When it comes to Special Teams, few fantasy football owners really take the time to investigate beyond kickers or, in some cases, return specialists. But if you take a deep dive into the coordinators -- who they are, what players they've been credited with helping and what the expectations are, suddenly you're not just selecting your defense based on the previous season's rankings or your kicker based on whether he kicks in a dome or not. The nuances aren't huge, but when most casual fantasy players pick their favorite team's D/ST or kicker for the fun of it, a more in-depth research approach can be the edge you need. Not to mention, for those who do love to play D/ST Bingo and rotate the units based on weekly match-ups, the chart below should help you make some decisions throughout the year. And don't forget, there's a lot to be said about a coordinator when a new coaching regime moves in and he's the only hold-over from the previous coaching group.
| 2019 | Team | 2018 | Coordinator | Years | Commentary |
| Rank | Rank | w/ Team | |||
| 1 | Cincinnati Bengals | 7 | Darrin Simmons | 17 | Though he's been working with the Bengals Special teams unit for 17 years, this will be his eighth with the Coordinator title. Not that it really matters much as he's been credited with a vast number improvements on this team. And, obviously, it says a lot about a guy when a first-year head coach takes control and doesn't even consider bringing in his own guy. He is credited for the Pro Bowl seasons for LS Clark Harris and he helped guide undrafted free agent Alex Erickson to the AFC kickoff return title in 2017. He is also credited for his return work with Adam Jones and coverage work for Cedric Peerman during their Pro Bowl years as well. If your league scores for return yards, keep the Bengals on your radar, for sure. |
| 2 | Kansas City Chiefs | 2 | Dave Toub | 6 | Before Kansas City, Toub had the Bears special teams unit ranked in the top-third for eight-straight years. He worked closely with rookie Harrison Butler during his 2017 rookie campaign and the Chiefs led the league with 41 field goals that year, 38 of them from Butker alone. He is also credited for working with Tyreek Hill on punt returns, helping him to finish the year with25 returns for 204 yards and one touchdown. In addition to his job as the Special Teams coordinator, he was promoted to Assistant Head Coach last season and retains that title this season. The added responsibility obviously had no negative impact on the Special teams unit's performance. |
| 3 | New Orleans Saints | 9 | Darren Rizzi | 2 | Rizzi had some big shoes to fill as he replaced one of the most revered special teams coaches in Mike Westhoff who retired from coaching after the 2017 season, but clearly he was the man for the job as he turned a top-10 special teams unit into a top-3 group that diominated everywhere from kicking to punting to return coverage. Rizzi has likely entrenched himself in the role and should continue to work this unit into proper shape for the upcoming season. |
| 4 | New York Jets | 1 | Brant Boyer | 5 | Nine-year NFL coaching veteran who expects a lot of his players, especially penalty-free play. In his last three years as the head of the Special Teams unit, the Jets committed just 26 penalties on special teams, the lowest in the NFL. He oversaw a career-year for second-year punter Lachlan Edwards last season and worked with kicker Chandler Catanzaro to improve to a 83.3% success rate on field goals and 100% success rate on extra-points. As the only holdover from the previous regime, you have to expect similar performances out off the Jets Special Teams this year. |
| 5 | Houston Texans | 5 | Brad Seely | 3 | He did a fantastic job turning around the Texans Special Teams unit as they finished as a top-5 unit last year fot eh second straight season. He's a 31-year coaching veteran in the NFL and seems to always make an immediate impact. For the Texans, the biggest improvement was in their coverage on kickoffs which shouldn't be much of a surprise if you know Seely. His coverage units on both kickoffs and punts have always been strong -- just look at the numbers during his three years with the Raiders prior to landing the job in Houston -- so if you want to know which team is winning the field-position battle regularly, look to the Texans this season. |
| 6 | Jacksonville Jaguars | 4 | Joe DeCamillis | 6 | This is his 31st year as a coach in the NFL and was the only hold-over from the previous regime when Doug Marrone took over as the head coach. His special teams unit was one of the few that opend the season in the overall top-10 and remained as such throughout the entire season for a second year in a row. In 2018, his unit ranked first in kick return average (17.8) and second in punt return coverage as the opposition netted just five yards per return. His kicker, Josh Lambo , before closing the season on IR, had a 90.5 FG% and was the first in franchise history to finish back-to-back seasons with a percentage of 90 or more. Given the improvements on offense, Lambo looks to have a busier season. |
| 7 | Washington Redskins | 8 | Nate Kaczor | 2 | After spending three seasons as the Special Teams coordinator for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Kaczor was brought in by Jay Gruden and helped the team maintain its place inside the top-10. Gruden cited the intensity he saw in the Bucs' unit when they played against each other and hoped to bring that same level of intensity to the Redskins players. Kaczor is credited for his work with punter Brian Anger who set franchise records back in 2016 in both punts inside the 20 (37) and net punting average (42.7), both top-five in the NFL. His coverage units were also lauded, particularly Josh Robinson who, in 2016, tied for third in the NFL with 12 solo special teams tackles and led the punt coverage unit to a ranking of fourth overall in the NFL. He is the only holdover from the Gruden regime as Ron Rivera likes what he sees. |
| 8 | Pittsburgh Steelers | 27 | Danny Smith | 8 | Smith, a 23-year veteran of the NFL coaching ranks, enters his eighth season as the Steelers special teams coordinator and has typically had them atop the rankings each and every year. The 2018 season was an outright disaster which can likely be attributed to all the struggles they had in their kicking game, but last season they got that aspect solved and back on-track. In addition to an improved kicking game, the coverage team really turned things on with the addition of Minkah Fitzpatrick . Smith prides himself on his coverage units and with Fitzpatrick and some rising stars on the ST unit, the Steelers returned to the top-10 after one season out. |
| 9 | Baltimore Ravens | 6 | Chris Horton | 1 | Horton has some big shoes to fill as he replaces longtime ST coordinator Jerry Rossberg. Under Rossberg, the Ravens have had six special teams players reach the Pro Bowl, including K Justin Tucker , LS Morgan Cox (twice each) and punter Sam Koch. Tucker remains a a top kicker to draft each season and the Ravens continue to be strong with regard to the opposition's average field position each season. Horton has been with the club for seven seasons and while he played a big role last year, this is his first full season leading the group. His work under Rossberg will be on display this year as the Ravens are expected rto be a top-10 unit once again this season. |
| 10 | Detroit Lions | 19 | Braydon Coombs | 1 | Despite finishing in the top-10 in the Special Teams rankings, the Lions opted to release John Bonamego and brought in Coombs who spent the last 10 seasons with the Bengals. He worked as an assistant coach to the legendary Darrin Simmons and will bring that fire and spirit to the Lions. Matt Patricia is on the hot seat this year, so he needs to feel comfortable with all his coordinators and locking down the ST unit was a priority. |
| 11 | New England Patriots | 16 | Cameron Achord | 1 | After spending the last two seasons as an assistant ST coordinator under Joe Judge, Achord takes the reins this season and will maintain everything that pushed the Patriots Special teams unit to the cusp of the top 10. Not having the security of a Stephen Gostkowski has made it a little more challenging, but the team has managed to show improvements across the board both in the return game and the coverage units. Achorddoesn;t have a whol elot of experience at the NFL level, but he's got a strong football acumen and should be able to keep this unit at, at least, teh same level. |
| 12 | San Francisco 49ers | 14 | Richard Hightower | 4 | This will be Hightower's fourth season as the 49ers special teams coordinator, but had also been with them as an assistant back in 2015 before being hired by the Bears in 2016. He's done a great job with the team's punting unit, both in working with punter Bradley Pinion and the return coverage, and is expected to continue improving the unit this year, hopefully landing them in the Top 10. Not a big leap to make given their performance over the last two years. |
| 13 | Chicago Bears | 26 | Chris Tabor | 3 | This is Tabor's third season as the Bears special teams coordinator and actually his second sstint with the team. He previously served as an assistant special teams coach for Chicago from 2008 through 2010 and then took the special teams coordinator job with the Browns, a position he held for seven seasons. Tabor is credited for his work with return man Tarik Cohen who earned Pro Bowl honors in 2018 and led the NFL in punt return yardage. Tabor's coverage units have always been solid and he should continue to help the Bears special teams improve over the course of the next season. |
| 14 | Minnesota Vikings | 20 | Marwan Maalouf | 3 | Before taking the coordinator job with the Vikings last season, Maalouf had been an assitant on special teams with the Dolphins since 2013 and had been credited with much of the work that led the Dolphins to a regular top-10 ranking, including fourth overall back in the 2017-18 season. He's been a part of numerous successful coverage teams and should help bring some stability to the Vikings special teams. Consider them a solid option heading into this season. |
| 15 | Cleveland Browns | 31 | Mike Priefer | 2 | How good was Priefer as a ST coordinator last year? He took the Browns from the 31st ranked unit to the 15th in just one season and is the only holdover from the Freddie Kitchens regime. Before coming to Cleveland ion 2019, Preifer had spent the previous seven seasons as the special teams coordinator for the Vikings. Before that, he split time between the Broncos and Cheifs in the same capacity, rounding out 13 strong seasons at the special teams helm. He's been credited with improving the performances of players like David Tyree, Blair Walsh , Chris Hanson and return-specialist Cordarrelle Patterson , all of whome have received Pro Bwl honors. He certainly has his work cut out for him this season, but the Browns are a team on the rise and their special teams units should ascend with the rest of the team. |
| 16 | Indianapolis Colts | 12 | Bubba Ventrone | 3 | Ventrone was a former special teams player who was well-travelled around the NFL with stops in New York (Jets), Cleveland, San Francisco and twice with the Patriots. He was hired as an assistant special teams coach by the Patriots in 2015 and after three seasons, was offered the coordinator job by Frank Reich and the Colts. His 15 years of experience in the NFL are going to continue to help him, though the pressure is still on to return Indy to a top-10 ranking in special teams once again. |
| 17 | New York Giants | 3 | Thomas McGaughey | 3 | What a turnaround for the Giants after picking up McGaughey as their Special Teams coordinator. A lot of credit going to him for kicker Aldrick Rosas ' Pro Bowl season as well as punter Riley Dixon 's franchise-record of 41.8 net-yard average on 71 punts, due to both his blocking schemes and return coverage. He's received praise for his work with special teams coverage units at every stop in his career, beginning as an assistant with the Broncos and Giants and leading to full coordinator status with the Jets, 49ers, Panthers and now again with the Giants. It's no wonder Joe Judge kept him on staff when he took over. |
| 18 | Green Bay Packers | 28 | Shawn Mennenga | 2 | New head coach Matt LaFleur went with a relatively fresh face for his first tour as the Packers head coach and based on the improvement we saw with the Packers ST unit, he made a wise choice. Mennenga was the special teams coordinator for Vanderbilt University in 2018, but prior to that, he served as an assistant coach on special teams with the Browns underneath Chris Tabor where the team really thrived with their punting unit. Mennenga will work dilligently to keep this unit moving up the rankings and has the potential to bring them into the top 15 by year end. |
| 19 | Philadelphia Eagles | 15 | Dave Fipp | 8 | He's been entrenched as the coordinator since 2013 and since that first season, the Eagles have an NFL-leading 12 special teams touchdowns. While their ranking has dropped over the last three seasons, Fipp is very well-known for running a tight ship and getting results from his players. Expect an improvement by the end of the 2020 season. |
| 20 | Seattle Seahawks | 24 | Brian Schneider | 11 | Schneider has been at the helm of the Seahawks special teams since 2009 and in that time, his units have ranked fourth in the NFL in touchdowns/safeties scored, second in takeaways and third overall in blocked kicks. They struggled with a rookie punter in 2018 and an aging, veteran kicker, but a fresh start with a unit returning numerous players should allow for some improved continuity this season. They won't be your favorite unit in the NFL, but from a fantasy standpoint, they should suffice as a final-round selection. |
| 21 | Buffalo Bills | 32 | Heath Farwell | 2 | With Danny Crossman leaving in 2018, the Bills went with Farwell who had only served as a special teams assistant, two years with Seattle and one with Carolina, during his short coaching career. But Harwell was a standout on special teams during his playing days in both Seattle and Minnesota and helped the attitude and image of a unit that ranked dead-last just two season ago. This isn't where you want to go for fantasy purposes, but you may want to keep the unit on your watch list should farwell turn into a Coach of the Year candidate. |
| 22 | Miami Dolphins | 21 | Danny Crossman | 2 | New head coach Brian Flores did himself a favor by bringing in Crossman to head up the special teams unit last season. An 18-year NFL special teams coach veteran, Crossman has been lauded for turning around units in Carolina, Detroit and despite the team's rank of 32 in 2018, Buffalo as well. Expect an aggressive style in return coverage which could lead to some decent turnover numbers, though he will have to keep the unit disciplined so that aggressiveness doesn't result in an abundance of penalties. |
| 23 | Los Angeles Rams | 17 | John Bonamego | 1 | Goodbye, John Fassel and hello, John Bonamego. The veteran special teams coordinator was released by the Lions after just one season and he now lands with Sean McVay and the Rams. Fassel's ST unit declined last year and while we're not going to say Bonamego is the be all, end all, he does have the experience and wherewithal to improve this team's ST unit. Obviously losing a guy like Greg Zeurlein can have a major impact, but Bonamego has always done well with his kickers and perhaps will do so once again. |
| 24 | Denver Broncos | 30 | Tom McMahon | 3 | He's a 28-year coaching veteran at the NFL level, but McMahon has only headed up special teams units over the last 13 seasons with stops in St. Louis, Kansas City and Indianapolis. The results can be tough to see, but the Broncos unit has gradually improved in a variety of ways from FG defense to punt coverage and should continue to improve with another season to implement his philosophies. Consider this group a unit on the rise this season. |
| 25 | Las Vegas Raiders | 22 | Rich Bisaccia | 3 | When Jon Gruden took over in Oakland, now Las Vegas, he immediately brought his former Bucs special teams man over with him, yanking him away from the Dallas Cowboys where he served in the same role. Bisaccia is an 18-year veteran of the NFL coaching ranks and was also given the title of Assistant Head Coach, so you know Gruden puts all of his trust into him. And rightfully so as Bisaccia has seen tremendous success over the years, helping guide the Cowboys to two NFC East titles during his tenure while also keeping the special teams unit as a top-10 ranked unit. The Raiders are rebuilding here so don't worry about the ranking drop last season. They'll be back towards the top in no time. |
| 26 | Arizona Cardinals | 11 | Jeff Rodgers | 3 | Rodgers has been a Special Teams coordinator in the NFL since 2010, making stops in Carolina, Denver and Chicago, before arriving in Arizona last season. Head coach Kliff Kingsbury not only retained him from the previous regime, but also made him an Assistant Head Coach, so the respect is obviously there. Rodgers took over the Cardinals special teams and immediately turned things around, as evidenced by the rankings climb from 28th in 2017-18 to 11th last season according to DVOA numbers. He's been praised for his work with punter Andy Lee who set a franchise single-season record with a 48.6-yard punting average, so count on the Cardinals for winning that battle for field possition. |
| 27 | Tampa Bay Buccaneers | 29 | Keith Armstrong | 2 | Armstrong took over the Bucs special teams after spending the previous 10 seasons in the same role with the Atlants Falcons. The kicking game was always highly-ranked, though Matt Bryant probably deserves most of that credit. However, Armstrong was certainly responsible for helping the Falcons punting unit which was one of the top coverage units in the league for multiple seasons. We saw some minior improvements from the Bucs ST unit last season and can probably expect more growth here in 2020. |
| 28 | Atlanta Falcons | 10 | Ben Kotwica | 2 | Kotwica, a veteran ST coordinator who has been praised for his work with kickers and kick-return units, is likely on the hot seat after the Falcons dropped from being a top 10 unit to, well, pretty darn close to the bottom of the barrel. The Falcons have been working on improving their defensive personnel and that should trickle down to special teams as well. If it doesn't, Kotwica will be out on his ass just as quickly as Dan Quinn. |
| 29 | Tennessee Titans | 13 | Craig Aukerman | 3 | Aukerman has actually been with the team for four years now, the first as an assistant, but quickly moved up the ranks and has been the coordinator for the last three years. The unit has been incredibly consistent during his tenure, including a new NFL record for kickoff return average (32.0) in 2018, making them the first team in league history to average more than 30 yards per kickoff return. Expect more of the same from this unit this season. |
| 30 | Dallas Cowboys | 23 | John Fassel | 1 | Fassel is a strong veteran special teams coordinator who spent the previous eight seasons with the Rams. The unit's ranking dipped significantly with the loss of kicker Greg Zeurlein and there were other injuries as well, but rather than give the coach the benefit of the doubt, they sent him packing. One man's trash is another man's treasure and now Fassel takes over a Cowboys unit in dire need of some change and discipline. Fassel had Zeurlein brought in and the team will roll with him this season, so they're already moving in the right direction. |
| 31 | Carolina Panthers | 18 | Chase Blackburn | 5 | This is Blackburn's fifth year with the Panthers but just his third as the coordinator. He obviously has done tremendous work as he is the only hold-over from the Ron Rivera Era and he should continue to work towards improvement as the Panthers get younger and regroup from some of the losses they took via free agency and juast plain old aging-out. |
| 32 | Los Angeles Chargers | 25 | George Stewart | 4 | While Stewart is a 31-year veteran of the coaching ranks, this is just his fourth season as the Chargers special team coordinator. Prior to that, he spent 10 years as the Vikings wide receivers coach. He is credited for his work with Travis Benjamin as a punt returner as well as with punter Drew Kaser who ranked third overall in punting average during Stewart's first year. Overall, the unit has steadily improved over Stewart's tenure and should continu etheir upward trajectory this season, barring any catastrophic changes to their kicking unit, something they struggled with for years prior to Stewart joining the team. |