TRENDSETTERS: How Sean McVay, Kyle Shanahan and Sean Payton LEAD NFL Offensive Innovation

Locked On NFL Scouting with the Draft Dudes - Daily podcast covering NFL and College Football scouting

Locked On Podcast Network

Podcast, Daily Podcast, Football, Free Agency, Nfl Football, Football Podcast, Salary Cap, Pro Football, Nfl Draft, Sports, Nfl

4.6 • 968 Ratings

🗓️ 23 July 2026

⏱️ 33 minutes

🔗️ Recording | Apple Podcasts | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Sean McVay and Kyle Shanahan set the gold standard for NFL offensive play callers, but which coaches are closing the gap? Joe Marino and Kyle Crabbs tier every offensive play caller, spotlighting an evolving landscape filled with new names and high-stakes battles for supremacy. With 19 first-year play callers and 10 coaching staff changes, the NFL’s offensive minds face a shake-up—can newcomers like Liam Cohen and Ben Johnson challenge established heavyweights? The hosts debate Andy Reid’s recent struggles despite Patrick Mahomes at quarterback, the creative yet sometimes chaotic approach of Mike McDaniel, and Klint Kubiak’s reputation for run-heavy schemes. Key topics include the importance of play design versus play calling, the challenges of blending new systems with quarterback talent, and which coordinators could emerge as future head coaches. Get expert insights on the coaches shaping the league’s next offensive evolution and which teams may see a breakthrough—or a breakdown—in 2026.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Who are the best offensive play callers in the NFL?
0:04.5	We're going to tear them all right now.
0:11.1	You are locked on NFL scouting with the draft dudes,
0:16.2	your daily podcast for NFL and college football scouting.
0:19.9	Part of the Locked locked on podcast network your team
0:23.2	every day what's better than this it's guys being dudes i'm joe marino he's kyle crabs today's
0:33.1	episode is brought to you by fanduel join all the action at fanduil.com to play daily
0:39.1	dingers and make your free pick on who's hitting a homer this MLB season.
0:44.6	Happy Thursday to you. Happy Thursday. And we are often running here as we get into the
0:50.9	nitty gritty, the coaching grading exercise or tiering exercise is more
0:56.2	appropriate so you and i have separate lists which we have provided for this exercise of all
1:02.1	of the play callers not necessarily head coach as an offensive mind of guy Sean Peyton not
1:09.9	necessarily the offensive coordinator by title.
1:14.2	Sometimes it's the head coach.
1:17.3	And we are going to do our best with what we know.
1:20.4	But when there's 10 coaching staff changes across the NFL, it makes it very difficult to tear what we don't know.
1:32.8	And I think that's the challenge that we will be faced with and why I think it's good that we have a process that is subjective,
1:40.8	but also leave some room for middle ground by compromising by having two separate
1:45.5	lists that we present. 19, uh, offensive play callers in their first year calling plays for
1:52.8	their, that respective team. That is insane. That is insane. Right. 19.
2:02.2	Well, I mean, when you have 10 coaching changes, then some of those are offensive coordinators that are now head coaches for new teams.
2:09.0	And inevitably, you have OCs that were just fired.
	...

Transcript will be available on the free plan in 24 days. Upgrade to see the full transcript now.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Locked On Podcast Network, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Locked On Podcast Network and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.