I think it is important to fully understand a coach’s strategy if you are going to try and pick up or trade for a player to help you through the rest of the season. After all, it is the coach that determines whether your player will get the ball or not. This is also particularly important for close start sit decisions where you need to do everything you can to pick your best performing starters and not leave them on the bench.

The first level of analysis is to find teams that generally rush or pass a lot. I’ve already done some blogs on which coaches are the most productive at rushing and passing in general. However, it is also important to know when and where they will pass or rush (ie home vs away). Some coaches drastically change their strategy when at home versus away, while others do not. For this blog, I look at passing and rushing attempts and yards when playing at home or away. I have ignored the fact that some teams have had byes and the inequality of home/away games through week 6. There is enough data through week 6 to expose the coaches strategy, which is all I’m interested in for this blog.

Ideally you want a coach that is successful and consistent with their approach whether they are home or away. This gives their players consistent performances throughout the season and reduces the highs and lows that may occur if your player becomes a smaller part of the game plan when they are at home or away. Consistent player scoring is an important key to winning in fantasy football.

Better than average - Home AND Away
PASSING - Ken Whisenhunt - ARZ, Mike Shanahan - DEN, Sean Payton -NO, Mike McCarthy - GB, Andy Reid - PHI, Wade Phillips - DAL, Norv Turner - SD
RUSHING - Mike Smith - ATL, Jim Zorn - WAS, Brad Childress - MIN

If you can’t get players from the teams with coaches with consistent strategy when at home and away, then the next best idea is try and get players with coaches that are successful at home or away. This requires more work to check match ups and to try and maximize performances, but if you’re trying to scratch and claw your way back into contention, then this extra attention might be worth it.

Better than average - Home ONLY
PASSING - Tom Coughlin - NYG, Mike Nolan - SF, Tony Dungy - IND
RUSHING - Mike Shanahan - DEN, Sean Payton - NO, Mike Holmgren - SEA, Jon Gruden - TB, John Fox - CAR, Tom Coughlin - NYG, Mike Nolan - NO, Jeff Fisher -TEN, John Harbaugh - BAL

Better than average - Away ONLY
PASSING - Mike Smith -ATL, Lovie Smith - CHI, Bill Belichick - NE, Jon Gruden - TB, Tony Sparano - MIA, Brad Childress -MIN, Marvin Lewis - CIN, Gary Kubiak - HOU, Dick Jauron - BUF
RUSHING - Ken Whisenhunt - ARZ, Lovie Smith - CHI, Jack Del Rio -JAX, Bill Belichick -NE, Mike McCarthy - GB, Tony Sparano - MIA, Marvin Lewis - CIN, Dick Jauron - BUF, Mike Tomlin - PIT Herman Edwards - KC

So, now it is clear which coaches and teams you should be reviewing closely. Start with the coaches with a more consistent strategy and work your way down the list until you find some available players to put on your team. With SportsDataHub.com you can easily display the rushing/passing attempts and yardage for these coaches and players with just a couple of clicks.

See a short video on how we did this analysis using our tool by clicking HERE.

 Email This Post   |    Print   |  Share This

Entry posted on Friday, October 17th, 2008 at 3:19 pm. Filed under
RSS 2.0 | Both comments and pings are currently closed.