The Cleveland Browns officially announced their new coaching staff on Monday, with Freddie Kitchen at head coach and Todd Monken, formerly with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers serving as his offensive coordinator.
Monken, the former head coach at Southern Miss, spent the past three seasons as the Bucs offensive coordinator but only took over the play-calling duties in 2018. Former Bucs head coach Dirk Koetter had given Monken the duties during the preseason (as the Browns did for Kitchens), but Monken was so efficient that Koetter never took them back (except for one bizarre week in November which resulted in a loss to the Giants).
Monken didn’t get the offensive genius label as quickly as Sean McVay in Los Angeles, but his impact on Tampa’s offense was arguably just as meaningful. Unfortunately for Monken, he simply didn’t have the talent to get the same instant results as McVay.
The Browns announced that Kitchens will call plays, but given his lack of experience and Monken’s success, it’s likely the two will work closely and Monken will have significant input in designing the Browns offense. And while Kitchens dramatically improved the Browns offense after taking it over from two relics of the game (Hue Jackson and Todd Haley), there are still areas where Monken is dramatically more innovative in his approach.
Using the indispensable advanced data from Sports Info Solutions, here’s a look at a few areas where Monken’s offensive philosophy could transform the Browns offense:
Aggressive Play Calling Limits Third-and-Long Attempts
Last week I wrote about how the Seahawks ultra-conservative play calling on first and second down was setting Russell Wilson up for failure by forcing a disproportionate amount of his dropbacks to come in third-and-long situations.
On the complete opposite end of the spectrum was Monken’s offense in Tampa Bay. According to Sports Info Solutions, Buccaneers quarterbacks attempted the fourth lowest rate of passes in third and long:
The fact that Monken was avoiding these less favorable passing situations at a rate equal to the best offenses in the sport is a testament to just how valuable his play calling was to the Buccaneers.
Monken achieved this result by being aggressive on early downs. The Buccaneers attempted a pass on 55.7 percent of their first-down plays, the seventh highest rate in the league.
Downfield Throws Drive the Offense
Perhaps more important than just his tendency to throw on early downs is the fact that Monken prefers to throw downfield on early downs.
According to Sports Info Solutions, no team in the league threw the ball 10 or more yards downfield on first down more than the Buccaneers (30.9 percent). This was far and away the highest rate, with the Browns coming in a distant second at 23.7 percent. The league average was 17.2 percent.
Further evidence that Monken is committed to aggressive downfield play calling is his tendency to continue throwing downfield when his first-down call doesn’t work.
In second-and-10 situations, when most coaches get ultra conservative and play for the mythical “third-and-manageable,” Monken remains committed to the downfield pass at a high rate. 28.4 percent of the Buccaneers second-and-10 plays resulted in a throw 10 or more yards downfield, once again the highest rate in the league, edging out Sean McVay’s Rams at 27.6 percent, per Sports Info Solutions.
How will this affect Mayfield? Well, according to SIS’s Independent Quarterback Rating metric (similar to regular quarterback rating, but accounting for plays out of his control, such as drops), Mayfield ranked 14th out of 38 quarterbacks on throws 10 or more yards downfield in 2018. No other rookie ranked higher than 31st.
Mayfield’s natural development from his rookie to his sophomore year, plus Monken’s aggressive play calling, will likely give Mayfield the ability to dramatically improve upon his 2018 numbers.
Personnel Decisions Set Run Game Up for Success
As I mentioned in a previous article, Nick Chubb was forced to run into a loaded box at a higher rate than any running back in the league in 2018. Overall, the Browns ran the ball with eight or more defenders in the box on 30.7 percent of their attempts, according to Sports Info Solutions. Only the Giants had a higher rate.
In Tampa, Monken had one of the worst rushing attacks in the league thanks to a shaky offensive line and Peyton Barber in the backfield. However, he did what he could to set them up for success.
The Buccaneers ran into eight or more men in the box on just 19.2 percent of their attempts, the eighth lowest rate in the league.
One of the reasons Monken was able to avoid running into loaded boxes was his tendency to run from three (and sometimes four) wide receiver sets.
According to Sports Info Solutions, Tampa ran the ball with three or more receivers on the field 59.9 percent of the time in 2018, the eighth highest rate in the league. The Browns ranked 23rd at 47.0 percent.
If you’re skeptical that all of this matters, that’s fair. After all, the Browns still had a better running game than the Bucs. But you have to consider the talent with which both coaching staffs were working. So consider these numbers: when carrying the ball with three or more receivers on the field Barber averaged just 4.05 yards per carry (ranked 30th out of 36 running backs). Meanwhile Chubb averaged 5.56 yards (ranked eighth).
Monken should be able to put Chubb in more favorable situations in the run game, further unlocking his potential as a feature back in this offense.
