Fantasy Football 2022: Five coaching changes with the biggest impact, including Mike McDaniel in Miami

Many factors go into projecting a player's Fantasy outlook, and one that often goes overlooked is the coaching scheme. In 2021, Nick Sirianni and Shane Steichen pivoted the Eagles from a pass-centric offense to one built around the run in the middle of the season and helped the offense take off. The Dolphins went with co-offensive coordinators from the outset, and the result was a mess of an offense that didn't look like it had a clear direction.

Before you set your 2022 Fantasy football rankings, you need to see what NFL and Fantasy expert R.J. White has to say about this year's coaching changes.

If you're a regular subscriber to SportsLine, you probably know White from dominating NFL picks for years, but did you know he actually got his start in sports media as a fantasy baseball and football analyst? He even finished No. 1 among all experts for his draft rankings the first year FantasyPros tracked MLB expert accuracy on their site. White has continued to excel at season-long and dynasty Fantasy baseball and football formats, and this year he's sharing his Fantasy expertise with SportsLine subscribers.    

This year, White believe the Dolphins made a great hire in Mike McDaniel to build an offense around young quarterback Tua Tagovailoa. "Tagovailoa should be a great fit for McDaniel's West Coast scheme, and he has a pair of dangerous weapons to feature in the passing game in Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle. The scheme and supporting talent should give Tagovailoa all he needs to take his game to the next level, and while he won't be drafted inside the top 12 of the position, I believe he'll finish in that range if he can stay healthy," White says.

Not every coaching change is a positive though. White has identified one new coach who could struggle to get his offense in place out the gate. You NEED to see who it is before you draft.

Which five coaching changes will have the biggest impact on 2022 Fantasy football? And which new head coach could unlock a breakout season for his starting running back? ... Join SportsLine right now to see the five most Fantasy-relevant offseason coaching changes, plus get the entire Fantasy Football Draft Bible for 2022!

Looking ahead to the 2022 Fantasy season, White has identified the five coaching changes that will be the most impactful for Fantasy football purposes, followed by five more coaching changes to keep an eye on.

Denver Broncos

New Head Coach: Nathaniel Hackett
New Offensive Coordinator: Justin Outten

Hackett will lean on the outside-zone scheme in the running game more than former Broncos OC Pat Shurmur, and we'll have to monitor how well the offensive line takes to that rise in prominence. Along with learning to play with a new quarterback, there could be an adjustment period for the offense early in the season, so the smart play may be to not buy in too heavily to the offense in preseason drafts, instead looking to scoop players up at value in trade talks after a few weeks.

While Hackett is a West Coast disciple, Russell Wilson is too good a deep passer for that not to be a core element to the passing offense. Throw in an excellent 50/50 ball receiver in Courtland Sutton, and it makes sense to try to create deep plays between the pair while leaning on Jerry Jeudy to carve up the short and intermediate areas and create yards after the catch, especially if Albert Okwuegbunam can establish himself as a dangerous threat in the middle of the field as well.

Ultimately, this will come down to Hackett giving Wilson the freedom to do what he does best, like he watched Matt LaFleur do in Green Bay, while playing to his elite quarterback's strengths. Be optimistic about this offense, especially later in the season, but be ready for a slow start as all the pieces find their comfort level with each other. That projected slow start means I'm not quite willing to put Wilson ahead of Jalen Hurts and Tom Brady at the top of the second tier at QB.

The presence of a legitimate threat at quarterback should open things up for Williams though, and I don't believe Melvin Gordon will limit his value as much as he did last year, making Williams worth grabbing in the eighth to 10th range at running back. While neither Sutton or Jeudy will likely skyrocket into WR1 territory if both remain healthy, both should be locked in weekly starters as WR2s. And don't forget to file Okwuegbunam and Tim Patrick away as sleepers in for the later rounds.

Jacksonville Jaguars

New Head Coach: Doug Pederson
New Offensive Coordinator: Press Taylor

The Jaguars were forced to hard reset their coaching staff and offensive philosophy after the disastrous tenure of Urban Meyer, and the man they tapped to lead the charge is a Super Bowl-winning coach who once upon a time got the most out of a young quarterback (and then a journeyman backup) to win the title. The key here will be the development of second-year quarterback Trevor Lawrence, and Pederson's history in Philadelphia -- plus the quality offensive staff in place around the most important player on the roster -- is reason enough to be optimistic in the former Clemson Tiger's future.

We'll be getting our first look at Travis Etienne in Week 1 (barring another devastating injury), and it's safe to say the Eagles will mix and match at the running back position with him and James Robinson whenever both are healthy, as no Pederson running back got 300 touches in a season with the Eagles. Etienne is a quality option particularly in PPR formats, while Robinson has thrived in difficult circumstances in his last two years and shouldn't be forgotten as a flex play in all formats.

It'll likely be tough to nail down a true No. 1 option at receiver, but Christian Kirk has the most potential to serve in that role for Fantasy teams. Where Pederson's scheme can elevate talent is at tight end, but it'll be up to Evan Engram to put a slow start to camp behind him and emerge as a reliable weapon in the offense. Pederson will also likely lean on 12 personnel quite a bit, so Dan Arnold has a chance to be on the field plenty and work his way into a key red-zone role for Lawrence.

Miami Dolphins

New Head Coach: Mike McDaniel
New Offensive Coordinator: Frank Smith

This is my top pick to be the most improved offense among those undergoing a change in leadership. Tua Tagovailoa should be a great fit for McDaniel's West Coast scheme, and he has a pair of dangerous weapons to feature in the passing game in Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle. The scheme and supporting talent should give Tagovailoa all he needs to take his game to the next level, and while he won't be drafted inside the top 12 of the position, I believe he'll finish in that range if he can stay healthy.

The Dolphins paid a big price for Hill to help unlock the offense, so we should expect him to be the focal point of the passing game, even after Waddle's excellent freshman season. While Hill can be had somewhat at a discount after spending time in recent years as the first or second receiver drafted in Fantasy, the fact that Tagovailoa isn't Patrick Mahomes may not prevent him from being a top-five Fantasy receiver who you can get closer to No. 10 at the position. Waddle is a solid target as a WR2 after 15 receivers come off the board.

The offensive line got better in free agency and should take to running McDaniel's zone-blocking concepts, and while Chase Edmonds was the big-ticket acquisition in free agency, Raheem Mostert has the experience in the San Francisco running game with McDaniel to thrive if he can stay healthy. Mostert makes for a great value pick later in drafts, and Edmonds is someone to target in PPR formats.

Minnesota Vikings

New Head Coach: Kevin O'Connell
New Offensive Coordinator: Wes Phillips

While O'Connell should bring a new playcalling philosophy and more modern approaches to the Vikings offense after his tenure with Sean McVay and the Rams, the good news is that the personnel in place should already fit what he's likely to do in the new scheme thanks to Minnesota's experience with play action and zone run. The biggest difference will be the prevalence of 11 personnel on the field, which makes K.J. Osborn an interesting sleeper who should see plenty of advantageous coverage with defenses having to worry about Justin Jefferson, Adam Thielen and Dalvin Cook.

Kirk Cousins is a quarterback who can complete a lot of passes and generally avoid mistakes, and his experience should make for a smooth transition to the new coaching staff. We could see Cook get a bump in targets in the passing game, which may make him a better PPR option than he was in the old scheme.

Jefferson remains one of the top talents in the league at receiver, and that would be true no matter the scheme or coaching staff in place. He has as good a chance as anyone to finish as the WR1. The upside of the offense as a whole, and of the Vikings writ large, could come down to whether Thielen, who will be 32 years old come Week 1, can stay healthy for a full year, as Minnesota isn't swimming in receiver depth. But any slack in the passing game a Thielen injury causes could instead be picked up by tight end Irv Smith, who is himself looking to stay healthy after a lost 2021. He'll be a popular later-round tight end pick by Fantasy analysts this August.

New York Giants

New Head Coach: Brian Daboll
New Offensive Coordinator: Mike Kafka

If coaching upgrades don't get much bigger than Meyer to Pederson in Jacksonville, jettisoning whatever it was Joe Judge was doing on offense late in the 2021 season for the guy that turned Josh Allen into an MVP candidate in Buffalo has to come pretty close. It's unfair to expect Daniel Jones to begin playing like an MVP under Daboll immediately -- or probably ever -- and the new coach also has the sins of the previous front office and a major shift in offensive scheme working against him when it comes to engineering a quick turnaround.

We should see a lot more three- and four-receiver sets for the Giants than we did last year, which makes sense after they didn't invest heavily in the tight end position and instead spent a second-round pick on yet another receiver to go with Kadarius Toney, Kenny Golladay and Sterling Shepard. If anyone is going to emerge as a No. 1 weapon in the offense, it could be Golladay, who managed to have a breakout year in a Darrell Bevell offense before losing most of his 2020 to injury and being Jason Garrett-ed in 2021. But more likely than not, trying to pin down the Giants' No. 1 receiver in any given week will be like playing whack-a-mole.

Saquon Barkley represents a big upgrade in talent from what Daboll worked with in Buffalo, and even though the new Giants coach should be implementing a pass-happy spread offense in New York, Barkley seems likely to be a big part of the week-to-week gameplan. He may be used less as someone to plow into the middle of the offensive line on first down and more as a dual-threat weapon who will try to be schemed into space. While Barkley has his own injury issues in his past, he is someone worth targeting if still available in Round 3.

More coaching changes to watch

Raiders HC: Josh McDaniels

McDaniels could bring the committee approach to the Vegas backfield, but Derek Carr's stock is on the rise after the addition of Davante Adams. The question is whether both players, along with Darren Waller and Hunter Renfrow, take to the Erhard-Perkins scheme McDaniels will implement. But the experience and talent at hand should be given the benefit of the doubt.

Bills OC: Ken Dorsey

The Bills will have to cope with losing one of the best offensive minds in football, and when that happens, there's nothing to guarantee the guy promoted to fill his role will be anywhere near as effective. Plus, Dorsey will have to balance appeasing Sean McDermott if the head coach wants to run the ball more with what made Buffalo successful in the first place. No reason to downgrade anyone in Fantasy, but certainly a question mark to answer for the presumptive Super Bowl favorites.

Panthers OC: Ben McAdoo

McAdoo isn't exactly a new face for the offense after replacing Joe Brady midway through the season, but this is the first chance he'll get to install his own scheme during a full offseason, and he'll do so amidst a QB battle after the team traded for Baker Mayfield. Talent like Christian McCaffrey and DJ Moore should have success regardless of the QB or scheme, but there's too much uncertainty to trust anyone else.

Bears OC: Luke Getsy

Matt Nagy coached like he had no idea who was his starting quarterback, so bringing in a guy like Getsy who is designing an offense to Justin Fields' strengths can't help but be a step in the right direction, even if the talent surrounding the young QB on offense is questionable. Don't be surprised if Khalil Herbert makes the running game more of a 1-2 punch, and he's an interesting target at the end of all Fantasy drafts.

Texans OC: Pep Hamilton

Hamilton earned a promotion after helping mold Davis Mills into a surprisingly competent quarterback as a rookie surrounded by not much talent, and he should put Mills and the offense in a better position to succeed in 2022. But it'll be a work in progress considering how far behind the 8-ball the Texans are in terms of talent, so don't expect much early on. Marlon Mack is an interesting dart throw at RB if he can stay healthy, while Nico Collins has a chance to be reliable No. 2 option and Fantasy stash.