Coaching Changes To Know

First off, thanks to Footballguys.com. I usually compile something like this coaching changes chart my own self, but I stumbled across theirs and it saved me considerable time.

Some notes:

Atlanta and Miami get all new staffs. You weren't going to bank on these teams anyway, right? Well, there is Ronnie Brown and Michael Turner. Both remain worthy of consideration as RB2s despite questions of coaching. OC Dan Henning frustrated me at RB during his tenure in Carolina, though. Between that and the knee reconstruction, I'm not as high on Brown this year as others. Speaking of Ronnie Brown...

Baltimore's new OC is Cam Cameron, the guy who was busy making a stud of Ronnie Brown last year prior to said knee injury. Cameron previously coached a couple moderately successful guys named LT and Antonio Gates. I'm hoping the new HC in Baltimore doesn't interfere with Cam, because I'm high on McGahee this year. It might also be a good year to draft Todd Heap even with the new QB in town.

Cincinnati will probably get worse on defense after picking up Atlanta cast-off Mike Zimmer. You weren't taking their DST anyway.

Detroit promotes Jim Colletto to replace Mike Martz. Conventional wisdom says he'll run more frequently than Martz did. While I am still hesitant on betting on the Detroit running game until I see that it exists, I think I can say we should avoid Jon Kitna this year. Martz made him fantasy worthy, not any innate talent.

Houston promotes Kyle Shanahan to OC. I bring this up because I think Shanahan, QB coach last year, should know the system, know Matt Schaub and Andre Johnson to keep them at least as good as they were last year.

Jackson hires Greg Williams as DC. The Jags had a top 10ish defense last year and Williams coached a top 10ish defense in Washington. Call this a push.

Kansas City hired Chan Gailey from Ga. Tech to run the offense. Previously unbeknownst to me, Gailey actually has a decent NFL resume of winning offense with a run-first philosphy. Here's a good article. The OL is a shambles in KC, but LJ will have a better year than last. Footballguys has LJ at a composite 9th on the RB list. I think that's a few positions high myself, but Gailey will do his best to help LJ live up to that billing, I think.

NY Jets hired Bill Callahan as Asst. Head Coach, Offense. Footballguys listed him as OL coach, but the Jets' site uses the Asst. HC designation. I'm already thinking Thomas Jones will outperform his ranking, but Callahan continues to bolster that thinking. Though Callahan was a disaster at Nebraska, he coached a pretty good offense at Oakland under Jon Gruden and then in 2002 as HC of the Raiders before a team mutiny in 2003 scuttled his tenure. Callahan should bolster the whole NYJ offense provided he hasn't gotten rusty or daft in the last 4 years.

San Fran hired Mike Martz as OC. CW says this is good for Frank Gore. Ask Stephen Jackson or any of the Detroit RBs how good Martz was for them. Not so much. Martz was good for Marshall Faulk, so there's a chance he'll make Gore a star again, but I wouldn't stake my season on it. If I knew who the QB was going to be, I'd target him as my #2 QB. Martz' QBs tend to get 4000 yards and 25+ TDs.

St. Louis hired Al Saunders as OC and my opinion of Stephen Jackson's chances for success continues to improve. Saunders hasn't shown at Washington that he is an RBBC guy and Portis put up some good stats. I am convinced Jackson is a better RB than Portis. The OL is healthier. There's not much left to be negative about when thinking of St. Louis' offense.

Tennessee hired Mike Heimerdinger as OC. There's not as much written on the web about Heimerdinger, but he was OC for the Titans from 01-04 (or 00-03, I'm not 100%) - above average offensive years for the team. I'm kind of liking Vince Young this year as well as sleeper RB Chris Johnson.

Washington hired Jim Zorn as HC and Sherman Smith as OC. Jim Zorn was a QB coach in Seattle. I think a jump to HC is a bit much. Similarly, Smith was the running back coach for Tennessee. While OC is the next logical progression for Smith, I can't say I've been impressed with Tennessee's RBs the last few years. I'm going to think hard before drafting a Redskin this year.