NFC East Preview: 2026 Fantasy Impact of Coaching & Personnel Changes

This article will analyze offseason coaching and personnel changes in the NFC East to figure out what new additions imply for each team's offensive scheme in 2026. Only the Giants have a new head coach, but the Eagles and Commanders hired new offensive coordinators with playcalling responsibilities.

With three of the four teams looking at offensive scheme changes, the NFC East will demand careful monitoring throughout the summer and into the season. If you're looking for similar breakdowns on other divisions, you can find all of the AFC ones below and stay on the lookout for the other NFC divisions over the next few days.

AFC South Preview: 2026 Fantasy Impact of Coaching & Personnel Changes

AFC West Preview: 2026 Fantasy Impact of Coaching & Personnel Changes

AFC East Preview: 2026 Fantasy Impact of Coaching & Personnel Changes

AFC North Preview: 2026 Fantasy Impact of Coaching & Personnel Changes

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Dallas Cowboys

• Key Coaching Changes: DC Christian Parker
• Key Losses: WR Jalen Tolbert
• Key Additions: WR Marquez Valdes-Scantling

The personnel and coaching staff that we care about for fantasy are nearly identical to last year. The big changes come on defense, where former Eagles assistant Christian Parker is the new coordinator and playcaller.

The Cowboys also upgraded their defensive personnel, adding CB Cobie Durant, OLB Rashan Gary and S Caleb Downs (11th overall pick) during the offseason. It won't be a dominant defense, but the Cowboys probably did enough to avoid a full repeat of last year's disaster. 

Quick Hits - What to Expect from the Cowboys Offense

1. Continuity.
2. Elevated play volume (fast pace + above-average PROE).
   1. 6 straight seasons with 1,100+ plays (league-average in 2025: 1041.5).
   2. Pass attempts could decrease some if the defense improves and/or offensive efficiency improves.
3. 11 personnel on more than 60% of snaps.
   1. Mixing in 12/21/13/22 on early downs.
   2. 11 personnel could push toward 70% if WR Ryan Flournoy breaks out and/or the Dallas defense is terrible again.
4. Strong TD production from top weapons.

Offseason Personnel Moves

There's not much to say here. The Cowboys kept all of their starters and nearly all of their backups, with WR Jalen Tolbert being the closest thing to a noteworthy departure. The front office is betting on continuity on offense. Dak Prescott certainly buys in.

Personnel Groupings

Schottenheimer's first season as head coach didn't look much different from Mike McCarthy's final year. Usage of 11 personnel dipped some, from 70.6% in 2024 to 66.4% in 2025, but that still left the Cowboys more than 10 percentage points above league-average.

Schottenheimer didn't get in on the 13 personnel trend, instead upping the use of two-TE packages (12, 22) relative to McCarthy's final years in Dallas. Schottenheimer has the same crew of backup TEs this year, along with FB Hunter Luepke, who played 251 offensive snaps last year (including occasional snaps as the lone back).

The Cowboys seemingly have roster flexibility to use heavier personnel groupings more often, but that may not be the best choice for a team that ranked second in yards per play (6.6) and fourth in EPA per play (.08) from 11 personnel last year. With two or fewer WRs on the field, Dallas dropped to 19th in yards per play (4.7) and 14th in EPA per play (-.01).

Pace and Pass Rate

The Cowboys are one of the easiest teams to evaluate here, annually ranking at/near the top of the league for play volume and pace. The trend has held up under three head coaches, lasting from the end of Jason Garrett's tenure through the start of Schottenheimer's reign. 

If we look at average time on the play clock at the snap, Dallas has somehow been the league leader in five of the past seven seasons (2019, 2020, 2021, 2024, 2025). During that seven-year span, the team finished 6th, 2nd, 2nd, 8th, 3rd, 4th and 1st in total plays run on offense. Suffice it to say that no other franchise has a comparable recent track record in this regard; in most cases it's difficult to project team-level volume from year to year.

Last year, in Schottenheimer's first season as head coach, the Cowboys finished first in total plays (1,120) and third in pass attempts (624). Philosophically, the offense perhaps wasn't as pass-heavy as many assume, ranking a modest 14th in PROE (-2.2%). A poor defense and fast-paced offense drove the pass volume; it wasn't a matter of neglecting or deprioritizing the running game.

Looking at Prescott's other healthy seasons (under different coaches), the Cowboys finished 5th in PROE in 2023 (+1.3%) and 10th in 2021 (-0.1%). We can safely assume they'll be more pass-happy than league average whenever Prescott is healthy, but it's generally been the fast pace that drives volume, not any strong aversion to the running game.

Playcaller Trends (Play-action, Pre-Snap Motion & More)

• 2025 Cowboys: 5th in play-action rate (17%), 15th in motion at the snap (35%).
• 2025 Cowboys: 5th in PROE inside 10-yard line, used only 1 QB sneak at goal line.

Prior to his injury in December last year, RB Javonte Williams had accounted for 10 of the Cowboys' 12 rush attempts from the 1-yard line, scoring seven TDs on those plays. The team used Dak Prescott on QB sneaks five times, but only one of those came at the goal line.

Long story short, things set up favorably for the team's top weapons to score touchdowns. There should be plenty to go around, and Prescott is unlikely to steal more than one or two TDs with his legs.

Key Trends to Monitor Early in the Season (Cowboys)

1. Mix of 11 personnel vs. 12/13 personnel on early downs.
2. Involvement level of backup RBs behind Javonte Williams.
3. WR Ryan Flournoy's route share.

New York Giants

• Key Coaching Changes: HC John Harbaugh, OC Matt Nagy, DC Dennard Wilson
• Key Losses: TE Daniel Bellinger
• Key Additions: TE Isaiah Likely, FB Patrick Ricard, WR Darnell Mooney, WR Calvin Austin, WR Malachi Fields (R3)

The Giants have a new, veteran coaching staff and an exciting collection of young player. Shaping it all into a playoff contender this season might be a bit much to ask, but there is a worst-to-first argument in the NFC East if we squint hard enough.

Quick Hits - What to Expect from the Giants Offense

1. Heavy personnel groupings on early downs.
   1. Mix of 11/21/22/13 personnel, with FB Patrick Ricard playing a lot.
2. Run-first mentality (Harbaugh/Roman offense).
   1. Limited targets for ancillary pass catchers if Malik Nabers is healthy.
   2. Could be especially run-heavy near the goal line.
3. Pace and play volume likely average, or worse.
4. Open competition for WR roles alongside Nabers.
   1. TE Isaiah Likely as de facto No. 2?

Offseason Personnel Moves

The Giants wisely used their first-round picks on a freakish defensive talent (LB Arvell Reese) and a standout blocker (OL Francis Mauigoa). Their track record of talent development is poor, but the front office hopes that will change under the new coaching staff.

Harbaugh also brought along familiar bodies from Baltimore, surely playing a role in the signings of tight end Isaiah Likely, fullback Patrick Ricard and turnstile Daniel Faalele. The Giants gave Ricard a $3.5 million guarantee on his two-year, $7.6 million contract, so we can safely project him for a real role on offense, not just goal-line snaps and special teams.

At the peak of Baltimore's fullback usage, Ricard played 57.3 and 63.7 percent of offensive snaps under Greg Roman in 2021 and 2022. Roman is now with the Giants as a senior offensive assistant, continuing his Harbaugh-hot-potato path through the NFL.

Roman probably won't use Ricard on more than half of the snaps, but something like 40 percent wouldn't be shocking and would still have major implications for the rest of the offense. With a reliable fullback, strong TE depth and shaky WR depth, the Giants would have an argument to use a lot of heavy formations even if Roman weren't involved.

Personnel Groupings

The Roman/Harbaugh pairing hints at an emphasis on power run concepts from heavy formations on early downs. However, Matt Nagy is the offensive coordinator and playcaller, bringing a West Coast Offense upbringing to the table.

Nagy, as you may recall, isn't very popular among fantasy players, nor among Chiefs fans or Bears fans. We can only hope he doesn't spend too much time Googling/Gemini-ing his own name.

The Bears hired Nagy as their head coach in 2018, after his lone season as KC's offensive coordinator saw the team score 25.9 points per game (6th) with Alex Smith at quarterback. Andy Reid even gave up playcalling duties down the stretch that year, trusting Nagy when it mattered most.

Nagy's subsequent tenure in Chicago was of course intertwined with Mitchell Trubisky's failure as a franchise QB. From a personnel-grouping standpoint, there's not much of interest, as the Bears during that time were cumulatively right around league-average in use of the major personnel groupings (11, 12 and 21) from 2018 to 2021.

It is worth noting that Nagy usually carried a fullback -- something that used to be a part of Andy Reid's offense but hasn't been for a few years now. Anyway, let's be honest: Harbaugh and Roman would probably force Nagy to use Ricard even if he didn't want to.

The other new toy, Likely, is more directly relevant for fantasy, but Ricard's usage and the team run/pass split could also be key indicators for Likely's own value.

Pace and Pass Rate

A quick survey of Harbaugh/Nagy/Roman doesn't provide much cause for fantasy optimism when it comes to New York's passing game. The appeal is largely limited to Malik Nabers, who can account for around 30 percent of the team target total when he's at his best.

We don't know when or if he'll be at his best this season, but recent updates at least look promising:

With the Giants likely deploying a run-first offense, and potentially playing at a slow pace, it could be hard for anyone besides Nabers to draw more than 4-5 targets per game.

On the other hand, there could be a big opportunity for the team's other wide receivers (plus Likely) if Nabers is absent/limited and the Giants frequently land in negative game scripts.

Playcaller Trends (Play-action, Pre-Snap Motion & More)

Nagy's teams in Chicago from 2018 to 2021 were unremarkable in terms of PROE (20th), play-action rate (23rd) and use of motion at the snap (23rd). None of that changed significantly throughout his tenure, though being saddled with Trubisky obviously didn't help.

With minimal confidence in their QB play, Nagy's teams from 2018-21 had a -14.3% PROE (30th) inside the 10-yard line. The Giants rightfully have more faith in their young signal-caller, but that's partially due to his value as a runner -- an area where Brian Daboll used Dart relentlessly last year.

Dart won't match last year's goal-line usage on a per-game basis, but he figures to stay involved near the painted area, which could contribute to one of the lower red-zone pass rates in the league on a team level. The totals for passing and receiving TDs may disappoint even if Big Blue's offense doesn't.

Key Trends to Monitor Early in the Season (Giants)

1. QB Jaxson Dart's goal-line rushing usage.
   1. QB sneaks, designed runs and scrambles all in play.
   2. Heavy dose of Dart/Skattebo at the goal line could limit receiving TDs.
2. TE Isaiah Likely's playing time in heavy personnel groupings.
3. Backfield split between Cam Skattebo and Tyrone Tracy.
4. Pace and PROE under a new coaching staff.

Philadelphia Eagles

• Key Coaching Changes: OC Sean Mannion
• Key Losses: WR A.J. Brown, WR Jahan Dotson, TE Kylen Granson
• Key Additions: WR Makai Lemon (R1), TE Eli Stowers (R2), WR Dontayvion Wicks, WR Hollywood Brown, TE Johnny Mundt

After Kevin Patullo was chased out of town, new offensive coordinator Sean Mannion supposedly has near-full control of Philadelphia's offense. The Eagles' past few OCs also called plays, but there have been persistent rumors about Sirianni micromanaging and forcing his playcallers to stay within his philosophy/system. The idea now is that Mannion will revamp the offense in a completely different image, drawing on his past with Sean McVay (as a backup) and Matt LaFleur (as a QBs coach/assistant).

Quick Hits - What to Expect from the Eagles Offense

1. Mix of 11/12/13 personnel. 
   1. No/minimal FB.
2. More under-center snaps for QB Jalen Hurts.
3. Wide-zone runs, duo runs and play-action passes on early downs.

Offseason Personnel Moves

Losing A.J. Brown is still the headline, but Philadelphia can partially make up for it with big investments in improved depth at wide receiver and tight end. Before drafting Lemon and Stowers, the Eagles traded fifth- and sixth-round picks for Dontayvion Wicks ($9 million guaranteed) and signed WR Hollywood Brown ($5 million GTD) and blocking TE Johnny Mundt ($750K gtd).

While Lemon can't fully replace Brown right away, the Eagles should now have better players taking snaps that went to the likes of Kylen Granson, Darius Cooper and Jahan Dotson last year.

Chiefs cast-off Carson Steele is the only fullback on the summer roster, and Mannion has largely spent his time with teams that didn't use a FB. Don't expect to see much 21 or 22 personnel.

Personnel Groupings

The offseason transactions to bulk up depth at WR/TE hint at an emphasis on versatility between 11 and 12 personnel. We could also see a lot of 13 personnel, especially if TE Dallas Goedert stays healthy and Stowers proves ready to contribute early on.

Mannion spent much of his career with Rams teams that used 11 personnel on nearly every snap, with minimal substitutions and the top guys handling huge workloads. Those were fun teams for fantasy, but even Sean McVay has moved in another direction, emphasizing multi-TE formations as a way to pressure defenses into making mistakes or exposing vulnerabilities. Most of the other Shanahan-associated coaches prefer to be in two-wide sets on early downs when they have the TEs/FBs to pull it off.

The Eagles could have a very pass-friendly version of 12 personnel with Goedert/Stowers, and they also have backup TEs with NFL experience -- Johnny Mundt, Grant Calcaterra, Stone Smartt -- plus 2024 third-round pick Cameron Latu (104 snaps last year). Don't be surprised if the Eagles keep 4-5 tight ends on their initial 5-man roster, with a few more on the practice squad. 

If we do see a lot of 13 personnel, the biggest fantasy question will be whether DeVonta Smith is the lone WR most of the time.

Pace and Pass Rate

The Eagles likely will be slow-paced and run-heavy, relative to the rest of the league, but that's not exactly nailed down in the midst of significant schematic changes under a first-time coordinator.

Mannion has never called plays, nor been in charge of an offense at any level of football. Much of the speculation and enthusiasm surrounding him is based on the strong track record of other young coaches who emerged from the Shanahan/McVay pipeline.

There are some common threads and strong trends among this group of playcallers. Many of those trends are favorable for fantasy because they tend to correlate with offensive efficiency -- like frequent use of play-action and pre-snap motion -- but there's less cause for optimism when it comes to pace and pass rate.

While McVay had some fast-paced teams during his Goff years, the broad trend among "McShanahan coaches" includes an emphasis on pre-snap motion, varied snap counts and QB checks at the line of scrimmage -- all of which tends to chew up play clock. LaFleur and Mike McDaniel are especially notorious for slow-paced offenses, and Kyle Shanahan's teams can also often be found near the bottom for pace and play-clock stats.

The good news here is that things can't get too much worse compared to 2025, when the Eagles snapped the ball with an average of 7.7 seconds remaining on the play clock (30th). They were 27th in overall pace of play (30.5 seconds per snap) and tied for 23rd in play volume (59.4 per game). Mannion won't necessarily want to play at a fast pace, but there is some potential for regression to the mean, at least.

In terms of pass/run rate, it's generally a safe assumption that a team with a dual-threat QB and a big-name RB will rank near the top of the league in rush attempts. Last year, however, the Eagles actually finished 17th in PROE (-3.3%). It was their strong defense, lack of play volume and Jalen Hurts' scrambling that ultimately kept the passing volume down (497 attempts, 24th).

There may be room for minor growth there under a new playcaller, but efficiency gains are the more likely area for improvement.

Playcaller Trends (Play-action, Pre-Snap Motion & More)

We again don't have hard data here, so analysis tends to default toward what we've seen from other playcallers from the same coaching tree.

The problem is that Philadelphia's personnel is unique, with a dual-threat QB and a number of star players who have been together for a long time. Hurts and others seemingly understand than a scheme overhaul is needed, but there may also be times when the offense doesn't look so different from the spread-influenced Sirianni version.

In any case, the McVay/Shanahan guys tend to rank near the top of the league for use of pre-snap motion, which would directly address two of the common complaints about Sirianni and his coordinators. The Eagles have long leaned heavily on spread concepts, using RPOs and the QB run threat to keep defenders off balance and force them into mistakes near the line of scrimmage.

The expectation in Philadelphia is that Mannion's offense will increase the use of traditional play-action passes, including many from under center, with the idea often being to draw the LBs up to the line and throw over top of them for big gains. Throwing over the middle has never been a strength for Hurts, who has just 111 career pass attempts from under center (71 of those in the past two seasons).

Of those 111 passes, 96 came off play-action fakes, with Hurts producing 8.7 YPA and a 95.5 passer rating -- solid numbers, though not elite, and over a small sample.

Saquon Barkley, meanwhile, has averaged a modest 4.3 YPC on 895 career carries from under center, compared to 4.9 YPC on 931 carries from shotgun and pistol formations. That doesn't sound great, but he's been highly effective from the under-center looks in two years with the Eagles, averaging 5.4 YPC on 178 attempts (compared to 4.9 YPC from shotgun/pistol).

Even last year, when he struggled, Barkley managed 5.0 YPC when Hurts was lined up under center. The inefficient overall stat line was a product of averaging just 3.5 YPC on 173 carries from shotgun/pistol looks.

Of course, schemes are much more complex than shotgun vs. under center, so there's still some reason to question Barkley's fit in a system that looks very different from what he's played in to this point in his career. He obviously has the physical skills to excel in any system, but he doesn't have much experience with the duo runs and outside-zone runs that dominate Shanahan-tree offenses these days.

Key Trends to Monitor Early in the Season (Eagles)

1. Mix between 11 personnel vs. 12 personnel.
2. Makai Lemon's playing time, especially in two-wide formations.
   1. (Lemon mostly played the slot at USC.)
3. Tush Push usage / short-yardage plan.
4. PROE and pace.

Washington Commanders

• Key Coaching Changes: OC David Blough
• Key Losses: WR Deebo Samuel, RB Chris Rodriguez, TE Zach Ertz, WR Chris Moore
• Key Additions: TE Chig Okonkwo, RB Rachaad White, WR Antonio Williams (R3), RB Kaytron Allen (R6)

Internal promotions usually suggest continuity, but that reportedly won't be the case with David Blough taking over Washington's offense. The 31-year-old former backup QB was an assistant QBs coach under Kliff Kingsbury the past two years, presumably forming a good relationship with Jayden Daniels along the way.

Blough hasn't been shy about his plans to make big changes to the Washington offense; it sounds like he wants to do his own thing rather than picking up where Kingsbury left off.

Quick Hits - What to Expect from the Commanders Offense

1. More snaps under center.
   1. Fewest in the league in both 2024 and 2025.
2. Slower pace post-Kingsbury.
   1. Led league in no-huddle usage in 2025 and 2025.
3. Big-time volume for WR Terry McLaurin.
   1. Chig Okonkwo or Antonio Williams as Option B?
4. Committee backfield, led by Rachaad White and/or Jacory Croskey-Merritt

Offseason Personnel Moves

The Commanders had unimpressive weapons last year and probably didn't do enough to improve them this offseason. They have plenty of cap space to add a Stefon Diggs or Keenan Allen still, but for now, it looks like open competition for WR spots behind Terry McLaurin, who looks positioned for career-best target volume if he stays healthy.

The other guy drawing fantasy interest is rookie third-round pick Antonio Williams, who mostly played the slot at Clemson and averaged between 43 and 65 receiving yards per game in each of his four seasons. He's perhaps considered a high-floor prospect rather than a high-ceiling one, but mere competence could be enough to earn 500+ snaps at wide receiver for this Commanders team.

The outlook at tight end is at least marginally better, with Chig Okonkwo coming in to replace Zach Ertz as the top pass catcher. John Bates returns as the top blocker and figures to play a vast majority of snaps in 12 personnel, while 2023 second-round pick Ben Sinnott gets one last chance to prove himself with the Commanders potentially moving to a more TE-centric offense.

Personnel Groupings

The Commanders don't have a fullback on their roster and don't have much depth at wide receiver, so we can safely assume they're part of the trend toward using more 12 and 13 personnel. That's bad news for rookie Antonio Williams if he locks down the slot role, as many seem to expect, but it could be a good thing for Terry McLaurin.

More snaps with Bates and/or Sinnott on the field (instead of a WR) helps the target-rate projection for any other players that are on the field at the same time. We could even see a volume spike for Chig Okonkwo if he's a regular presence in both 11 personnel and multi-TE formations.

Pace and Pass Rate

Blough figures to move the offense at a slower pace than Kingsbury did, if only because Kingsbury has long been the runaway NFL leader in no-huddle usage. That's going to decrease now, possibly by a lot, with Blough likely prioritizing Daniels' pre-snap checks (whereas Kingsbury's offense put more emphasis on making quick decisions right after the snap).

In terms of pass rate, it's almost always the case that teams with a QB rushing threat like Daniels rank near the bottom of the league. In this case, however, we might consider that Daniels is one of the league's thinnest QBs and doesn't have a top RB at his side.

Daniels will still scramble on a huge share of dropbacks (around 10 percent) compared to most other QBs, but the Commanders could be around league-average or even slightly pass-friendly in terms of stats like PROE that measure run-pass intent (and include dropbacks-turned-scrambled as 'called pass plays').

Playcaller Trends (Play-action, Pre-Snap Motion & More)

In two years under Kingsbury, the Commanders ran just 7.4 and 11.3 percent of their plays from under center (the lowest rate in the league both years). In 2024, the team found a ton of success with an offense that was heavy on screen passes, QB rushing and RPOs, allowing Daniels to thrive by making quick decisions and using his athleticism. It didn't work as well last year, in part due to injuries, and the Commanders now want to move in the same schematic direction as the rest of the league.

An optimist would say that the new offense, if executed properly, has a higher long-term ceiling. A pessimist might say that the simplicity of Kingsbury's offense actually made it a better fit for Daniels. Whatever the case, we may need a year or two to judge, especially if the Commanders don't improve their receiving corps before Week 1.

The "pro-style" offense under Blough likely will entail fewer designed QB runs than Kingsbury's system, instead using Daniels' mobility on rollouts and scrambles. While still a good bet to finish among the QB leaders in designed runs, Daniels may not get enough of them to match his rookie-year rushing production (8.7 attempts for 52.4 YPG).

Key Trends to Monitor Early in the Season (Commanders)

1. The backfield committee.
   1. Rachaad White vs. Jacory Croskey-Merritt.
   2. Kaytron Allen, Jerome Ford, Jeremy McNichols also competing for small roles.
2. Pace and PROE under a new playcaller.
3. Every-down role for Chig Okonkwo?
4. Division of WR snaps beyond Terry McLaurin.