Fantasy Football Draft Guide 2024: NFC East Coaches & Their NFL Systems

When it comes to your fantasy football draft prep, learning the different NFL coaching systems is paramount to your success. Not only will it help you understand more about what a team is doing, it will also teach you which players will be the most productive for fantasy. And really – isn’t that what a fantasy football draft guide is supposed to do?

Every run-of-the-mill draft guide will provide you with fantasy football rankings and give you a few players they like, but how much does it teach you about those players and their roles in an offense? If you’ve been a Fantasy Alarm #FAmily member over the years, you’ve heard me say it over and over: you can give a man a fish and he’ll eat for a day but teach a man to fish and he’ll eat for a lifetime. That’s what we do here. Learning the different coaching systems will not only help your decision-making process on Draft Day, but it will also help you make better lineup decisions each week as well as better fantasy football waiver wire choices.

If you missed the general overview of NFL schemes and personnel packages, you can find them in the AFC East Coaching breakdown. You should bookmark that page for easy reference. Once you have your base knowledge, we can move forward into the schemes of the NFC East division!

2024 Fantasy Football: NFC East NFL Coaching Systems

Dallas Cowboys

Cowboys Offensive Breakdown

After four years of Kellen Moore’s offense, head coach Mike McCarthy felt the team was in need of a change and a switch at offensive coordinator was made to NFL nepo-baby Brian Schottenheimer. The handwriting was already on the wall actually as Baby Schott was brought in the year prior to serve as a coaching analyst, so the transition was an easy one. He spent the 2022 season analyzing the offense, evaluating the personnel and had likely already been designing the scheme we saw in place last year. That kind of prep work led to one of the most productive passing offenses in the league.

Schottenheimer’s “pass-first, pass-often” philosophy was a huge success as the Cowboys ranked eighth in pass attempts, third in passing yards, third in “deep pass” rate and first overall in points scored. They used a lot of three and four-receiver sets to spread out the defense, relied on their running backs and tight ends to handle the underneath work and focused on both deep passing and high-percentage passing that improved their “yards after the catch” totals.

Schottenheimer’s offense is based in the Air Coryell system which means this passing game is all about timing. Dak Prescott and his receivers need to be on the same page at all times because he is actually throwing to a spot on the field where his receiver is supposed to be, as opposed to throwing directly at the receiver. They spent the majority of their time in 11-personnel, but mixed in a variety of packages, including a significantly greater amount of 10-personnel than the league average. Given the structure of this team here in 2024, it doesn’t look like there will be any real changes to the passing attack.

The running game is where there could be a problem and saying “could” might be wildly understating the situation. Last season, they switched from an outside-zone blocking scheme to more inside-zone. That means, instead of looking to run it outside the tackles and beat the edge rushers up field, they look to have the runner cut back in towards the guard. While they had made improvements on the offensive line, their personnel – Tony Pollard – just wasn’t cut out for either the scheme change or the full workload. 

Rico Dowdle had a few nice moments, but as the team said goodbye to Pollard, they opted to bring back Ezekiel Elliott. He fits the blocking scheme better, but he’s more of an ideal fit for this scheme five years ago. His workload is going to be monitored throughout the season, Dowdle will be splashed in as a complement, but overall, this is not a ground game in which to invest. Maybe a late Zeke pick if you’re chasing short-yardage touchdowns, but it’s tough to look at this backfield and feel confident.

Overall, for fantasy purposes, you’re going to want to stick to the passing game. Dak Prescott and CeeDee Lamb lead the charge and with the way Dak loves to hit the tight end inside the red zone, Jake Ferguson is certainly in play. We’ll see if they can get Brandin Cooks more involved this season than they did last, but you might want to avoid the fringe players here and let the Cowboys fan in your league overvalue them.   

• Players Who Best Fit The System: Dak Prescott, CeeDee Lamb, Jake Ferguson
• Worst Fits For The System: Rico Dowdle, Deuce Vaughn

Cowboys Defensive Breakdown

• Defensive Front: 4-3 Base With Multi-Front Looks
• Secondary: Man-to-Man Press Coverage
  • Man Coverage: 35.3% (4^th)
  • Zone Coverage: 63.3% (29^th)

While the Cowboys offense will remain the same, we have some significant changes to the defense which starts with a coordinator change from Dan Quinn to Mike Zimmer. Both are fantastic defensive minds, but they run very different schemes. How the Cowboys personnel reacts and adjusts to the changes will be vital to their success in wins and losses.

It starts with the front seven as this is the bread-and-butter to Zimmer’s defense. He likes the 4-3 base with heavy blitzing, but we’ll also see him turn to a 4-2-5 formation on obvious passing downs. He’ll sacrifice a linebacker in the middle of the field as opposed to his defensive line. The battle at the line of scrimmage is key for Zimmer. He is focused on stopping the run and putting heavy pressure on the quarterback on passing downs. You’ll see a variety of disguised blitz packages, but make no mistake, the line is going to be aggressive. That works well for guys like DeMarcus Lawrence and Micah Parsons, but the interior linemen are going to have to really step up their game.

In the secondary, while Quinn was heavily invested in a Cover-3 zone, Zimmer prefers press-man coverage from his corners while using the safeties in the middle of the field in zone coverage. Both Trevon Diggs and DaRon Bland are going to be put to the test early and we are likely to see some growing pains. We’ve already seen Diggs struggle deep against some of the faster wideouts, so he is going to need to get very physical on the line to throw the receiver off his route and timing or Dallas will end up needing to float the safety in his direction on a regular basis, thus affecting the zone across the middle. 

• Players Who Best Fit The System: DeMarcus Lawrence, Michah Parsons, DaRon Bland
• Worst Fits For The System: Malik Hooker, Mazi Smith

New York Giants

Giants Offensive Breakdown

Despite two full seasons of Brian Daboll’s NFL system run by offensive coordinator Mike Kafka, this Giants offense remains very much a work in progress. They are making some headway with their personnel adjustments, but with the way this offense is set up, it all comes down to their quarterback play and whether or not Daniel Jones is up to the task. It’s difficult to look at last year and say things aren’t working, considering Jones appeared in just six games, but this is likely a make-it-or-break-it season for the sixth-year veteran.

The Giants use a spread offense with three and four-receiver sets which, as it is intended, spreads the defense out horizontally and, while working out of shotgun formation, gives Jones some extra time to assess the coverage and find the best matchups. There were and are still plenty of deep shots taken downfield, but Daboll does like to use some west coast passing elements and runs a couple of short, high-percentage routes which allows the receivers to run in space and pick up significant yards after the catch. After not having a legitimate No. 1 receiver, Malik Nabers comes to town where he is going to be tasked as Jones’ top target.

Nabers’ route tree will incorporate all the elements of what Daboll wants to do and, if executed properly, will help boost those YAC numbers everyone desires. As for the rest of the receiving crew, it’s going to be difficult to invest in for fantasy. Darius Slayton and Jalin Hyatt are expected to be the deep threats used to stretch the field and we should see a lot of Wan’Dale Robinson working out of the slot to handle the short work and checkdowns. Hyatt and Slayton probably have the most allure, but likely only in large-field tournament best balls like the Best Ball Championships on RT Sports or Best Ball Mania V on Underdog. Late-round picks that could pop, that’s what they are.

As for the ground game, the Giants have, obviously, moved on from Saquon Barkley and replaced him with journeyman Devin Singletary. One of the reasons I don’t mind Singletary, at least at his current fantasy football ADP, is that he is reuniting with Daboll who was part of the staff that drafted him. When an NFL coach/coordinator goes back to the well like that, I always give a second look.

Another reason is the anticipated volume. Daboll likes to run the ball if he can. Last year, their rushing attempts dropped significantly, but that was more about their lackluster defense and playing from behind on the regular. But Singletary should see snaps on all downs and, much like Rachaad White in Tampa Bay last year, the volume should make him fantasy relevant. We’re not saying he’ll finish as a top-five fantasy football running back, but volume does a great job of masking mediocrity, so worrying about his yards per carry average or yards after contact numbers should be less of a concern given the overall workload.

In truth, there’s really not a lot to love for fantasy purposes here. But with the exception of Nabers, who has a composite fantasy ADP of 53.08 and goes as high as 26.70 in Underdog Fantasy Best Ball, no one requires a heavy investment on Draft Day. This offense will ride or die with Jones under center and, if he can take that next step all Giants fans are praying for, we might be more comfortable drafting its players. But until then, keep looking.

• Players Who Best Fit The System: Daniel Jones, Malik Nabers
• Worst Fits For The System: Jalin Hyatt

Giants Defensive Breakdown

• Defensive Front: 3-4 Base With Multi-Front Looks
• Secondary: Match Zone w/ Two-High Safety
  • Man Coverage: 36.3% (3^rd)
  • Zone Coverage: 63.2% (30^th)

If you missed the NFL offseason drama in January, then you might be wondering why the Giants would part with such a strong, defensive mind in Don Martindale. To sum it up, Daboll wanted to fire OLB coach Drew Wilkins and his brother, defensive assistant Kevin Wilkins, both of whom are personal friends of Martindale’s. He apparently got up from the meeting, cursed out Daboll and walked out. So now the Giants defense starts over with Shane Bowen who spent the last three seasons as Mike Vrabel’s defensive coordinator in Tennessee.

Bowen will have autonomy over creating and running his defense and has a proven track record of success. Last year, the Titans had the No. 1 defense in red zone scoring (allowed touchdowns on 37.7% of drives inside the 20), goal-to-go scoring (42.9% resulting in touchdowns) and third-down conversion rate in the red zone (23.4%). In addition, Tennessee ranked second in inside-the-30 touchdown efficiency (34.7%) and opponent third-and-short conversions (50.0%).

They’ll run a 3-4 base, but instead of rolling with four pass rushers like most teams, they want to bulk up the middle to plug the gaps at the line of scrimmage. This should be good for Dexter Lawrence, as well as Jordan Phillips, another Buffalo veteran brought in by Daboll’s team. They also brought in versatile defender Brian Burns who can drop back into coverage when needed but may also set up on the defensive line at times as well. They know they need to stop the run better, but don’t want to sacrifice too much in coverage, which is why you also won’t see a lot of blitzing.

As for the secondary, Bowen likes using a Cover-3 base, but also likes man coverage on the outside and use the pattern match system with one adjustment. Rather than going with one-high safety, he likes to use two to protect the middle of the field and have the flexibility to float safety help to one side of the field when needed. If you don’t have strong cover corners – I’d say their corners are middle-of-the-pack at best right now – then this leaves the middle of the field extremely vulnerable, especially against the run should that back find his way into the next level of the defense. The Giants did use some decent draft capital on rookies Dru Phillips and Tyler Nubin, but they’re going to need time to develop.

• Players Who Best Fit The System: Dexter Lawrence, Kayvon Thibodeaux
• Worst Fits For The System: Deonte Banks, Aaron Robinson

Philadelphia Eagles

Eagles Offensive Breakdown

After last season’s 1-5 finish over the last six games and subsequent early exit from the playoffs in the Wild Card round, head coach Nick Sirianni revamped his coordinators in the hopes of injecting new life into a team that collapsed as badly as this one did. On the offensive front, we say goodbye to Brian Johnson after one season and hello to veteran coordinator Kellen Moore. The Eagles are still very much about analytics and will continue to crunch the numbers throughout the season, but now they do it with Moore’s version of the Air Coryell offense.

It starts with the running game where Moore just got himself his ideal running back in Saquon Barkley. Moore likes to lean on a power run and considering the Eagles have routinely placed in the top six for rushing attempts over the years, there won’t be any arguments from up above. While we usually see Moore’s offense using the pass to set up the run, they’ll probably go back and forth, depending on the opponent. Barkley will be leaned on heavily, regardless, and he will almost certainly be featured more in the passing attack as Moore has blended his base system with some of the west coast elements he added while working with the Cowboys, and Barkley will get plenty of underneath routes to run.

As for the passing attack, Moore runs a much stronger vertical attack than the Eagles have used in the recent past. He lives in 11-personnel a lot more than the rest of the league, likes to spread the defense horizontally and uses a lot of pre-snap motion to gain separation and get a read on what the defense is thinking. This tilt towards an increased deep-passing game is going to be a major change from what Jalen Hurts and DeVonta Smith have been used to, but A.J. Brown knows it well and thrives.

Moore is also expected to use more RPO in his scheme than usual. He’s never had a quarterback who has the rushing ability of Hurts and having Barkley there with him is going to make things awfully complicated for the defense. Just imagine, as a defender, trying to figure out if Hurts is going to take off on his own, pitch it back to Barkley or drop the ball over their heads and into the arms of elite receiving talent. If everything runs at ideal conditions, this offense is going to be very difficult to stop. 

I’ll even give a nod to tight end Dallas Goedert. Granted, the guy can’t stay healthy and has missed anywhere from 3-5 games per season on average, but with the receivers running deeper routes, someone is going to have to handle the intermediate work. We watched Moore’s offense funnel red zone targets to Dalton Schultz in Dallas, and last season, Gerald Everett saw a 14.1% target share inside the 20. If Goedert can stay on the field, he’s going to be a solid fantasy football tight end at a bargain cost.

• Players Who Best Fit The System: Jalen Hurts, Saquon Barkley, A.J. Brown
• Worst Fits For The System: Kenny Pickett, C.J. Uzomah

Eagles Defensive Breakdown

• Defensive Front: 3-4 Base With Multi-Front Looks
• Secondary: Cover-2 Looks With Cover-3 & Cover-4 Mixed In
  • Man Coverage: 24.8% (14^th)
  • Zone Coverage: 74.6% (19^th)

The Eagles tried to replace Jonathan Gannon with Sean Desai last season but were happy to move on once they found out they could get Vic Fangio. The defensive wizard served as a defensive consultant back in 2022, but then headed to Miami where he revamped what turned into one of the strongest defensive units in the second half. Now he’s back and the Eagles and their fans couldn’t be happier.

Up front, Fangio uses a 3-4 base, but he loves the multi-front looks and is a master at disguising both coverage and blitzes. He likes to have four primary pass rushers, but all four need to be versatile enough to help stop the run, so he’ll move guys around and lure the offense into thinking they’re playing to stop the run. The offensive line then misses the outside rushers and the guys who fall back into coverage are primed to turn the ball over.

As for the secondary, the base looks like a Cover-2 with two high safeties, but as the play clock ticks down, he’ll move his defensive backs into Cover-3 and 4. It tends to mostly be Cover-4 where he has four deep zones and keeps the receivers in front of them. That tends to limit the number of downfield strikes the Eagles allow, something that helped lead to their downfall towards the end of last season. There may also be times, depending on the opposition, that Fangio will ask for press-man coverage by his corners in an effort to slow down faster wideouts. Once that happens, you’ll see the safeties fall back into more of a zone in the middle of the field.

• Players Who Best Fit The System: Jalen Carter, Jordan Davis, Avonte Maddox
• Worst Fits For The System: Devin White, Reed Blankenship

Washington Commanders

Commanders Offensive Breakdown

These are not your daddy’s Commanders, and they certainly aren’t your grandpa’s Football Team. We won’t go back further, but rest assured, this offense will not be like anything from back then either. Dan Quinn is a defensive-minded NFL coach and will turn the keys to the offense over to Kliff Kingsbury. Don’t cringe. Kingsbury has already gone on record that this offense should not be labeled as an Air-Raid offense and actually, towards the tail end of his time with Arizona, he was already eliminating elements of the Air-Raid scheme.

We’ll call the offense a hybrid of sorts, blending in pieces of Air-Raid with a spread/option offense. With a quarterback like Jayden Daniels under center, Kingsbury wants to use the quarterback’s legs and get more out of him than he did with Kyler Murray early on. That means we’re going to see plenty of RPO work, which helps freeze the edge rushers who won’t be able to fully commit to going after Daniels. Having that ability – to freeze the defense – will start to open up more downfield passing.

A supportive ground game is a must for any rookie quarterback and the Commanders knew that would begin with a revamped offensive line. Bringing in guys like Nick Allegretti and Andrew Wylie from the Chiefs, as well as former Cowboys center Tyler Biadasz, all of whom are highly-experienced zone blockers, was huge and will make things a lot easier on Daniels and the running backs.

The backfield work will be split as Brian Robinson will handle the bulk of the early-down work while Austin Ekeler leans into his role as the pass-catching back. They will obviously mix it up as we’ve seen Robinson catching passes before and Ekeler actually does well with outside-zone runs. The committee approach sucks for fantasy football, but if it makes Daniels a better QB and the receivers better fantasy options, so be it.

• Players Who Best Fit The System: Jayden Daniels, Terry McLaurin, Austin Ekeler
• Worst Fits For The System: Brian Robinson

Commanders Defensive Breakdown

• Defensive Front: 4-3 Base With Multi-Front Looks
• Secondary: Cover-3 Zone
  • Man Coverage: 26.9% (12th)
  • Zone Coverage: 72.1% (21st)

Now here’s where we get into Dan Quinn’s wheelhouse. Joe Whitt’s as well, as the two of them have been together for quite some time between Atlanta, Dallas and now here in Washington. They built this NFL system together, modifying plenty of what Quinn has done over the years, but Whitt is going to call the plays. One thing Quinn learned from his time in Atlanta is that, as the head coach, he needs to oversee everything and let his coordinators run their side of things.

The front seven will use a 4-3 base, but, over the years, Quinn has really embraced the need for multi-front looks. It enables him to move his best pass rushers all around and keep the defense guessing on where the pressure is actually coming from, especially with Jonathan Allen who has mostly played in the interior over the last few years. He and Dorance Armstrong should prove to be a formidable pair on the defensive line this season.

The secondary is where we expect to see the greatest change. The personnel is still meh, but Quinn was one of the original Legion of Boom architects in Seattle and Whitt was fantastic with the defensive backs in Dallas. We can expect a Cover-3 base, but the safeties are going to move all over the place based on what the front seven pass rushers are doing. You can expect a lot of hard hits and some serious ball hawking from newly-acquired Jeremy Chinn, and his presence will hopefully continue to elevate the other players who are here. 

• Players Who Best Fit The System: Jonathan Allen, Dorance Armstrong, Bobby Wagner
• Worst Fits For The System: Frankie Luvu, Benjamin St-Juste

2024 Fantasy Football: Related Draft Guide Articles

Take this opportunity to glance at some of our additional 2024 fantasy football draft guide articles for more advice and direction as you prepare for the upcoming campaign:

• NFL Players On New Teams
• NFL Target Chart
• NFL Injury Report
• Fantasy Football RB Rooms