Who benefits from Doug Pederson becoming HC of the Jaguars?
Trevor Lawrence and Travis Etienne have to be happy, as they both had a ton of success in a RPO-heavy offense at Clemson. Pederson was in the top-5 of RPO plays called over his last 4 seasons as head coach.
Doug Pederson has a history of using committees, but he also hasn’t had anyone who commanded a ton of work until Miles Sanders was drafted. Sanders averaged 18 opportunities/game in 2020, and saw 52 targets in only 12 games. During the last 8 games of Sanders rookie year, he averaged 19 opportunities/game, and was on pace for 83 targets once his workload increased.
As a rookie prospect last season, Etienne was 1st among all RBs in yards after contact/att in 2019 and 6th in 2020 among RBs with 150+ carries. Etienne was 1st in yards/route run among all RBs with 40+ targets in 2020.
Etienne’s all-around skillset should allow for fantasy success, even if he isn’t on the field as a bell cow. He was able to put up big numbers while only playing 65-70% of snaps at Clemson. Etienne is a better pass catcher than Sanders, so I’d expect Etienne to be as involved or more than Sanders was in the receiving game.
Pederson ran the most 2-TE sets in the league in 2018 and 2019, and was 2nd in 2020.
Pederson’s offense also targeted the TE position at the 2nd highest rate during his HC tenure in Philadelphia
That resulted in his offense targeting the TE position at the 2nd highest rate during his HC tenure in Philadelphia. Dan Arnold is an athletic tight end who will benefit, but I’d expect Pederson to make a move for a second TE in free agency.
The Eagles didn’t have many reliable WRs during Pederson’s tenure, but it’s worth noting that his offense targeted the position at the 3rd lowest rate.
One positive from a fantasy perspective is the fact that Pederson’s Eagles offense were in the top-10 in offensive plays/game in each of his five years as HC. More plays = more fantasy potential.