It’s been over decade now since a realization set in to me that most people who play fantasy football don’t understand offensive (or defensive) systems. When I say “systems” it basically means the goals of the offense (or defense). My simple philosophy on this, as it pertains to fantasy, is if a team doesn’t want a certain player to touch the ball or to score a touchdown, why should we?

An example of this is now Tennessee Titans RB DeMarco Murray. Murray was an alright RB for the Cowboys for a couple of years until Scott Linehan was promoted to offensive coordinator and decided to focus the Cowboys offense on the running game. All of a sudden in 2014, Murray went bananas and was the best RB in fantasy football. This led to Murray being one of the biggest targets in free agency that year which led to him signing a huge deal with the Philadelphia Eagles. As many plays as Chip Kelly runs and as good as the offensive line is that system just wasn’t a good fit for his running style. Thus, he was a total bust in 2015. In fact, you can trace the breakouts and busts in fantasy football directly to scheme changes across the NFL.

Knowing the system that each team runs will help you determine the type of numbers players will put up. Specifically it helps us project rookies and players that have switched teams this offseason. In last year’s Draft Guide, we projected breakout seasons for Eli Manning, DeAndre Hopkins and DeVonta Freeman all based on a change in their offensive system. In each instance the schematic change to the offense allowed them either more volume (Manning & Hopkins) or a better style of play (Freeman) which allowed them to produce more fantasy points.

Volume is something that you will hear me and other in the fantasy industry talk about and that plays a huge role in projecting a players expected fantasy output. You see, the more plays that any player can be a part of the more potential they have to produce fantasy points. Coaches that like to play at a quicker pace like Chip Kelly, Ben McAdoo, Josh McDaniels and Bill O’Brien will usually run a significantly greater amount of plays that those in other styles of offense. When you can get a fast paced team that generate a lot of first downs, that is absolute gold for fantasy. This is why we breakdown every single NFL head coach and offensive coordinator for you in our NFL Coaching Systems profile.

You’ll also notice in that piece that we talk about certain players who are better or worse when facing a specific kind of defense. Some running backs have a tough time against 4-3 setups but have been able to carve up a 3-4 front. Same thing with certain QB’s as some have great success beating the blitz while others struggle mightily. Knowing which players fit which systems has become absolutely crucial to fantasy success.

Knowing the systems also helps tremendously when figuring out whether to handcuff your RB’s and who to handcuff them with. Last season I was screaming from the mountaintops that anybody who drafted Le’Veon Bell absolutely had to take DeAngelo Williams as well. Sure enough, a bunch of you did not and wound up having to either big all of your FAAB on him or lose out on a RB1 production because you just had to have a mediocre RB from another team. Other handcuffs we helped you reel in based on knowing the offensive systems were David Johnson, Charcandrick West, James Starks, Tim Hightower and Thomas Rawls.

Not every running back should be handcuffed. That is a popular misconception about the way that we teach fantasy football here. Just because I strongly believe in handcuffing, doesn’t mean that I think you should be locking in backups to Adrian Peterson, LeGarrette Blount, or Latavius Murray. You only want to invest in multiple RB’s that are in a system contusive to fantasy success.

In sticking with RB’s, another way to use the system in your favor is to identify the which teams use a zone blocking scheme and which use a power running system. This is key because in a zone blocking setup, the RB needs to have more lateral quickness, patience and rapid acceleration in order to find and hit the cut back lanes. This is a very specific skill that has led to some amazing fantasy production out of players who otherwise might not have even made it in the NFL. These players include Terrell Davis, Clinton Portis, Arian Foster, Alfred Morris and Justin Forsett.

This knowledge is also extremely useful during the season in determining the strength of matchups. Which defenses stop the run, which fare well against zone blocking, which rush the passer and which create turnovers are extraordinarily important when planning your starting lineups.   

The bottom line is that there are dozens of these skill sets that players possess that can either make or break their career and fantasy value depending on which NFL system they end up with. Ketchup is great with French fries but would you ever put it on toast? Well, you might you crazy bastard but it would still taste like butt.  

So you see, knowledge really is power. The more you understand the game of football and the makeup of each teams system the more likely you are able to accurately assess each players production year after year.  When you are able to identify a breakout fantasy player, moments after they are drafted, signed with a new team or a new coach has been hired, only then do you have the power to be a constant fantasy football champion.