2020 NFL Draft Guide: Coaching Systems -- NFC East

Let’s continue our coverage of each team’s coaching scheme.

If you didn’t catch the divisions already covered, just click the links below:

AFC East (this page also includes a glossary of offensive and defensive schemes)

AFC North

AFC South

AFC West

Let’s head on over to the other conference and see what we have there.

NFC East

Dallas Cowboys

Offensive Breakdown: After nine years of Jason Garrett, Jerry Jones finally made the change impatient Cowboys fans have been clamoring for as the team has won just one playoff game since 2009. But rather than go with one of these hot, young names we have seen stem off the Sean McVay coaching branch, he went a little old school and brought in veteran coach Mike McCarthy who took 2019 off after a bitter divorce ended his head coaching tenure with the Packers. Proponents of coaches who embrace analytics were disappointed, but rumor has it that McCarthy spent his time off studying the numbers and is prepared to embrace more of the new offensive techniques we are seeing around the league.

The offense will continue to be based in McCarthy’s west coast roots, but he is looking to merge styles with his OC Kellen Moore, whose plans are based in Garrett’s Air Coryell scheme. McCarthy opted to retain Moore so the Cowboys, who are in a win-now mentality, did not need to re-invent the wheel. Imagine the best of both worlds here – a heavy lean on the run is a priority, a mix of RPO and short, high-percentage passes to help move the chains and more play-action with a better vertical passing game downfield. If it sounds like a pretty typical offense for the modern NFL, it is.

McCarthy likes to run an up-tempo offense and give his quarterback a lot of say in what plays are run, though the plays from which Dak Prescott will choose on each drive come from a bucket filled by McCarthy and Moore, though Moore will actually be the one on the field calling the plays. It’s just a matter of Prescott reading the defense and choosing the right play to run. If McCarthy, Moore and Prescott are in lock-step, this offense should continue to be one of the most productive in the league.

Players Who Fit the System Best: Dak Prescott , Ezekiel Elliott , Amari Cooper , Michael Gallup

Defensive System: 4-3 with multi-front looks and zone coverage

Defensive Breakdown: Dallas went old school again with Mike Nolan who hasn’t been a DC since he was in Atlanta back in 2014. While he hasn’t been away from football, Nolan, like McCarthy, has spent the past five seasons as a linebackers coach (Chargers and Saints), learning how to better utilize the position in both pass-rushing and coverage. The team brought in Gerald McCoy and Dontari Poe to clog the middle of the defensive line and free up the outside lineman for more aggressive blitzing and pass-rushing.

As for coverage in the secondary, the Cowboys will work in zone coverage the majority of time, but could go into man-coverage depending on the opponent’s scheme and strength of receivers. Normally, Nolan likes to mix Cover-2 and Cover-4 and he’s a big proponent of his safeties ball-hawking and jumping routes. A failed attempt could lead to a big play for the offense, but that seems to be a risk Nolan is willing to take.

Players Who Fit the System Best: Gerald McCoy , Jaylon Smith , Ha Ha Clinton-Dix

New York Giants

Offensive Breakdown: Cowboys fans can hate on Jason Garrett all they want because he failed to consistently bring them to the playoffs, let alone to a Super Bowl, but this is fantasy we’re talking about and Garrett had the Cowboys offense running beautifully last season. They ranked in the top five of passing, rushing and receiving yards, while ranking sixth overall in total points scored. But alas, it was their defense that routinely let them down. This season, Garrett doesn’t need to worry about defense and he can remain focused on the offensive front with his new team.

Garrett runs a traditional Air Coryell offense that is predicated on the power run, quick timing routes and more vertical play from his receivers. However, since working with Dak Prescott , Garrett has started to infuse more RPO as well to help keep the defense off-balance. He is going to install that same scheme in New York and, even better, he has the personnel to do it, especially in the up-tempo style Garrett likes to run.

The Giants offensive line has been improved dramatically and they will move forward with the zone-blocking scheme to keep Saquon Barkley active early and often in games. Just like Garrett had with Ezekiel Elliott , but with one added bonus now that Barkley is a better pass-catcher and can be more elusive out on space.

Grounded in the running game, the Giants offense should open up a lot more which will allow this passing attack to further blossom. Golden Tate and Evan Engram are precision route-runners, Sterling Shepard has routinely found success across the middle and Darius Slay ton gives the team that deep threat they need to stretch the defense. If Garrett can help nurture the development of Daniel Jones, this offense is exactly what you need to invest in.

Players Who Fit the System Best: Daniel Jones, Saquon Barkley , Darius Slay ton, Evan Engram

Defensive System: 3-4 with multi-front looks and man-coverage

Defensive Breakdown: While the base of the Giants new defensive scheme is 3-4, you can expect a lot of different multi-front looks in an effort to improve coverage and the pass rush. The Giants secondary, despite the addition of James Bradberry , is still lacking, so going with a 3-3 or even a 4-2 front will allow the Giants to use an extra defensive back. The key is going to be how disruptive Dexter Lawrence can be on the defensive line. If he is everything the team expects him to be, then we could be looking at Markus Golden being stronger in the pass-rush or even getting Deandre Baker some help against three or four-receiver sets.

Players Who Fit the System Best: Dexter Lawrence, Blake Martinez , James Bradberry

Philadelphia Eagles

Offensive Breakdown: Well this is going to be interesting, to say the least. We’ve all known for years that the Eagles’ offensive scheme – West Coast with an infusion of RPO – has been Doug Pederson’s and how he dislikes relinquishing play-calling duties, but this year’s changes, most notably the lack of an offensive coordinator, could either be genius or blow up in his face. Probably no in-between here. Rather than maintain an OC, Pederson has opted for the “too many cooks in the kitchen” philosophy and has an arsenal of coaches and assistants monitoring the offense. Marty Mornhinweg has a long history of success at the NFL level, but Rich Scarangello’s last stop was Denver where he failed to get that offense humming the way an NFL offence should be. Still, they are just monitoring for Pederson. Throw in a passing game coordinator and a running game coordinator and some assistants to those guys and you’ve got quite a large coaching staff. Will it work? We’ll see.

The important thing to know is the base scheme. Traditional west coast has the quick, high-percentage pass-plays to help move the ball downfield which will eventually open up the bigger chunk-plays downfield. Jalen Reagor offers up as a nice complement to DeSean Jackson for the deep work and should also be able to help across the middle. the RPO infusion will help keep the ground game running and keeping defenses on their heels. Pederson likes to rotate his backs in, so while Miles Sanders is expected to lead in touches, Boston Scott and possibly even Corey Clement , will stay active.

Players Who Fit the System Best: Carson Wentz , Miles Sanders, Jalen Reagor, Zach Ertz

Defensive System: 4-3 with Cover-2 and man-coverage

Defensive Breakdown: Jim Schwartz found success when he changed the Eagles defense to a 4-3 base with multi-front tendencies and rotated in his incredible line depth to continuously attack the opposing quarterback. He also dropped an extra linebacker into coverage so not to over-pursue in the pass-rush and stopped using the Cover-2 zone in the secondary as often as he did. The tilt towards more man-coverage helped prevent the big plays that had continuously plagued them in previous seasons. Schwartz also likes to focus on the turnovers and has his team trying to strip the ball at each and every turn. They’ve been plenty aggressive since changing the scheme and it’s proven to be highly successful.

Players Who Fit the System Best: Fletcher Cox , Davion Taylor, Darius Slay , Nickell Roby-Coleman

Washington Football Team

Offensive Breakdown: While the arrival of Ron Rivera has sparked tremendous change in Washington’s front office and team, overall, he is not the guy who is running the offense. Rivera has always been a defensive-minded coach and usually puts the offense into the hands of a capable coordinator. He had Mike Shula running the show for a number of years and then handed the reis over to Norv Turner. Last season, Turner was let go from his responsibilities but his son Scott, who was serving as the team’s QB coach, took over. There were some who criticized the younger Turner’s excessive reliance on screen passes to Christian McCaffrey , but he did manage to get more out of some of his other playmakers, most notably Curtis Samuel .

Rivera knows he doesn’t have the luxury of McCaffrey, but he is going to work with Turner in focusing on the ground game early and allowing it to set up the pass. He’s got Derrius Guice , Adrian Peterson and now a versatile pass-catching back in Antonio Gibson, so look for them all to get involved in the action. From there, you’ll see the quick timing-routes which will eventually open things up for the deep passes. Turner has tremendous speed in his somewhat limited receiving corps as both Terry McLaurin and Steve Sims can stretch the field with the best of them. But don’t forget about the gimmicks Turner ran in Carolina. You’ll see reverses and jet sweeps as well which, with as much pre-snap motion Turner likes to use, will confuse some defenses, at least early in the game.

This offense, like everything else with Washington, will be a work in progress. Not a lot of greatness for fantasy right now – McLaurin, Sims, Guice (if he can stay healthy) and Gibson could be good, but it’s all going to hinge on the development of Dwayne Haskins under center. Keep your fingers crossed.

Players Who Fit the System Best: Antonio Gibson, Terry McLaurin , Antonio Gibson

Defensive System: 4-3 with multi-front looks with both Cover-3 and man-coverage.

Defensive Breakdown: Strong move by Rivera to bring in Jack Del Rio to be his DC this year as they come from similar coaching philosophies and have very similar styles. The front-seven is where it’s at for Washington’s defense as it is loaded with robust talent. From rookie edge-rusher Chase Young to Jonathan Allen on the interior to bringing in the volatile Reuben Foster and Rivera-favorite Thomas Davis . They’ll likely stay in the 4-3 the most to get as much as they can in the pass-rush, but look for them to possibly pull back at times to get that extra defensive back in the secondary, which seems to be this defense’s Achilles heel. The mix of zone and man coverage should help the right side of the field which could be their most vulnerable area, but with Landon Collins drifting over or adding the extra DB, they should be ok.

Players Who Fit the System Best: Chase Young, Jonathan Allen , Thomas Davis