Frank Reich Aims to Revitalize Jets with Youthful Roster in 2026 Play-Caller Series

There are 32 teams in the National Football League. Eighteen of them have new playcallers this year.

Eighteen!

It's a staggering number. The race is on to find the next Kyle Shanahan or Sean McVay or Ben Johnson , any genius who can innovate an offense and push a team toward a Super Bowl . You know, as Klint Kubiak did, he went from the champion Seahawks to the worst-in-league Raiders this offseason.

The funny thing is that almost every single one of the 18 playcaller jobs that were filled are connected to Shanahan, McVay or Johnson. And it's even funnier that as former assistants fill those jobs, those three continue to tweak their offenses, adding wrinkles and changes to keep things fresh. Even those who revolutionized offenses are evolving.

The players themselves matter more to Fantasy Football since they're the ones you're drafting and starting. Talent is obviously important but opportunities matter more, and it's these playcallers who will determine the opportunities their players get.

That's why studying each new playcaller and making some educated guesses on what they'll do and how they'll operate this season is important draft prep work.

I've gone ahead and ranked all 18 playcallers -- some are head coaches who will call plays, others are offensive coordinators. Last year, new play callers Liam Coen (Jacksonville) and Ben Johnson (Chicago) had two of the biggest impacts on the Fantasy Football season. So keep an eye on who ranks atop this list. We'll put together a landing page for all 18 pieces at the end and cross-link on each piece once we're caught up.

We'll start by working backwards with my 18th-ranked new play caller until we get all the way through to No. 1. Today, we'll talk about the new play caller who came in ranked at No. 16 overall:

16. Jets OC Frank Reich

Who's new?

Long Island native Frank Reich was hired as offensive coordinator after serving as Stanford's head coach last year. He spent 10 seasons calling plays as an OC or a head coach for the Colts , Eagles and Chargers , winning a Super Bowl with the Eagles in 2018. He runs a West Coast offense.

What's expected this year?

Reich isn't used to the run-focused approach head coach Aaron Glenn is likely to prioritize -- he has a career 58.8% pass play rate and has called passes at least 60.6% of the time in half of his 10 seasons. Reich has also consistently used multiple running backs -- one for rushing downs, one for passing downs. Tight ends have almost always been a big part of Reich's offenses, collecting at least a 20% target share in 8 of 10 seasons. Running backs have had a big role, too with a 19.2% or more target share in 6 of 10 seasons. That's left less than normal for receivers -- 54.8% to be exact over Reich's tenures.

Winners and losers for Fantasy

Because of Reich's insistence on using two RBs, only three have averaged 15 PPR points in his 10 seasons (double-digit TD scorer Jonathan Taylor twice, PPR beast Danny Woodhead once). And it's not like expected starting QB Geno Smith works wonders for running backs either -- just once in his career has he been the quarterback when a RB topped 15 PPR points per game ( Kenneth Walker in 2024). Bad news for Breece Hall's upside. Garrett Wilson's target volume was already expected to sink after the Jets spent two first-round picks on pass-catchers, but Reich's tendencies don't help Wilson's cause. The only three wideouts with 15-plus PPR points under Reich in 10 seasons needed at least 8.6 targets per game to get there. That's bad news for rookie Omar Cooper Jr . too. Smith's track record with receivers isn't great either -- no wide receiver has had more than 15 PPR points per game in six years with Smith as a starter (three were between 14.0 and 15.0). And while the playcaller's history does sound good for rookie tight end Kenyon Sadiq , the most likely outcome has neither him nor Mason Taylor dominating target share at the position.

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_Originally reported by [CBS Sports](https://www.cbssports.com/fantasy/football/news/dave-richards-2026-new-play-caller-series-frank-reich-looks-to-capture-old-magic-with-youth-infused-jets/)._