2021 NFL Draft Guide: AFC East Coaching Schemes

If you haven’t read the Overview of Offensive and Defensive Systems article yet, you should probably click back and check it out. It serves as a strong reference point for understanding base schemes and any and all terminology used in the individual team breakdowns. We recommend opening it up in a separate browser in case you want to flip back and forth as you read through.

AFC East

Buffalo Bills

Offensive Breakdown: The transformation of the Bills offense under Sean McDermott has been quite the sight over the last four years. His roots are based in the defensive side of the game, so he has allowed his offensive coordinators to take the reins and build the scheme. When he first arrived in 2017, he had offensive line and blocking guru Rick Dennison as his OC, but while the team was a top-five rushing unit, their passing game was atrocious and they ranked near the bottom in points scored. McDermott turned to Brian Daboll who spent four seasons with the Patriots learning under Josh McDaniels and created an offense for the University of Alabama that McDermott coveted in Buffalo, given his personnel. They endured two mediocre seasons, but saw some serious potential with a few necessary changes.

It was time to adapt to the pass-heavy ways of the NFL, so they changed the make-up of the offensive line and adopted a power-blocking scheme to help Josh Allen set up in the pocket more but have the ability to roll out when necessary. While Allen struggled with his accuracy during his first season under center, Daboll and McDermott believed in his development and felt that, with the proper weapons, if they were to open up his downfield passing, he would thrive. 

And that’s exactly what happened last year when they brought in Stefon Diggs. Based in the Erhardt-Perkins scheme, Allen (and Daboll) could still turn to the run, but they increased their use of multiple-wideout sets (10 and 11-personnel) and utilized the array of receivers, backs and tight ends to confuse the defense and open things up more. Allen’s confidence grew, Diggs blossomed into a top-three receiver in the league, role players like Gabriel Davis, John Brown and Dawson Knox did their part and the Bills became the second-highest scoring team in the league. Expect the same game-plan this season, but with sharper weapons as Emmanuel Sanders replaces the oft-injured John Brown. Also keep tabs on the rumor mill that has Buffalo still interested in tight end Zach Ertz. 

Players Who Best Fit the System: Josh Allen, Stefon Diggs, Gabriel Davis, Emmanuel Sanders

Defensive System: 4-3 base with Zone Coverage (Cover-2 primary)

Defensive Breakdown: Defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier has been with McDermott the entire time and while the defense has softened over these last two season, the drop has not been severe enough for there to be a change. Maybe the increasing strength of the offense is masking some of the defensive struggles, but Frazier is a player’s coach and gets the most out of his players. The Cover-2 scheme in the secondary is a bit archaic, but given the strength of his corners, he can flip to man-coverage more easily and cheat in with the safety to help stop the run and increase the quarterback pressure. The addition of rookies Greg Rousseau and Carlos Basham should give the pass-rush even more fire-power and allow the middle of the field to cheat in more on run plays, but overall, the defensive gameplan should stay the same.

Players Who Best Fit the System: Tre’Davious White, Tremaine Edwards, Jordan Poyer, Ed Oliver

Miami Dolphins

Offensive Breakdown: While Brian Flores has been lauded for his work with the Dolphins, this offense is facing yet another overhaul which is rarely good. Flores tried to bring the Patriots scheme with him as he hired Chad O’Shea to run the offense their first season. But the players complained about the scheme, its complexities and O’Shea’s inability to properly teach them how to run it. Flores then lured Chan Gailey out of retirement and had him insert his version of the Erhardt-Perkins scheme. Over the years, Gailey infused his offense with more spread formations to keep up with the rest of the pass-heavy NFL, and while we saw some improvements, the team still struggled at times. Gailey has since retired and now the Fins have to learn a new scheme which doesn’t bode well for a second-year QB who struggled through his first season.

Flores has opted to go the route of co-offensive coordinators this season which doesn’t exactly seem like a good idea. With both Eric Studesville and George Godsey promoted from within, the expectation is they will maintain certain aspects of Gailey’s system but utilize the spread formation a lot more. It was the system Godsey has worked on more, dating back to his time with the Patriots and Houstin where he followed Bill O’Brien, and might also give him an edge in the decision-making. The team has not said who is calling the plays, but given the base scheme, it seems like Godsey might win out. Studesville is an experienced running backs coach and should prove to be a solid run-game coordinator, but enhancing Tua’s development in this scheme seems to be priority one. They brought in a safety blanket in Jaylen Waddle and a deep threat in Will Fuller, so collectively with DeVante Parker and Mike Gesicki, we should see a heavy lean on the pass.

Players Who Best Fit the System: Tua Tagovailoa, Jaylen Waddle, Mike Gesicki

Defensive System: Multi-Front with mix of Man and Zone Coverage

Defensive Breakdown: Defensive Coordinator Josh Boyer has been working with Flores for 14 years now and was an easy choice for promotion last year when Patrick Graham accepted the DC job for the Giants. The defense flourished under Boyer as its complexities had opposing offenses confused as to where exactly the pressure was coming from. Boyer likes to mix it up on the line, using a combination of three and four-man fronts that requires linebackers to be able to put their hands in the dirt on the line as well as upright on the edge. It’s a tough scheme to work in at times which is why Boyer runs a heavy rotation of personnel which is dependent on the opposing offense situation. 

Boyer’s biggest strength is his work with the secondary. His mix of man and zone coverage can often be confusing to the offense and his ability to float back and forth with such a strong group of cornerbacks and safeties should keep the Dolphins as one of the stronger pass defenses in the league. They do need to come to terms with CB Xavien Howard, though, if they really want to solidify things.   

Players Who Best Fit the System: Xavien Howard, Eric Rowe, Jaelan Phillips

New England Patriots

Offensive Breakdown: The offense remains based in the Erhardt-Perkins scheme, but it is important to understand that everything the Patriots do is in relation to how they match up with their weekly opponents. Bill Belichick and Josh Daniels devise their weekly game-plan to feature the strengths of their personnel while also exploiting the holes of the opponents on the field. Over the last 20-plus years they’ve gone from run-heavy to pass-heavy and back to the run again which is why it can be incredibly frustrating for fantasy owners. Last season was the perfect example as the Patriots turned to a much more run-heavy scheme for two reasons. First, Cam Newton was their starting quarterback and second, so many defenses sat in nickel and dime packages that running the football was the easiest thing to do against them. 

Right now you’re probably thinking, “O.K., great. Newton is still under center, they have Damien Harris, Sony Michel, James White and they drafted Rhamondre Stevenson. Run-heavy again.” And that’s where you’ll end up pulling your hair out in frustration, because it’s not so cut and dry. What happens if Mac Jones gets onto the field? What about the re-signing of Brian Hoyer? This is where they get you. They have a solid group of runners, but also invested a lot of money in two of the top tight ends on the free agent market. We’ve seen them succeed through the air with a lot of 2-TE formations and we will likely see that again at various points.

You might think it’s a cop-out, not identifying the Patriots scheme like we just did with the Bills and Dolphins, but that’s the way Belichick likes it and wants it. Sure, you can take a chance drafting someone from this roster, but good luck working your way into the mind of an evil genius and knowing when the right time to play them will be.

Players Who Best Fit the System: Cam Newton, Damien Harris, Hunter Henry, Jonnu Smith, Kendrick Bourne

Defensive System: 4-3 Hybrid/Multi-Front with mix of Man and Zone Coverage

Defensive Breakdown: In similar fashion to the offense, there is really no one defensive scheme you can say the Patriots system is based in. Belichick ascertains the opposition’s top weapons and schemes to neutralize them. He and his coaching staff require their players to learn every type of scheme from pass-rush to coverage and they use a lot of pre-snap motion to confuse the opposition.

While Belichick hasn’t endowed his son Steve with the official title of Defensive Coordinator, he did turn over the play-calling reins last year and the younger Belichick, along with his defense, thrived. The man coverage is likely to take center stage once again, but their zone coverage really dominated last year once Steve took over. Expect more of the same which means expect the unexpected.

Players Who Best Fit the System: Matt Judon, Kyle Van Noy, Stephon Gilmore

New York Jets

Offensive Breakdown: Robert Saleh comes to New York like a knight in shining armor, ready to save the day. The Adam Gase Era was a dark one for the Jets and hiring someone like Saleh, the complete opposite of Gase, was of the utmost importance. He’s a defensive-minded guy who is well-respected by his players and is smart enough to surround himself with quality assistants who can bring this franchise back to life. 

Saleh’s first move was to hire former 49ers passing game coordinator Mike LaFleur and have him install the Kyle Shanahan system which is predicated on heavy outside-zone running and layered onto a traditional west coast-style passing offense. They brought in offensive line coach John Benton who will be tasked with teaching the linemen the basics of lateral movement and pulling-guards. Tevin Coleman came along for the ride and is all too familiar with this system as he traveled from Atlanta to San Francisco with Shanahan and has spent much of his career in this scheme. A rotation of him, Ty Johnson and rookie Michael Carter should allow the Jets to move the ball well up and down the field.

The passing game will be all about the short, quick timing routes – the infamous dink-and-dunk methodology – to help move the chains, but once the running game has been established, they will utilize play-action to take their shots downfield. It’s going to take a lot of adjustments – most notably by the linemen and Zach Wilson – but they are laying the foundation for a scheme that should see tremendous success over time. 

Players Who Best Fit the System: Tevin Coleman, Michael Carter, Zach Wilson, Elijah Moore

Defensive System: 4-3 with zone coverage

Defensive Breakdown: Saleh went out and hired Jeff Ulbrich as his defensive coordinator in the hopes of reviving the Legion of Boom, the defense they worked on together in Seattle back in 2011. They want to use a 4-3 base with a Cover-3 Zone but unfortunately, they don’t really have the personnel for that to succeed as much as it did back then. The edges have to generate enough pressure so that the safeties can keep the receivers underneath. Marcus Maye has his merits, but Ashtyn Davis needs a lot of work. The corners, Bless Austin and Bryce Hall, are also average, at best. They’ll adapt and use some Cover-1 man as well, once they figure out which linebackers will be better for coverage.  

Players Who Best Fit the System: C.J. Mosley, Marcus Maye, Quinnen Williams, Sheldon Rankins