all sorts of different draft strategies and fantasy football takes. 

While I believe it’s better to consume too much information than too little, there is a caveat: You must ask questions. That is, you can’t hold anything as universal truths.

Consume. Interpret. Ask Questions.

🧐 Question: Is it an outlier?

Take the ‘zoom out’ approach when gathering information. 

Sure, CMC scored more fantasy points than EVERYONE except for Josh Allen and Jalen Hurts this year, but that’s not indicative of the RB position as a whole. The next RB on the year (Raheem Mostert) scored 100 points less than McCaffrey. Wowza.

CMC is not only the goat - he is the outlier. And if you’re on the fence about trying the Zero RB method next season, it’s important to be aware of these extremes. 

🧐 Question: Is it out of context?

To continue with our rushing example, let’s look at the Top 6 fantasy point finishes (.5 PPR) at the RB position in 2023:

• Christian McCaffrey 357.8

• Raheem Mostert 255.2

• Travis Etienne 253.4

• Breece Hall 252.5

• Joe Mixon 241

• Kyren Williams 239

Pretty sweet! Points are great, right? Eh… Kind of. While looking at point totals on the year can give us valuable information, it only gives us what it gives us. 

Total points is a measure void of other data points that can provide additional clarity and context.

What about player injuries? What about big games that inflate totals? How does a player’s floor factor into our decisions when drafting a RB in 2024? 

Here are some added data points for our six RBs and their performances:

With this information, we can better visualize how Kyren was still able to finish with a high total on the year, even after missing six games.

When he played, he very rarely underperformed. This, combined with his extremely late ADP in 2023, is why many fantasy players would call Williams a ‘league winner’ this season. 

It also explains why Kyren is currently sitting at 1.08 in Matthew Berry’s “Way, Way Too Early Top 50 Rankings for 2024”, while going basically undrafted in 2023. 

And while the table above provides additional context, it doesn’t even begin to take into account other factors, such as player age, utilization, coaching changes, team acquisitions, etc… The list goes on. 

From a fantasy manager perspective, you aren’t expected to aggregate all of that data. You shouldn’t have to do all of the work. That’s what FantasyLife.com is for! (I am a company woman, after all.) But you need to make room for curiosity. As long as you’re asking questions as you consume, you’re on the right path toward making better decisions come draft day.