By: Tim Rodriguez

The LSU Tigers and head coach Ed Orgeron have mutually agreed to part ways. Just 21 months ago, Orgeron and the Tigers capped off a magical 15-0 season with a national championship. Since then, the Tigers are just 9-8, with the 2019 title year looking like more of an anomaly. There are countless rumors being thrown around as to why the two parties are choosing to end this marriage. For right now, LSU gets a head start on a coaching search that will be happening at the same time as the USC coaching search.

LSU or USC?

There’s one thing that both of these programs have in common: Sky high expectations. The Trojans are trying desperately to return to prominence. With Clay Helton out of the picture, they are also looking to hire their next head coach. Which job is more desirable? In Baton Rouge, the new head coach will be replacing the third straight coach to win a national championship. In Southern California, the next leading man will look to be one to restore the once vaunted program to its glory days. The recruiting edge likely goes to USC historically, but their inability to secure one of the top tier local quarterbacks has proved fatal (Bryce Young, Matt Corral, D.J. Uiagalelei). LSU has a long recent history of stellar recruiting. 

The “big” names

The biggest name out there is Urban Meyer, but many believe that if he were to return to the college ranks, it would be for USC. However, many oddsmakers would suggest that Penn State’s James Franklin is the favorite to replace Orgeron (Franklin has also been linked to USC). With the Nittany Lions college football playoff hopes still breathing, it would be hard to imagine Franklin leaving what he is building, but jobs like LSU are not open every year. 

The return?

Three names that have been linked to this job have already worked for the Tigers. Texas A&M head coach Jimbo Fisher, a former Tigers’ offensive coordinator in the early 2000’s, is a name that has been brought up in recent days. Fisher was obviously asked questions about the opening earlier this week where he denied any interest in leaving college station. 

Mel Tucker has quickly resurrected the Michigan State Spartans program in just his second season in Lansing. A former LSU defensive backs coach (albeit for just one season), Tucker’s name has come up for the job as well. Tucker left Colorado after just one season, meaning it would not be completely out of the question for Tucker to seize the opportunity. 

Joe Brady, now the offensive coordinator for the Carolina Panthers, had a massive part in that undefeated championship season in 2019. Brady’s offense lifted LSU to new heights and helped transfer quarterback Joe Burrow become the runaway Heisman winner and number one overall pick in the 2020 NFL draft. The biggest question about Brady will remain his age and experience. Brady just turned 32 years old a month ago. Being a head coach in the SEC is a daunting task, and Brady has no head coaching experience. Another question about Brady would be whether or not he would even take the job. He’s rumored to be a very popular head coaching candidate.

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By: Brady Akins

Hiding in plain sight, smack in the middle of the busy streets of Charlotte, North Carolina, lays a gold mine untapped by many, but bountiful for a few.

Not a literal gold mine, no. Something much better. An offensive football gold mine that goes by the name ”˜Carolina Panthers.’

This gold mine doesn’t have the reputation of the one in Kansas City, or attract as much attention as the one in Buffalo. But because of one man– that gold mine in Charlotte is set to become a hot commodity in a way that nobody can see coming.

That man is Joe Brady, the Carolina Panthers offensive coordinator.

Despite a quiet offensive season in 2020, this Panthers offense is taking significant strides to this point.

”˜Quality’ of experience over ”˜quantity’ of experience

Joe Brady’s career resume is short. Like, really short. 

Brady, the 31-year-old, did not get his shot to lend his aid to a football coaching staff until 2013 when the William & Mary wide receiver made the transition to William & Mary’s linebacker coach following his graduation. 

As the years progressed, Brady bounced from being a position coach on an FCS team to an assistant on an FBS team in Penn State to an offensive assistant in the NFL with the New Orleans Saints until 2018. 

Two more years brought about two new roles for Brady, with the young coach stopping off in Baton Rouge for a cup of coffee and a national championship for the LSU Tigers, piloted by what might be the greatest offense in college football history. There, Brady helped the team as the group’s passing game coordinator– but got his first shot to be the sole coordinator of an offense just last year, when the Carolina Panthers rolled the dice on the young up-and-comer.

Like I said, really short. 

But the more you dig into the shortlist of Brady’s accomplishments, the more a trend begins to emerge. Where ever the Panthers’ offensive coordinator goes, success tends to follow in his wake. 

It happened with the Saints, where New Orleans went from a 7-9 team the year prior to Brady’s arrival to an 11-5 NFC South Champion that finished fourth in points per game in his first year as an offensive assistant. In  2018, Brady’s last with the Saints, New Orleans managed to get even better– improving to 13-3 and placing third in the league in points per game.

It happened with the LSU Tigers, where a previously passable offense morphed into that aforementioned powerhouse seemingly overnight. A 2018 Tigers’ team that featured Joe Burrow, Ja’Marr Chase, Justin Jefferson, Terrace Marshall Jr., and Clyde Edwards-Helaire concluded the season averaging 32.4 points per game– 38th in the FBS. The next season, well, things got better.

In Brady’s first and final year with the Tigers, that middle-of-the-pack offense went from a group barely in the top 40 of college football to the highest-scoring offense, well, ever. No, seriously. LSU’s 726 total points in 2019 weren’t just good enough for tops in the FBS, but tops in FBS history. All with the same ”˜good but not great’ core they had the season prior.

Joe Burrow became a Heisman-winning sensation in one offseason, Justin Jefferson and Ja’Marr Chase became sensations in the same time span, with both players finishing top three in receiving yards and receiving touchdowns, with Chase finishing fourth in yards per catch and Jefferson finishing the year first in total catches. 

And wouldn’t you know it, the Joe Brady effect carried over to the Panthers in 2020, as once again, Brady proved that he didn’t need much practice to nail what was essentially a brand new role. 

The team numbers won’t blow you away, but that’s kind of why this article needed to be written. Despite finishing 24th in points per game, despite seemingly stagnating in total yards per game, Brady’s offense flashed the potential to be a fantasy football goldmine heading into 2021. Consider the following two points.

Point #1: The Carolina Panthers did not receive much help on the offensive side of the ball in the 2020 offseason. In fact, Carolina made NFL history in the 2020 NFL Draft by becoming the first team in the modern draft era to only select players on the defensive side of the ball. 

You might think that would mean the Panthers took care of their offense through free agency. But, well, you would think incorrectly. Don’t feel bad– it happens to everyone.

Sure, Carolina brought in a starting quarterback and a wide receiver as free agents in 2020, a fact that, on a surface level, seems like a massive overhaul. That is, until, you realize the quarterback, Teddy Bridgewater, hadn’t been a Week One starter since 2016, and the receiver, Robby Anderson, hadn’t had a season with 1,000 yards or 65 catches in the history of Robby Anderson’s existence.

Point #2: The biggest weapon Brady had to work with at the start of 2020, Christian McCaffrey, played just three games throughout the course of the season. Even the few and far between assets the Panthers did have on offense struggled with injuries.

The Panthers had a few nice pieces heading into the 2020 season, but lacked the overflow of talent that Brady had at his disposal with LSU. With a shallow receiving corps and an injury-prone, inexperienced quarterback, it would be nearly impossible for Brady to turn his team’s lesser-known players into stars. 

Except for that, Brady did exactly that.

Turning coal into diamonds

Anderson broke his trend of underwhelming receiving seasons in a major way– hitting 95 catches, a career-high by a mile, and doing so on a high volume of targets.

In fact, both Anderson’s targets and receptions numbers were top ten in the NFL, with both figures ahead of fantasy football powerhouses such as Kansas City’s Tyreek Hill, Seattle’s D.K. Metcalf and Minnesota’s Justin Jefferson. All three of those receivers finished as clear-cut WR1’s in standard-scoring formats.

The one thing holding Anderson back from playing with the fantasy big boys was a lack of touchdown receptions– a number that could have faltered due in large part to his quarterback, Bridgewater.

Yes, under Brady’s guidance, Bridgewater did shine relative to expectations, hitting career-best marks in completion percentage, passing yards, passing touchdowns, rushing yards, rushing touchdowns, and, well, you get the idea. But despite the ”˜Brady Bump’ (trademark pending) going in Bridgewater’s favor– that career-high in passing touchdown’s peaked at just 15, only the 24th most in the NFL.

Anderson wasn’t the only player affected by Bridgewater’s ”˜game manager’ approach to football, either. Both D.J. Moore and Curtis Samuel, two wide receivers with two impressive seasons on the field, didn’t see much of that success play out in the realm of fantasy football.

Moore and Anderson teamed up to become the Panthers’ first two pass catchers (excluding Christian McCaffery, a freak of nature athlete but a dedicated running back) to break 1,000 yards in a season since 2014– when Brady was coaching linebackers at William & Mary. Only 18 players had over 1,000 yards receiving in 2020. The Panthers had two of them. Are the only other teams with multiple players at over 1,000 receiving yards? The Chiefs and the Seahawks.

Even Curtis Samuel had an impressive season in his own right– ending the year with over 800 receiving yards and adding 200 on the ground. With the yardage those three players had, coupled with the volume (118 targets for Moore, 118 touches for Samuel), the Panthers’ receiving trifecta was set up to become the Cerberus of fantasy football power. Scoring held them back, however, with Samuel’s five total touchdowns being the most between the three.

But the quarterback who struggled to find his receivers in the endzone is gone– replaced with a former first-round pick who has struggled in the past and could use the help of a certain wizard-like offensive coordinator to bail him out.

Turning diamonds into even more diamonds

Say what you want about Sam Darnold as a player, but at least he’s had seasons with more than 15 passing touchdowns.

Not that Darnold has lit up box scores in the past. In fact, his most prolific passing season peaks at 19 touchdowns. But take into account one simple dynamic– the shift from being coached by Adam Gase with the New York Jets, to Joe Brady and the Carolina Panthers.

That’s the exact reality Darnold finds himself early in the 2021 season. Freed from the clutches of Adam Gase, now as synonymous with coaching failure as he is with players finding individual success after breaking loose of his death grip. Players like Ryan Tannehill, Kenyan Drake, and our friend Robby Anderson have all gone on to have career years away from Gase. 

Darnold has shown really glimpses early in the season and he very well could be a steal for your roster. Darnold now gets Joe Brady, the mastermind behind the peak college football offense, the high-volume receiving seasons of newly exceptional receivers, and the guy who has helped just about everyone in his path reach new heights. All Darnold needs to do is get his guys to the endzone.

Christian McCaffrey went down in yesterday’s Thursday Night Football matchup. It seems that he should miss noticeable time, but not significant time. However, CMAC has proved to be sharp when healthy this season. He notched 50 yards rushing AND 50 yards receiving in the same game where they blew out the New Orleans Saints.

Buy D.J. Moore. The Panthers WR1 has 6-80, 8-79-1, and 8-126 in three games at this point. He has shown to be a reliable target who is uncoverable for Darnold’s QB talents. With CMAC facing an injury, it only makes more sense to buy in on D.J. Moore.

Trust Joe Brady and his offense this 2021 season.

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By: Brady Akins

With the option on the board to select an offensive lineman at their biggest position of need, the Cincinnati Bengals went all in on operation ‘Make Joe Burrow Happy,’ selecting a wide receiver for the team’s presumed quarterback of the future.

Not only a receiver, though, but Burrow’s former teammate at LSU — Ja’Marr Chase, the presumed top receiver from the 2021 NFL Draft.

Time will tell if Chase can live up to those high expectations, but as far as his rookie season is concerned, there are reasons for both optimism and pessimism that the former Tigers standout can thrive at the next level.

Optimistic

The last time Joe Burrow and Ja’Marr Chase hooked up to toss around a football, it went fairly well.

As in ”˜National Championship, highest-scoring offense in college football historic, individual recording break for both Burrow and Chase’ well.

As teammates with the LSU Tigers, Burrow and Chase thrived to a 15-0 championship season that was largely effortless. That team success came in huge part from the offense, which broke the record for most points scored in a season with a staggering 726. 

And the success of that record-breaking offense largely came from the passing attack– which earned Burrow a Heisman trophy on the heels of a 60 passing touchdown season, an all-time record, and earned Chase what was at the time an SEC record for most receiving touchdowns in a season with 20.

And wouldn’t you know it, those two record breakers at the helm for a record-shattering championship year in 2019 have now found themselves on the same NFL roster. 

History favors that connection continuing to thrive, especially considering the circumstances around the Bengals roster. In order to draft Chase fifth overall, Cincinnati first had to pass up on the opportunity to select a high-ceiling offensive line prospect, one that you could argue was more necessary than addressing the wide receiver group.

That decision may prove to be fatal for the offense as a whole, but it could benefit Chase in the short term. Clearly from their time playing together at LSU, Burrow has come to trust Chase enough to make him the leading receiver on a Tigers’ offense stacked with skill position talent. And with Burrow missing six games of his first professional season, there’s a chance that the quarterback hasn’t had enough time to establish that same level of trust with any of his new pass catchers.

So, when the pocket collapses and the play goes off script, who is Burrow going to be looking for? The answer, hopefully, will be Ja’Marr Chase. Burrow attempted 40.4 passes per game in 2020, the third-highest rate in the NFL. If Chase’s skill is as advertised, and the chemistry the two Tigers’ developed through their time in college stays strong, Burrow could be looking to his rookie receiver early, especially in times of duress in the pocket.

Hopeful Projection: 85 Catches, 1,250 Yards, 12 Touchdowns

Pessimistic 

Of course, for Chase to have any chance at all of fantasy football relevance, he’ll need Burrow to stay on the field. Easier said than done.

The injury Burrow suffered in Week 11 isn’t the average everyday season-ender. The quarterback tore his ACL and MCL on the same play, and is now expected to miss the entire preseason in an effort to play it safe.

That missed time, especially for a pair of young players like Burrow and Chase, could prove necessary in order to re-establish the chemistry they once had at LSU. And even if (that’s a big if, by the way) the two players are completely healthy and both on the same page– it doesn’t guarantee that their play will mirror what it did in college.

Burrow and Chase weren’t the only two people making that elite offense what it was. They were among the two biggest on-field contributors, sure, but they also had Joe Brady calling the plays– the man now coordinating the Carolina Panthers offense who generated a fair bit of head coaching buzz this past offseason. They had the help of Justin Jefferson, the Minnesota Vikings’ first-round superstar, taking pressure away from Chase. They had Clyde Edwards-Helaire in the backfield, making sure the defenses couldn’t simply drop eight defenders in coverage. 

And the Bengals have talent, sure, but relative to what LSU had on offense compared to the average SEC defense, Cincinnati doesn’t come close to that talent/play-calling mismatch. Ja’Marr Chase and Joe Burrow aren’t in Kansas anymore. Or rather, in Baton Rogue. The defenses are tougher, and the man responsible for calling the plays of LSU’s offensive spectacle is off in a different conference. 

And let’s talk about talent for a second too. Because the Bengals do have it at receiver. Tee Higgins and Tyler Boyd were both factors in the Cincinnati offense, each with over 65 catches and 800 yards. And that was without Burrow in the lineup for a chunk of time. You don’t draft a receiver fifth overall unless you expect him to be the top guy in an offense, but that doesn’t make Higgins and Boyd non-factors. Rather, Chase will be competing for touches with that already established, proven pro-ready duo.

The Bengals drafted Joe Burrow’s favorite target in college, partially due to their established connection and chemistry. But that decision could end up blowing up in their faces in year one.

Doubtful Projection: 60 Catches, 790 Yards, Six Touchdowns

Realistic

Here’s the thing about those doubtful projections. At the end of the day, if Chase hits that worst-case scenario, he’s still doing pretty well. 

Definitely not a fantasy football star. Definitely not someone you would be happy to rely on in a 17-game season. But in terms of real-life football, that would be a strong rookie season, considering the questionable health of his quarterback and the recent struggles of the Bengals offense.

But here’s the reality. Ja’Marr Chase was drafted fifth overall for a reason. I won’t put on the role of NFL scout and break down Chase’s strengths and weaknesses, but I will trust the guy that was seen as the near-consensus best wide receiver in a draft that included the first Heisman winner at the position in three decades.

Without Joe Brady, expecting LSU numbers at any point in Chase’s career in Cincinnati would be foolish. Even with him, making 20 touchdown catches the expectation is somewhere near insanity. Especially considering who Burrow was as a player his rookie year. A solid, athletic, accurate young player with plenty of promise, but a guy who managed just 13 passing touchdowns in 11 games– a far cry from the 60 he had his final year in college.

That struggle to hit the endzone will reflect poorly on Chase, but will likely be made up for by the high-passing volume coming from the Bengals’ offense. Cincinnati was a bad team last year, even with Burrow. The Bengals won four games overall, and spent most of their time throwing the ball in a desperate effort to catch up. Cincinnati’s overall fate should still remain the same, with plenty of passing attempts in Burrow’s future. 

And yes, the connection between the two LSU teammates should not be overlooked. Even with other mouths to feed in the receiving corps, Burrow and Chase thrived together with the Tigers, and will head into Week 1 with instant chemistry, cutting out any annoying growing pains from Chase’s fantasy production.

Chase should be good in 2021. Good enough to consider drafting as a high-end FLEX option.

Realistic Projection: 75 Catches, 1,050 Yards, Eight Touchdowns

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