The Broncos are going with Nathaniel Hackett as their new head coach. If they weren’t already the frontrunners to land Aaron Rodgers, they definitely are now. Hackett has spent the last three years working with Rodgers in Green Bay, and they have a positive relationship.
Rodgers, in fact, a year ago lobbied for the Falcons to hire Hackett when they were interviewing for a new head coach. Should Rodgers decides to leave Green Bay, it likely will be Denver that lands him. They’ve got Hackett, they’ve got plenty of talent on offense, and the Packers would probably prefer to send him to the AFC.
As far as drawing up plays, Hackett is more of a question mark. He’s had success with the Packers the last three years, but those teams had Aaron Rodgers at quarterback. A lot of coordinators would look pretty good on offenses with No. 12 at quarterback. And Matt LaFleur also had a hand in those offenses.
Hackett was the offensive coordinator for five other offenses, and those teams didn’t have as much success. The 2017 Jaguars finished 5th in scoring, but all five of Hackett’s other offenses all finished below-average in scoring. All five of those teams were saddled with lesser quarterbacks, including Blake Bortles, Kyle Orton, EJ Manuel and Thad Lewis.
| HACKETT OFFENSES, SCORING | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Team | W-L-T | Run | Pass | Pts/G | Rk |
| 2013 | Buffalo | 6-10-0 | 2 | 28 | 21.2 | 22 |
| 2014 | Buffalo | 9-7-0 | 25 | 18 | 21.4 | 18 |
| 2016 | Jacksonville | 3-13-0 | 22 | 20 | 19.9 | 25 |
| 2017 | Jacksonville | 10-6-0 | 1 | 18 | 26.1 | 5 |
| 2018 | Jacksonville | 5-11-0 | 19 | 26 | 15.3 | 31 |
| 2019 | Green Bay | 13-3-0 | 15 | 19 | 23.5 | 15 |
| 2020 | Green Bay | 13-3-0 | 8 | 11 | 31.8 | 1 |
| 2021 | Green Bay | 13-4-0 | 18 | 9 | 26.5 | 10 |
Hackett’s offenses have been all over the board in terms of rushing. Using standard fantasy scoring (6 for TDs and 1 for every 10 rushing yards) he’s directed two offenses that ranked in the top 4, but three others that ranked 25th or lower. He’s had two just outside the top 10 but another just outside the top 20 – different teams with different personnel and different approaches.
| HACKETT OFFENSES, RUSHING | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Team | Yd/Att | Yds/G | TD | Pts/G | Rk |
| 2013 | Buffalo | 4.2 | 144 | 15 | 20.0 | 4 |
| 2014 | Buffalo | 3.7 | 93 | 7 | 11.9 | 27 |
| 2016 | Jacksonville | 4.2 | 102 | 8 | 13.2 | 25 |
| 2017 | Jacksonville | 4.3 | 141 | 18 | 20.9 | 2 |
| 2018 | Jacksonville | 4.1 | 108 | 7 | 13.4 | 30 |
| 2019 | Green Bay | 4.4 | 112 | 18 | 18.0 | 12 |
| 2020 | Green Bay | 4.8 | 132 | 16 | 19.2 | 11 |
| 2021 | Green Bay | 4.3 | 112 | 13 | 15.8 | 21 |
The passing offenses have been pretty awesome in Green Bay the last three years, with 113 TDs versus only 16 interceptions. But that’s with Aaron Rodgers under center and working with Davante Adams. When a coordinator gets good production out of a modest quarterback – Andy Dalton, Teddy Bridgewater – it’s easier to see that he’s creating value.
When Hackett was working with lesser quarterbacks in Buffalo and Jacksonville, those passing offenses were pretty modest. Blake Bortles shockingly threw 35 TDs in 2015, but Hackett on that team was not the coordinator but the quarterbacks coach. Greg Olson was the coordinator of that team.
| HACKETT OFFENSES, PASSING | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Team | Pct | Yds/G | TD | Int | FPts/G | Rk |
| 2013 | Buffalo | 57.3% | 211 | 16 | 15 | 14.5 | 31 |
| 2014 | Buffalo | 62.7% | 226 | 23 | 13 | 17.0 | 18 |
| 2016 | Jacksonville | 58.9% | 245 | 24 | 16 | 18.3 | 18 |
| 2017 | Jacksonville | 60.0% | 232 | 21 | 13 | 16.9 | 20 |
| 2018 | Jacksonville | 61.4% | 214 | 15 | 13 | 14.5 | 28 |
| 2019 | Green Bay | 62.1% | 251 | 26 | 4 | 19.1 | 17 |
| 2020 | Green Bay | 70.7% | 269 | 48 | 5 | 25.4 | 2 |
| 2021 | Green Bay | 67.8% | 266 | 39 | 7 | 22.5 | 7 |
Hackett doesn’t inherit an empty cupboard in Denver. They’ve got a serviceable offensive line, and plenty of up-and-coming talent at the skill positions, including Javonte Williams, Jerry Jeudy, Courtland Sutton, Noah Fant and Tim Patrick.
If Rodgers gets dropped into that mix, the Broncos would have a reasonable chance of finishing the season as one of the league’s top half-dozen offenses. (And would make the AFC West the league’s most quarterback-heavy division, with Patrick Mahomes, Justin Herbert and Derek Carr.)
—Ian Allan