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

One of the most underrated features found in Fantasy Alarm’s Fantasy Football Draft Guide is this article series on NFL coaching systems. Maybe I’m biased as the author, but over the years, I have learned more about football and subsequently won more money and more fantasy football championships the deeper I dive into learning about NFL coaches, their schemes, personnel packages and tendencies. 

You can look at a fantasy football rankings list and see who we like better, but without understanding why some players are ranked higher than others, your success rate will always be capped. The knowledge you can attain by reading through this series will prove to be invaluable.

It’s not just about having a strong draft and hoping for the best. Understanding which players fit best into their respective schemes will allow you to unearth a variety of fantasy sleepers, avoid the busts and not be one of those people who lives and dies by the fantasy football ADP. Test it out in a fantasy football mock draft and you’ll see for yourself! It also takes you further in-season as well. Absorbing all of this information will help you make better lineup decisions each week as well as help you make better choices on the waiver wire. 

Anyone can look at a receiver’s stat line in Week 1 and empty out their FAAB wallets to get him, but someone with a knowledge of NFL systems will allow you to determine whether this player is actually worth the add or if he was just a one-week wonder. To win a championship, strong waiver work is half the battle, so keep reading and bring that gun to your league’s knife fight.

As always, if you need to refer back to the glossary of system terminology and personnel packages, you can find it here in the AFC East Systems article. It’s always good to make sure you have it handy in case you run into a question or two as you dive into the next division.

2024 Fantasy Football: NFC North NFL Coaching Systems

Chicago Bears

Bears Offensive Breakdown

As far as team makeovers go, the Bears really went for it this offseason and the results should be positive. We’re not running out to stack our fantasy rosters with their players, but with new OC Shane Waldron running the offensive show, there are definitely some encouraging elements to explore. He spent plenty of time working alongside Sean McVay to perfect his version of the west coast offense and then took that to Seattle where he made them surprising contenders. His presence and the offseason acquisitions give us hope that the Bears are no longer a desolate wasteland of untapped potential.

Waldron likes to use the pass to set up the run and will rely on short, high-percentage passes to help move the chains downfield. He believes in getting his team out of the huddle and to the line very quickly so that both he and rookie quarterback Caleb Williams will have time to read the defense and make any necessary adjustments. It’s no different than what McVay did with Jared Goff and then Matthew Stafford, but potentially more important here as Williams is learning on the job.

With high-end wideouts DJ Moore and Keenan Allen, who are also strong and precise route runners, the short-passing game should be both efficient and effective. Adding in rookie Rome Odunze should also be big for Williams’ development, though we still view him as the Jaxon Smith-Njigba of Chicago in that the hype is great, but the opportunities will not be as abundant as fantasy managers would like. Still, his presence and ability to help stretch the field will only help the rest of the offense as defenses won’t be able to ignore him.

On the ground, it’s a little less enticing. The team brought in D’Andre Swift who I would expect will be considered the RB1 for this team, but he’s not a between-the-tackles kind of guy and we’ve now watched him get bounced out of both Detroit and Philadelphia. He starts out like a house of fire and then slowly fades away the rest of the season. Even his work in the passing game diminished over the final few weeks last year. Both Khalil Herbert and Roschon Johnson should factor into Waldron’s plans, but we’re likely looking at “not a big enough role to use in fantasy, but big enough to screw up Swift’s fantasy value.”  

• Players Who Best Fit The System: DJ Moore, Keenan Allen
• Worst Fits For The System: Cole Kmet

Bears Defensive Breakdown

• Defensive Front: 4-3 Base
• Secondary: Cover-2 Base With Man & Other Zone Mixes
  • Man Coverage: 20% (22^nd)
  • Zone Coverage: 78.9% (11^th)

Longtime defensive line coach Eric Washington returns to Chicago after years spent between Carolina and Buffalo as both a D-line coach and a coordinator, so the experience he brings to the table will be incredibly valuable. However, keep in mind that this is still head coach Matt Eberflus’ defense and he and Washington will work very close together. Last year, Eberflus took over defensive play-calling duties after his DC was fired for inappropriate emails, but he should turn the reins back over to Washington.

If you’ve ever been around Bears players or their fans recently, then you should be familiar with Eberflus’ HITS system. It’s an acronym that stands for Hustle, Intensity, Takeaways and (playing) Smart; something he developed while working with veteran coordinator Rod Marinelli. They are the four keys to his defense and based on how this Bears defense has transformed, it seems to be working.

Neither Eberflus nor Washington are heavy into blitzing, but they don’t need to be. With guys like Montez Sweat, DeMarcus Walker and even linebacker T.J. Edwards, they generate enough pressure that they don’t need to be. It helps, also, that second-year defensive tackle Gervon Dexter has been focusing on his run-stopping in the offseason and having Tremaine Edmunds in the middle to oversee it all allows the edge rushers to focus on the task at hand.

In the secondary, we can expect a strong lean towards Cover-2 zone, but with the line’s ability to stand up to the run, the Bears are likely to drop six or seven back into coverage. Cornerback Jaylon Johnson, coming off an outstanding season, could be tasked with some shadow-coverage depending on the matchup, but with so many guys in coverage, we’re probably going to continue seeing a variety of zone packages to help disguise the coverage. It’s a strong crew and they should be able to do some ball hawking and help create additional turnovers.

• Players Who Best Fit The System: Montez Sweat, Jaylon Johnson
• Worst Fits For The System: Gervon Dexter

Detroit Lions

Lions Offensive Breakdown

This is an exciting time to be a Lions fan as well as a fantasy owner who wants to invest in their players. Knock head coach Dan Campbell all you want for his attitude and desire to eat people’s kneecaps, but this guy is getting the job done. Promoting Ben Johnson to offensive coordinator ahead of the 2021 season has proven to be a great move while Aaron Glenn continues to run a tight ship on defense. The most telling aspect of how improved the coaching culture is here can be found in Johnson removing his name from head-coaching consideration during the offseason because they had unfinished business here in Detroit.

The offense is actually quite simple. People often equate the Erhardt-Perkins system with the Patriots and assume the offense is complex, given the multiple passing options and possibilities with each play, but the Lions do a fantastic job keeping everyone on the same page. They’ve blended some elements of a spread offense in order to stretch the defense horizontally and provide Jared Goff with multiple options. In fact, Goff averaged just over six targeted receivers each game which was one of the highest in the NFL.

To aid in this plan to spread things around, we expect to see the route tree of Jameson Williams expanded. Amon-Ra St. Brown will be the most-targeted receiver of the group, but Williams’ potential increase in role and target share might eat into the targets of tight end Sam LaPorta. We may also see increased usage of Jahmyr Gibbs in passing situations while complementary field-stretchers like Kalif Raymond and Donovan Peoples-Jones also make their appearances. The key for this passing attack is simply to get the ball out of Goff’s hands quickly, so with so many options per play, he should be able to find someone open rather quickly. But make no mistake – this offense is run-first and, if they are winning, run-last. 

Johnson likes using both inside and outside-zone blocking concepts and, ultimately, prefers to rotate multiple backs. His scheme is designed so that defenses cannot hone in on a play based off the personnel on the field. He has no trouble pushing Gibbs between the tackles or sending David Montgomery to the outside edge. However, Campbell has also gone on record saying he prefers to use one guy for the bulk touches and then feed the other guy in a complementary role. Maybe that was last year and his increased usage of Gibbs as a runner tells a slightly different story, but it’s tough to imagine this being a true 50/50 timeshare. And the fact that Montgomery goes so much later in drafts makes me want to invest in him over Gibbs. Both will see plenty of work, though.

• Players Who Best Fit The System: Jahmyr Gibbs, David Montgomery, Amon-Ra St. Brown
• Worst Fits For The System: Sione Vaki, Tre'Quan Smith

Lions Defensive Breakdown

• Defensive Front: 3-3-5 With Multi-Front Looks
• Secondary: Cover-2 Man
  • Man Coverage: 27.1% (10^th)
  • Zone Coverage: 72.4% (22^nd)

The Lions play a 3-3-5 base formation in an effort to ensure plenty of pass coverage, but also as a way to really disguise where the pass rush is coming from. Aidan Hutchinson is an absolute beast and will be a disruptive force for the opposition, but they also added Marcus Davenport who, if he stays healthy, could be just as exciting from the other side. 

The key to the front six is the middle. Defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn loves to blitz, so in order to free up the pass rushers without becoming insanely vulnerable to the run, one of their top priorities this offseason was a top run stopper. Enter DJ Reader, who will do just that. Coupled with the versatility of Alex Anzalone, the Lions middle should be tough to push through. The secondary will run in the same fashion as the last few seasons. 

Glenn prefers to have his outside corners in man coverage and then use Cover-2 in the middle, keeping two safeties up high. The issue, though, has been personnel. Glenn was a fantastic corner in his playing days, but they haven’t had anyone who has really thrived in man coverage. They went out and added Carlton Davis via free agency and drafted Terrion Arnold, so the hope is they can lock it down on the outside. If they can, then Brian Branch won’t have to always worry about being pulled out of his zone to help out. 

• Players Who Best Fit The System: Aidan Hutchinson, DJ Reader, Jack Campbell
• Worst Fits For The System: Carlton Davis, Ifeatu Melifonwu

Green Bay Packers

Packers Offensive Breakdown

This is Matt LaFleur’s sixth year as the Packers head coach, the third for offensive coordinator and the second full year as a starter for Jordan Love, so we aren’t looking at any real changes to the overall scheme from what we saw last year. LaFleur likes to run a west coast offense, have the run set up the pass and mix in plenty of RPO work to keep the defenses guessing. We see a lot of play action which freezes the safeties and linebackers and also gives Love extra time to make his read and find his receivers downfield. Overall, the simplicity of things helps this offense be more effective.

The ground game is vital to the Packers success and LaFleur has always made its importance known. Even when Aaron Rodgers was under center, we routinely heard about the two being at odds because Rodgers would routinely change the play at the line and keep the ball for himself. Love is not that guy, and he has fully bought into the system, so when the Packers swapped out Aaron Jones for Josh Jacobs, our ears started to perk up.

LaFleur typically runs an inside-zone blocking scheme, but we could see some power/gap blocking mixed in as that is a system in which Jacobs has seen tremendous success. The Packers have some big boys on the offensive line, so having them adjust shouldn’t be too much of an issue. Watch how things look in training camp, but LaFleur knows how to bend in order to get the desired results so don’t expect him to be so rigid.

As for the passing attack, the Packers will utilize the short, high-percentage passes akin to a traditional west coast offense in order to continue moving the chains and set up the deeper passing downfield. Between the play action and the RPO work, Love should have ample time to make the necessary adjustments after the snap, which is important because the Packers like to use read-and-react routes. That means each receiver has multiple options for each route and adjusts on the fly depending on the coverage. It took Love and his wideouts a little time last season to get into a groove, but once they did, everything clicked, right down to their upset of the Cowboys in the playoffs.

• Players Who Best Fit The System: Jordan Love, Jayden Reed, Romeo Doubs
• Worst Fits For The System: Josh Jacobs (if they don’t adjust the blocking scheme at all)

Packers Defensive Breakdown

• Defensive Front: 4-3 Base With Multi-Front Looks
• Secondary: Mix Of Cover-1 & Cover-2 Zones
  • Man Coverage: 22.7% (17^th)
  • Zone Coverage: 76.0% (17^th)

It’s a new era for the Packers defense as former Boston College head coach Jeff Hafley joins the staff as the new defensive coordinator. Prior to his four-year tenure at BC, Hafley spent seven seasons as an NFL defensive backs coach between Tampa Bay, Cleveland and San Francisco, so this isn’t some young, inexperienced guy coming in. He knows exactly what the Packers need to do on this side of the ball and his scheme is ready to fix what’s been broken for so long.

In Hafley’s system, the Packers will move to a 4-3 base. The Packers have long used three down linemen and with their run defense ranking among the worst in the league over the last five seasons, this change was a must. With four down linemen, each one will be able to attack a single gap with the linebackers and safeties filling in the rest. This should be a huge boost for the interior guys.

The work in the secondary should be matchup based. Hafley used Cover-3 when he was working for the 49ers and spent most of the time at Boston College using a single-high Cover-1 scheme. A hybrid of the two seems likely, but he may also utilize some man coverage at times, given the strengths of Jaire Alexander and Eric Stokes on the outside.

Overall, we should see strong improvements for the Packers on defense. Hafley also likes to blitz a lot more than former DC Joe Barry, so expect an aggressive style with a heavy focus on stuffing the run.

• Players Who Best Fit The System: Kenny Clark, Xavier McKinney, Jaire Alexander
• Worst Fits For The System: T.J. Slaton, Keisean Nixon

Minnesota Vikings

Vikings Offensive Breakdown

This is certainly going to be an interesting season for the Vikings. Kevin O’Connell and Wes Phillps are planning on changing the scheme, but they are certainly going to have to make some changes based on the personnel. The two biggest changes come at quarterback and running back, obviously both integral positions, so while the general system will stay in west coast style, they’re going to have to make a few immediate adjustments to their run/pass distribution.

It starts under center as Kirk Cousins is gone and we still aren’t sure J.J. McCarthy will be ready to open the season as the starter. That means we’re looking at Sam Darnold early. Not that Cousins was chucking the ball downfield a ton before he got hurt (he ranked 30^th in aDOT among qualified QBs last year), but with Darnold and McCarthy, we can expect the short-passing game to be in full effect. 

One of the adjustments they made last year, which we are almost certainly going to see this season, is the increased use of two-TE sets. With Cousins, the Vikings spent most of their time in 11-personnel. They would splash in some 12-personnel, but not to the extent they used it after Cousins suffered the Achilles tear. With Darnold and/or McCarthy, we expect to see them utilize more 12-personnel throughout the season which will also help keep the defenses thinking they may run the ball more.

As for the ground game, I expect it to be a work in progress. O’Connell and Phillips are big proponents of using the pass to set up the run, but they also know they need to run the ball more in an effort to set up more play action. Though his time on the field has been limited, Darnold has been at his best using play action and it will also help McCarthy as it freezes the linebackers and the safeties which gives him more time to read what is happening on the field.

Aaron Jones takes over as the lead back which should be an improvement over last year’s Alexander Mattison/Ty Chandler tandem, but still not an ideal situation. O’Connell and Phillips have gone back and forth between power/gap and zone blocking and never quite settle on one over the other. Mattison was their zone runner while Chandler was usually the guy the Vikings used in power/gap situations. That led to some predictability based on the personnel on the field and defenses keyed in on that. 

Jones thrived for years in Green Bay’s zone-blocking scheme, so we may see some of that predictability once again. As I said, a work in progress. Fantasy owners will have to watch things closely over the course of training camp. Justin Jefferson will still get his mammoth target share, Jones has some potential, Hockenson is still recovering and we don’t know when McCarthy will be ready. Follow the current ADP for now, but be wary of drafting anyone outside of Jefferson for the time being.

• Players Who Best Fit The System: Justin Jefferson, Aaron Jones (in zone schemes), T.J. Hockenson
• Worst Fits For The System: J.J. McCarthy, Jordan Addison

Vikings Defensive Breakdown

• Defensive Front: 3-3-5 With Multi-Front Looks
• Secondary: Cover-0 & Match-Zone
  • Man Coverage: 17.6% (26^th)
  • Zone Coverage: 81.2% (7^th)

At least we get some continuity on defense here in Minnesota. Brian Flores is one of the best and his ability to adapt and evolve his schemes always makes this unit a dangerous one. They’ve had some personnel changes, but Flores’s system is specifically designed to crowd the line of scrimmage, confuse the opposing quarterback and force as many mistakes as possible.

Up front, Flores prefers to use a 3-3-5 set-up with six guys in the box and only three or four pass rushers. For this to be effective and to not get burned by the run, he has his defenders overload the offensive gaps which not only creates added pressure, but also confuses the opposing quarterback on RPO plays. He’ll have his safeties on the line showing blitz but then pulls them back into coverage when the ball is snapped, which leads to a lot of turnovers, especially with an inexperienced quarterback.

In the secondary, Flores prefers to have his players in man coverage, but his struggling personnel last year forced him into more zone situations, which we will probably see a lot of once again. Byron Murphy and Shaquill Griffin are not the strongest of corners and are likely to struggle in a lot of one-on-one situations, so expect more match-zone work in an effort to not give up the big plays, something that routinely burned them last season. At least their safeties are strong, though Harrison Smith is definitely getting longer in the tooth and may not have the speed we’ve been used to seeing.

• Players Who Best Fit The System: Dallas Turner, Harrison Smith, Jonathan Greenard
• Worst Fits For The System: Byron Murphy, Shaquill Griffin

2024 Fantasy Football: Related Draft Guide Articles

Check out our other 2024 fantasy football draft guide articles for more tips and guidance as you get ready for the upcoming campaign:

• AFC North Coaches & Systems
• NFC East Coaches & Systems
• NFL Injury Report
• NFL Players On New Teams