1. The most exciting development for the 2021 season is the quarterback upgrades for the Rams and (soon) the 49ers. For the past few years, we’ve marveled at the magic of Sean McVay and Kyle Shanahan, as they lifted middling quarterbacks to near-stardom levels. Their systems are distinct, but they both lean heavily on play-action and play designs that are disguised because they all look so similar at the start, meshing the run game and passing game. Even better, the systems are relatively quarterback-friendly from a learning standpoint. For instance, here’s Shanahan going over the Y-leak concept with in-season acquisition Jimmy Garoppolo in 2017. There was a line of thought that having a coach like McVay or Shanahan negates the need to sink draft capital or salary cap space into a superstar quarterback—just get a caretaker who can run the system and watch the wins pile up. Both teams could have competed for a Super Bowl annually with second-tier quarterbacks. But it was impossible to ignore what Patrick Mahomes, Lamar Jackson and Josh Allen did to defenses over the past three seasons, especially when it comes to improvisational plays. It was time to evolve. So one year after running a creative but limited horizontal, motion-heavy passing attack with Jared Goff, McVay will get to unleash Matthew Stafford. Along with the elite arm talent to put incredible stress on a defense horizontally and vertically—and allow McVay to unveil play designs he simply couldn’t with Goff—Stafford’s out-of-structure playmaking ability will bail the offense out a handful of times every season. And in San Francisco, once Trey Lance is ready—sooner than you think—not only will Shanahan’s passing designs be that much more dangerous (check out this throw!) but the most effective 10-man rushing attack in the NFL will become an 11-man rushing attack. A defense's backside defender will have to stay put rather than chasing down an outside-zone play, something that was never the case before; if he doesn't, Lance will pick up huge chunks of yards. For the first time in their tenures as head coaches, McVay and Shanahan have virtually no limits on what they can dial up.
