Morning Coffee: Vrabel will be the NFL Coach of the Year

The Shedeur Sanders experience is main event material.

In Monday morning’s column, I compared the seemingly never-ending quarterback carousel of the Cleveland Browns to a horror movie franchise.

The latest twist in The Nightmare on Lake Erie is an overcrowded QB room that features five options under contract right now in Joe Flacco, Kenny Pickett, Dillon Gabriel, Tyler Huntley, and Sanders.

Of course, only one of those guys could potentially be nominated for best actor in a leading role this season.

An impressive NFL pre-season debut was enough for the FanDuel traders to cut Sanders to be Cleveland’s Week 1 regular season starter from +3500 to +1100.

Sanders to be the Browns Week 1 starter is now +1060.

In case you missed it, my guy Davis Sanchez thinks that number could be even shorter.

That sentiment was echoed by Fantasy Points Podcast Host and Writer Brian Drake, who joined me to discuss his biggest NFL pre-season Week 1 takeaways during Monday’s episode of GamePlay on TSN1050.

The bottom line for the Browns is that the franchise hasn’t had a Pro Bowl quarterback since Derek Anderson in 2007.

No team is considered more likely to miss the playoffs than Cleveland at FanDuel this morning.

I’m not sure how many games the Browns win with Flacco or Pickett at quarterback, but I’d bet it’s not enough to offset the chance to evaluate Sanders and Gabriel as potential long-term options at the position.

I’d also bet that owner Jimmy Haslam isn’t interested in trading away the most profitable rookie in terms of NFL merchandise sales this summer without seeing more.

Remember, Cleveland has two first round picks for the 2026 NFL Draft and could add to their stack in-season.

If Sanders or Gabriel exceed expectations as rookies, it might be enough for the Browns to move forward with one of them as their starting QB and create a chance to spend that draft capital elsewhere.

Cleveland’s QB carousel will continue with another exhibition game against the Philadelphia Eagles on Saturday.

Head coach Kevin Stefanski hasn’t named his starter.

Meanwhile, as the Browns, New York Giants, New Orleans Saints and Indianapolis Colts continue the searches for their next starting quarterback, the New England Patriots have found their guy in Drake Maye.

Year 1 of the post-Bill Belichick era was a lot uglier than most expected, but Maye’s rookie season was a major bright spot.

New head coach Mike Vrabel brought in an impressive list of names to fill out his staff, and New England invested a lot of capital to overhaul a roster that looks a lot better on paper than it did a year ago.

The Patriots are expected to be among the most improved teams in the NFL this season.

I’m buying Vrabel as the best bet to win AP NFL Coach of the Year at +750 at FanDuel.

This is Morning Coffee for Tuesday August 12th, 2025.

Mike Vrabel Will Be The NFL Coach of the Year

The Patriot Way is all about winning Super Bowl rings.

With Belichick and Tom Brady, New England was a perennial contender for nearly two decades.

Now Patriots Nation is hoping that Maye and Vrabel can re-establish The Patriot Way in Foxborough.

That transition started with the hiring of Vrabel to replace Jerod Mayo as head coach back in January.

If anybody understands The Patriot Way, it’s a former linebacker who won three rings in eight seasons playing under Belichick in New England.

The same is true for a former Belichick lieutenant in Offensive Coordinator Josh McDaniels, who followed Vrabel back to Foxborough for a third sting with the Patriots.

McDaniels has been tasked with building an elite offence around the new franchise quarterback in New England.

I can’t wait to see how Maye develops under McDaniels this season and beyond.

Terrell Williams, who spent six years on Vrabel’s staff during his time with the Tennessee Titans, takes over as defensive coordinator as a popular offseason hire after his time as defensive line coach and defensive run game coordinator for the Detroit Lions under Dan Campbell.

Williams has dealt with some health issues this offseason but remains on track to be on New England’s sideline in Week 1 against the Las Vegas Raiders.

Once Vrabel’s staff was in place, the Patriots went to work rebuilding their roster with nearly $130 million in available salary cap space – the most in the NFL.

First, the Patriots beefed up an offensive line that ranked dead-last in run block win rate last season with the additions of tackle Morgan Moses, centre Garrett Bradbury, and rookie fourth overall pick tackle Will Campbell.

In case you missed it, Campbell looked good in his NFL pre-season debut against the Washington Commanders.

New England also added veteran wide receivers Stefon Diggs and Mack Hollins – both former Buffalo Bills.

Then at the NFL Draft, the Patriots added some serious skill in second round pick running back TreVeyon Henderson and third round pick wide receiver Kyle Williams.

New England also drafted the first specialist off the board in kicker Andy Borregales to improve a kicking game that ranked 25th in the NFL last season with a 79 per cent success rate.

The improvements on offence combined with an overhauled coaching staff are impressive enough.

Then there’s a defence that added defensive tackle Milton Williams, cornerback Carlton Davis, linebackers Harold Landry, K’Lavon Chaisson and Robert Spillane.

Factor in the emergence of cornerback Christian Gonzalez and the returns of Christian Barmore, Kyle Dugger, Jabrill Peppers, and Marcus Jones and there’s plenty of reason for intrigue when it comes to the New England defence.

Of course, all those improvements factored into the Patriots regular season win total climbing from 7.5 to 8.5 at FanDuel over the summer.

For the over to cash, New England would need to finish with at least five more wins than they did in 2024, when they went 4-13.

If the Patriots improve by five or more wins, it will likely register as the biggest one-year jump in the entire NFL.

Combine a vastly improved coaching staff and an improved roster with another year of experience and a lot more help for their second-year franchise QB, and I’d bet on New England taking a big step forward in 2025.

Add in the second easiest schedule of opponents and I’m all in on the return of The Patriot Way under Vrabel.

I’ll lock in Vrabel to win AP NFL Coach of the Year at +750 as a FanDuel Best Bet for the 2025 NFL season.

Do you have another name in mind as the best bet for NFL Coach of the Year at FanDuel?

Hit me up @Domenic_Padula on X and let me know.

Have a great day, everyone!