Play-caller
- Calls plays: Brian Daboll (OC) — confirmed. Hired explicitly as the offensive play-caller on a 3-year deal after NYG fired him in Nov 2025; described across outlets as "one of the best play callers in the game" brought in to run the offense (NFL.com "Titans hire former Giants HC Brian Daboll as offensive coordinator", 2026-01; titansized/Yahoo staff pieces, 2026-02, verified 2026-07-07).
- Tenure with team: Year 1 (hired Jan 2026) · Prior relationship with QB1: none direct; direct history with WR Wan'Dale Robinson, CB Cor'Dale Flott, C Austin Schlottmann and TE Daniel Bellinger from NYG — the FA class was built around Daboll/Saleh familiarity (FOX Sports 2026-03; profootballrumors Offseason In Review 2026-07-04).
Last 3 play-calling stops (skip non-calling years — Kafka called NYG plays 2022–23 and again in 2025 ("Daboll had announced that Kafka would be the play caller for the 2025 season" — CBS Sports/Big Blue View, Nov 2025); Daboll called 2024 (NFL.com/giants.com, 2024-09) and BUF 2018–21):
| Stop (team, yrs) | PROE | Neutral pass% | Sec/play (neutral) | Motion% | PA% | 11 / 12 / 21% | Condensed% | RB tgt share | WR1 TS | Inside-10 pass% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NYG 2024 (HC, called plays) | Mildly negative, ~21st (SI Giants takeaways 2025-01, carried forward; exact % UNVERIFIED). Raw pass rate 64.8% dropback basis, 64.9 plays/g (data/stats/2024/pbp_summary.csv, computed 2026-07-07); 8th in pass attempts (DraftSharks NYG preview) | UNVERIFIED (DraftSharks: top-tier neutral pass rate when Nabers played) | UNVERIFIED (64.9 plays/g = above-avg volume proxy) | 33.0% (FTN basis — runs lower than NGS telemetry; data/stats/2024 participation+ftn, computed 2026-07-07) | 23.7% of dropbacks (computed 2026-07-07) | 61.5 / 15.0 / 1.4% (computed 2026-07-07) | UNVERIFIED | 15.9% (NYG24 receiving.csv, computed 2026-07-07) — but Robinson-as-outlet (140 tgt, 4.8 aDOT, 7.5 Y/R — RotoWire/FantasyData) is a de facto second checkdown layer | Nabers 30.7% (170 tgt, NFL rookie-era volume — receiving.csv 2024 target_share; DraftSharks) | UNVERIFIED |
| BUF 2021 (OC, called plays) | UNVERIFIED (pass-first identity — "looking to pass first and pass second", PFF Daboll/Allen evolution piece 2021) | UNVERIFIED | UNVERIFIED | UNVERIFIED | UNVERIFIED | 11-dominant, heavy 3–4 WR spacing (PFF 2021; ESPN scheme pieces) | UNVERIFIED | UNVERIFIED (committee backfield, low priority) | Diggs alpha usage — led NFL in catches+yards 2020, elite volume again 2021; exact TS UNVERIFIED | UNVERIFIED |
| BUF 2020 (OC, called plays) | UNVERIFIED | UNVERIFIED | UNVERIFIED | UNVERIFIED | UNVERIFIED | 2nd-most plays with 4+ WRs (155) in NFL 2020 (ESPN 2020-12) | UNVERIFIED | UNVERIFIED | Diggs led NFL in catches AND yards (buffalobills.com 2021-01); exact TS UNVERIFIED | UNVERIFIED |
Read: Daboll runs an Erhardt-Perkins (Patriots-tree) system — simplified concept-based calls, high-percentage short passing married to deep play-action shots. His two signature fantasy tendencies: he feeds one alpha at historic volume (Diggs led the NFL in catches/yards 2020; rookie Nabers 170 targets / 30.7% TS in 2024) and he manufactures a huge short-aDOT slot/outlet role — Robinson's 140-target, 4.8-aDOT 2024 happened under Daboll, and Tennessee paid Robinson $70M to reprise it. Raw pass volume at his stops is script-inflated (bad NYG teams), but the roster build (1.04 WR + $70M slot WR + zero RB investment) says pass-leaning by design. Expect a year-1 install drag on pace/motion (methodology §9); all Callahan/McCoy-era roles are void.
Scheme family
- Run scheme: Mixed zone/gap, expected inside-zone + duo lean (Daboll's NYG/BUF fronts were multiple; exact 2026 split UNVERIFIED until camp) — fits one-cut/contact-balance backs: Pollard (one-cut burst) and Spears fit; Singleton is a home-run zone fit when the foot is right.
- Pass-game family: Erhardt-Perkins / west-coast-adjacent — high-completion short timing, concept-flexible, deep PA shots off it (~23.7% PA at NYG 2024 — computed 2026-07-07). Implications: slot usage is the engine (Robinson), PPR floors up, team aDOT down from 2025's air-yards-heavy shape (Ayomanor's 28.7% air-yards share profile — receiving.csv — is the odd man out); the alpha-X role (Tate) carries the WR1-TS history (Diggs/Nabers 30.7%).
