I know what you’re thinking; there’s no more fantasy football, the Ship is the only thing left with any meaning behind it, and the offseason is a long temporal beast. In this article, I shall try to indulge you in some offseason moves that occurred days after the end of the NFL 2018-2019 season. Mainly I will focus on Kliff Kingsbury and his move to the Arizona Cardinals, but more importantly why we in the fantasy football realm should care.
Kliff Kingsbury and Your Fantasy Quarterback
In his rookie debut, Josh Rosen concluded the season with 217 completions in 393 attempts (55.2% Completion), 11 TDs along with 14 INTs, and 2,278 passing yards. Not quite the turn out fantasy coaches would want but something we all could’ve anticipated. The Cardinals have been less than fantasy worthy having only Larry Fitzgerald and David Johnson, but without a solid QB getting the ball into their hands, points may be a hard thing to come by.
Kliff Kingsbury, on the other hand, began his rookie year as a coach for the Houston Cougars in 2008 but quickly became the co-offensive coordinator in 2010. This matters for two reasons:
- In 2009 Case Keenum was the QB for the team and broke nearly all the NCAA Division 1 passing records and,
- In 2011 he became the OC of the year averaging 50 points and 600 yards a game. This is all before becoming the head coach for Texas Tech University.
Before the head coaching position, Kingsbury had the pleasure of being the OC and QB coach at Texas A&M with our good pal Johnny Manziel. We all know the infamous Johnny Football but before TMZ caught up to his shenanigans, Manziel was a dynamic football player. In 2012 Manziel had 295 completions on 434 attempts, 26 TDs with 9 picks and 3,706 passing yards; that’s not accounting his 201 rushing attempts, 1,410 rushing yards, and 21 TDs.
When Kingsbury officially had the head coaching position at Texas Tech, he wasn’t exactly the most winning coach around. Overall he finished 35-40 but what he lacked in wins, he had in talent, QB talent to be exact.
2013
David Webb – 226 completions in 361 attempts, 20 TDs, 9 Picks, 2,718 passing yards
Baker Mayfield – 218 completions in 340 attempts, 12 TDs, 9 Picks, 2,315 passing yards
2014
Davis Webb – 211 completions in 345 attempts, 24 TDs, 13 Picks, 2,539 passing yards
Patrick Mahomes – 105 completions in 185 attempts, 16 TDs, 4 Picks, 1,547 passing yards
2015
Patrick Mahomes – 364 completions in 573 attempts, 36 TDs, 15 Picks, 4,653 passing yards (along with his 10 rushing TDs)
2016
Patrick Mahomes – 388 completions in 591 attempts, 41 TDs, 10 Picks, 5,052 passing yards (lead team in rushing TDs with 12)
2017
Nick Shimonek – 328 completions in 493 attempts, 33 TDs, 10 Picks, 3,963 passing yards
2018
Alan Bowman – 227 completions in 327 attempts, 17 TDs, 7 Picks, 2,638 passing yards
Jett Duffey – 104 completions in 154 attempts, 8 TDs, 6 Picks, 1,221 passing yards
All these numbers and I am sitting here happily remembering why I never became a math major, but the guy has done some serious damage with young QBs. Without a doubt the numbers do show us one thing, when Kingsbury has control of an offensive unit, points are being scored. The lowest passing TD total was this past year with 25 but that may have something to do with the splitting time between his starting QB and the backup but at his best Kingsbury topped out with 41 TDs thanks to Patrick Mahomes.
Josh Rosen is no Patrick Mahomes, but in that same respect, Patrick Mahomes is no Josh Rosen. We have seen the kind of pizazz Kingsbury brought with Mahomes at the college level of football and if Rosen is all that his draft pick entitles him to be, he could become a ravishing beast under Kingsbury making the offensive calls.