The Liam Coen File
June 24th, 2024
Background.
So Joe is trying to figure out what Bucs fans can expect from the offense under new offensive coordinator Liam Coen.
Coen has only been an offensive coordinator on the NFL level for one year, that was 2022 with the Rams, but he didn’t call plays. He has four years total as an NFL offensive assistant, all with one of the best offensive minds in the game, Sean McVay.
So Joe decided to pull out his Warren Sharp 2023 Football Preview to get a statistical breakdown of Coen’s lone year as an NFL offensive coordinator.
Joe will have more later but as can be expected, there is good and bad.
Coen lost arguably his three best players for the season at about the same time, quarterback Matt Stafford and receivers Cooper Kupp and Allen Robinson. Despite those injuries, the Rams offense actually improved (with Baker Mayfield at quarterback) a slight bit.
Here is the bad: Stafford had a big drop in play, as Sharp points out.
For starters, Stafford was significantly worse in 2022 than in 2021 in almost every stable QB metric.
When kept clean? #28 QB in 2022 vs #5 QB in 2021.
When passing from the pocket? #34 QB in 2022 vs #2 QB in 2021.
When passing on early downs without play action? #45 QB in 2022 vs #9 QB in 2021.
Sharp went on to document that against man coverage, Stafford was the NFL’s No. 1 quarterback in 2021. With Coen in 2022, Stafford fell apart dropping to No. 45.
So what happened? Why did Stafford fall apart under Coen? Did all the years getting beat up playing for the Lions finally physically catch up with Stafford? He was 34 when he played for Coen.
Joe isn’t worried. But this is something to keep an eye on. Still, the key takeaway here is that Coen worked well with Mayfield, who of course is the Bucs’ starting quarterback.
And with Mayfield, the Rams offense actually improved, albeit slightly.
June 24th, 2024 at 7:08 am
He was O.C. for a year with the Rams, but wasn’t the play caller all season. It would be better to watch last years college tape.
June 24th, 2024 at 7:18 am
Different players , different team , different season ! I have no idea why joe would even try and figure something like this out . We will all know soon enough . Go bucs !
June 24th, 2024 at 7:27 am
Stafford didn’t throw all of the 2022 offseason and was severely limited in camp due to an elbow injury. He also suffered a concussion that knocked him out of a couple games before a spinal contusion ended his season. I wouldn’t put that on Coen.
June 24th, 2024 at 7:42 am
Agree with all the comments so far. Stafford’s limitations cannot be blamed on Coen. I am not worried either. Coen will do well.
June 24th, 2024 at 8:02 am
On the plus side – if he flops, Bowles will follow. (hopefully)
June 24th, 2024 at 8:18 am
Sharp?!?! Skip
Yawn!
Go Bucs!
June 24th, 2024 at 8:20 am
Stafford had to keep his eyes on the back up QBs instead of the football field lol
June 24th, 2024 at 8:24 am
Injury to Stafford in that year is more to blame, imo. Those are ‘fell off a cliff’ stat differences you reference. Not on Coen.
June 24th, 2024 at 8:25 am
@ A Bucs Fan: Astute observation.
June 24th, 2024 at 9:59 am
I may be wrong but the year Stafford fell apart they were having some offensive line issues and couldn’t consistently protect him.
June 24th, 2024 at 11:02 am
WHOOPS!
Liam Coen did call plays for the Rams, but only for one game during the 2022 season. Head coach Sean McVay handed over play-calling duties to Coen in Week 12 against the Kansas City Chiefs. Unfortunately, the Rams lost that game 26-10, and McVay resumed play-calling duties afterward.
June 24th, 2024 at 12:13 pm
@Sly yeah true but I’m sure Joe wouldn’t hold that against Coen. He’d surely refer to the loss as a result of relying on an “immortal” QB who was a singer from the velvet-lined lounge at the Vero Beach Ramada Inn: Bryce Perkins.
June 24th, 2024 at 12:41 pm
Not surprisingly, the story fails to mention the Rams’ OLine was especially decimated with injuries in 2022- but then again, anybody over 300lbs can play Oline, right?
June 24th, 2024 at 1:34 pm
Yeah, Stafford was hurt going into that season. Coen’s biggest problem at UK was tempo/pace of play. Boring. Hard to watch. Could never get into any kind of rhythm. Dead LAST in the nation in number of plays ran per game. Extremely undisciplined and unengaged. LOTS of drops and drive-killing penalties, personal fouls, holdings, & pre snap. BUT, most of us fans placed most of the blame on STOOPS. Problem being, Stoops & Bowles are identical mirrors of one another. Defense FIRST, and completely CLUELESS on Offense… A pounding, run heavy game plan, mixed with very poor time/game management, use of timeouts, Middle-8, Endgame Decisions, & etc. Hopefully, Bowles will just let him loose on that side of the ball, so we can see what he really can do. Stoops said he did, but nobody believes that. I am definitely rooting for him! Hope they can have a decent little run for these next 2-3 seasons… Then, have the reigns handed down to him after Bowles retires, & maybe draft a new QB for Cohen to mold and develop into our future franchise guy!!!!
June 24th, 2024 at 3:48 pm
Yikes. That is scary.
#AsToddEvolves
June 24th, 2024 at 4:45 pm
Ooof, maybe this is why everyone is picks the Falcons to win the division…
June 24th, 2024 at 5:52 pm
On the bright side, if Mayfield folds Joe can blame it on Coen. I can see it now. “Check the archives”. There might even be a link to this article. Hahaha