NFLMocks’ 5 for 5: NFL Draft Stock, Stellar WR Debuts, and More!

Headline #4: Best Head Coaching Debuts

•No. 1: Kevin O’Connell (Vikings)

As touched on earlier, the Vikings put together an ideal debut for their new head coach Kevin O’Connell. O’Connell spent the past two seasons as offensive coordinator for the Los Angeles Rams, and at the age of 37, he is the second youngest coach in the NFL behind only his buddy, Sean McVay.

O’Connell quickly incorporated aspects of the Ram’s offense upon his arrival in Minnesota. The first-time head coach designed sets for Justin Jefferson that mirrored the plays Cooper Kupp ran in 2021 during his legendary run.

This should help unlock the final level of Kirk Cousins, too. Cousins is already coming off of a career year last season, but if Sunday is a sign of things to come, we might start hearing the word MVP get thrown around when his name comes up.

•No. 2: Matt Eberflus (Bears)

The Chicago Bears opened their 2022 season with a 19-10 victory against the San Francisco 49ers. The game was played during a monsoon, with pockets of standing water scattered throughout the gridiron all game long.

To the credit of the Bears, they used their midwestern advantage to pull out the sloppy win. At the center of the success is head coach Matt Eberflus. Eberflus came over this offseason after serving as the defensive coordinator in Indianapolis for four seasons, helping their unit become one of the best in football in that span.

The defense played a key role in the victory, forcing multiple turnovers from top 2021 NFL Draft pick, Trey Lance. We’ll see if this game was an outlier due to the weather, but they’ll never be able to take this away from Chicago!

•No. 3: Mike McDaniel (Dolphins)

The Miami Dolphins were arguably the most impressive team in week one — aside from the juggernaut Buffalo Bills and Kansas City Chiefs. Mike McDaniel took over in South Beach following the firing of Brian Flores and the swing-and-miss hiring of Sean Payton. While the circumstances around it were shady, the Dolphins pivoted to the perfect leader for their franchise.

McDaniel is an offensive guru who has learned under Kyle Shanahan for the better part of a decade. He is very much a player’s coach, which was evident during his impassioned post-game speech following his team’s 20-7 victory over the New England Patriots.

The Dolphins are a team that is going to get better as the season progresses. It wouldn’t be a surprise to see them as one of the final teams standing in January.

•No. 4: Brian Daboll (Giants)

It was hinted at earlier, but Brian Daboll won more than just a football game Sunday. He won over an entire fan base. The Giants scored a touchdown with 1:06 remaining in the fourth quarter, and rather than taking the XP to tie and likely send the game to overtime, Daboll threw caution to the wind and kept the offense on the field.

Daniel Jones completed a pass to Chris Myarick to put his team ahead 21-20. The Titans moved the ball well enough to get a field goal opportunity from Randy Bullock as time expired. The kick went left and New York had themselves a culture-building win.

Props to Daboll for recognizing the gravity of the situation and having the fortitude and confidence in his guys to go for the win. If Daboll turns Big Blue into a consistent winner in the coming years, it can all be traced back to this one decision.

•No. 5: Dennis Allen (Saints) & Todd Bowles (Buccaneers)

I am combining the final two on this list for a couple of reasons. First, these two new head coaches each have prior experience in the league, unlike the rest of the list. But, they each won their debut with their new team Sunday, so I would be remiss not to mention them at all.

Dennis Allen took over for Sean Payton this offseason after the latter spent 16 seasons entrenched as head coach. Allen, the former Raiders head coach from 2012-2014, began his tenure in New Orleans with a come-from-behind victory against the Atlanta Falcons. He is looking to lead the franchise to their sixth straight winning season.

Todd Bowles spent 2015-2018 as the New York Jets head coach. Unless you live under a rock, you know that this pairing did not work out for the franchise or the coach. Bowles landed on his feet as the defensive coordinator in Tampa Bay, eventually helping shape the unit into the Super Bowl champions that they are today.

Similar to Payton, the Bucs lost their Super Bowl-winning head coach, Bruce Arians, and they’ll be attempting to carry on the winning tradition in what figures to be Tom Brady’s final season in the NFL.