McVay Tops CBS Offense List, Macdonald Unanimous on D
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- Sean McVay topped CBS Sports' offensive play-caller rankings with 105 points, as the Rams led the NFL in yards per game, points per game and success rate in 2025 while using a league-high 30.5% rate of 13 personnel (three-tight end sets).
- Mike Macdonald is the unanimous No. 1 defensive play-caller (120 points, lowest rank of 1) after guiding the Seahawks to a Super Bowl win with matchup-specific schemes — including using cornerback Devon Witherspoon as a pass rusher in the Super Bowl, a role he hadn't played since Week 16.
- The CBS Sports panel fractured sharply on defense: 19 different defensive play-callers received at least one vote, by far the largest spread of any single position group in the rankings series, which also covered head coaches and offensive/defensive positions.
- Andy Reid ranked No. 4 on the offensive list (63 points) as the Chiefs moved on from Matt Nagy and brought back Eric Bieniemy — the OC from Reid's more successful 2018-22 run — in an attempt to recapture the offense's earlier heights with Patrick Mahomes.
- Brian Flores finished No. 5 on the defensive list despite receiving two second-place and three third-place votes; his Vikings led the NFL in pressure rate last year with an uber-aggressive scheme that rattled opposing quarterbacks.
- Vance Joseph's Broncos defense led the NFL with 68 sacks — 11 more than any other team and four short of the 1984 Bears' all-time single-season record — earning him the No. 8 spot on the defensive rankings.
Why it matters: McVay and Macdonald claim the top of CBS Sports' 2026 play-caller rankings, but the defensive side fractured — 19 different play-callers received votes from the 12 panelists, the widest spread of any group CBS ranked, leaving the defensive pecking order unsettled behind Macdonald's unanimous selection.
