In a move that is shocking but not unlike what Cowboys owner Jerry Jones has done in the past, Brian Schottenheimer has been named the team’s new head coach. The son of great former NFL head coach Marty Schottenheimer, Brian has been a coach in some capacity in the league dating back to 1997 when he was an assistant with the St. Louis Rams.
Since then, he’s held the title of offensive coordinator for the New York Jets, the Rams, the Seattle Seahawks and most recently, the Cowboys. So, let’s look back at how his offensives have fared in the stat sheets, and how his players have performed in terms of fantasy.
Quick note … Schottenheimer didn’t call the plays for the Cowboys the last two years, so I’m not going to include those two years of statistical data in this research exercise.
New York Jets (2006-2011)
Schottenheimer’s offenses in New York were mostly mediocre and unimpressive. In his six seasons, the Men in Green threw the ball an average of 52.2 percent of the time and ran it 47.8 percent of the time. However, he did throw the ball more than 55 percent of the time in three of those six years. There was one outlier in his pass/run ratio, and it came in 2009 when Schottenheimer ran the football 58.9 percent of the time … the most with the Jets.
Their offense, on average, finished 16th in points per game and 21st in yards per game.
The highest-ranking one of his quarterbacks finished in fantasy points was Mark Sanchez, who was 10th in 2011. However, he rushed for six touchdowns that season so that was not representative of Sanchez’s true value. In his other two seasons under Schottenheimer, Sanchez was a far less impressive 25th and 18th. Brett Favre, who played one season with the Men in Green, finished just 16th in points among quarterbacks under Schottenheimer.
Thomas Jones was the best Jets back during Schottenheimer’s watch, finishing sixth and ninth at the position in fantasy points. No other runner, including LaDainian Tomlinson, was better than the RB15. To be fair, L.T. was 31 years old during his RB15 season (2010).
The Jets didn’t have a single top-10 fantasy wideout with Schottenheimer at the helm. The closest was Laveranues Coles, who finished 14th in 2006. Jerricho Cotchery was also in the top 20 that season. Outside of 2007, no Jets wideout finished better than 20th in points.
At tight end, Dustin Keller had one top 10 finish and two top 15 finishes at the position.
St. Louis Rams (2012-2014)
The numbers we saw from Schottenheimer’s offenses in St. Louis were downright awful, but to be fair, the talent was far from the Greatest Show on Turf teams. In these three years, his offenses threw the ball 57.9 percent of the time and ran it 42.1 percent of the time.
On average, their offense ranked 22nd in points per game and 27th in yards per game.
At quarterback Sam Bradford’s best fantasy finish with just 16th. Steven Jackson was the RB16 in his age-29 season (2012), but no other back finished better than 20th for the Rams. The wide receivers lacked talent and were downright awful, as Brandon Gibson finished the highest at the position in those three seasons … he was the WR45 in the 2012 season.
At tight end, Lance Kendricks’ best fantasy finish was as a rookie. He was the TE21.
Seattle Seahawks (2018-2020)
Schottenheimer’s offenses in Seattle were very productive because he had the talent to put up big totals. He threw the ball 53.7 percent of the time and ran it 46.3 percent of the time. In his final season, however, Schottenheimer threw the ball 59.8 percent of the time. That had much to do with the presence of Russell Wilson, DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett.
On average, his offenses ranked eighth in points and 14th in total net yards per season.
Wilson was the quarterback in Schottenheimer’s three seasons in Seattle, finishing in the top nine in every season. Chris Carson was in the top 20 among running backs in all three years, including an RB12 finish in 2019. At wide receiver, Lockett finished 16th, 13th and eighth in points in these three seasons. Metcalf was the WR7 in 2020 (second NFL year).
Seattle’s tight ends left much to be desired, as Jacob Hollister had their best finish in these three years … and he was no better than the TE23 under the watch of Schottenheimer.
Fantasy Football Impact in Dallas
Schottenheimer has proven that when he has talent, his offenses can be productive both in terms of real and fantasy football. The Cowboys certainly have talent in Dak Prescott and CeeDee Lamb, and you would think more would be added during the NFL draft (maybe in the form of Boise State’s Ashton Jeanty?). Prescott also has a bond with Schottenheimer that could be part of the reason the Cowboys (Jerry Jones) decided to promote him.
Dallas might not win a ton of games under his watch, but Schottenheimer’s presence is no reason to be wary of their players when it comes time to draft your fantasy football teams.