Ranking LA Rams McVay among NFL head coaches (32-28)

32nd–ranked Kevin Stefanski, Cleveland Browns

Head Coaching Record: __-__

Kevin Stefanski was hired by the Cleveland Browns as their new head coach He was previously the offensive coordinator for the Minnesota Vikings. Since he is a new head coach of the Browns, it’s impossible to objectively judge how effective he will be in 2020. So we have focused on new NFL head coaches first.

Kevin Stefanski was not a very creative mind, at least not during his 1.5 years with the Vikings. To placate head coach Mike Zimmer, he operated his offense to “run the dammed ball”. Fortunately, he was able to coax the offense to do exactly that. Meanwhile, he borrowed a page from LA Rams head coach Sean McVay and integrated a significant number of run-play options, RPOs, into the offensive playbook.

Stefanski’s wisest move is to tank for his QB

Those RPOs helped to prolong the career of Kirk Cousins, the expensive free-agent quarterback signed in 2018 to help lead the Vikings to the Super Bowl. So far, that hasn’t happened. Now Stefanski must unlock the potential of QB Baker Mayfield, a quarterback who was reportedly one of the worst in the NFL at RPO plays.

The Browns had gone on a shopping spree in 2019 to load up a “very close” organization with some of the best NFL free agents available, but free agents who were added to the team without a plan. The ensuing setback for the Browns in 2019 will likely continue in 2020 because the team is once more looking at a new coaching staff who had little input into their current roster. His wisest move is to tank with this team so that he, much as the rival Cincinnati Bengals did in 2020, can draft HIS franchise quarterback of the future from the 2021 NFL Draft.