NFL's 10 Worst Playcalling Offensive Coordinators

Without a good offensive coordinator, even the most skilled units in football will see limited production.

The job of an offensive coordinator requires calling plays that will first and foremost put points on the board; but that also suit the play of the team, maximize potential, minimize turnovers, and consistently move the ball down the field.

Every coach in the NFL is skilled and has a vast knowledge of the game of football, but these 10 coaches just might find themselves in over their heads in 2010.

Bob Bratkowski - Cincinnati Bengals

In Bob Bratkowski's 10 years as Cincinnati's offensive coordinator he has had some ups and is now going through some downs.

With weapons such as Carson Palmer, Chad Ochocinco (man, I feel stupid writing that in an article), and Cedric Benson, Bratkowski's offense was only able to muster up 4,946 yards of total offense.

His run-heavy offense was exactly what Cedric Benson needed. Up until 2009, Benson's career had been a complete bust, but under Bratkowski's offense he was able to run for his first career 1,000 yard season, ranking ninth in the league in rushing.

Brian Daboll - Cleveland Browns

Brian Daboll called the plays for the worst offensive unit in all of football last year.

They were last in the NFL in both total offense (4,163) and passing offense (2,076). This was mainly due to the team's inability to decide on a starting quarterback, switching back and forth between Brady Quinn and Derek Anderson throughout the season.

The lone bright spot for the Browns' offense was their running game. The Browns got rid of Jamal Lewis, but will still have a steady running game with Jerome Harrison running that game.

The team expects to start Jake Delhomme under center next season, who has been known as a turnover machine as of late.

Jeff Davidson - Carolina Panthers

If you watched the Panthers offense in 2009, you might have thought Davidson convinced Jake Delhomme he was supposed to pass the ball to the other team.

The Panthers 31 turnovers were the sixth most in the NFL. While that does not all fall on the shoulders of the offensive coordinator, it is his responsibility to call plays that put his players in a position to keep the ball, among other things.

With an unproven Matt Moore taking over the reigns as the starting quarterback this year, Davidson better be praying that Steve Smith's arm heals quickly or he could find himself on the chopping block really quickly.

Jimmy Raye - San Francisco 49ers

He had to face some obstacles in his first year as a coordinator, most notably who would be the starting quarterback for the Niners and figuring out how to work Michael Crabtree into the offense after he missed training camp and much of the season.

Jimmy Raye's mentality going into 2009 was to run a conservative offense where protecting the ball was the number one priority, but his Niners had the 12th most turnovers in the NFL with 24.

His offensive production did not fare much better, ranking 27th in the league with 4,652 yards.

Dan Henning - Miami Dolphins

After being a head coach in college and the NFL for 30 years, Henning turned his focus to offensive coordinator, first in Carolina and now in Miami.

His run-first mentality was successful for the Dolphins, who ranked fourth in the league with 2,231 rushing yards.

While he had success running the ball, he was not able to find much of that success in the air. The Dolphins' 3,170 passing yards ranked 20th in the league.

The Dolphins brought in one of the biggest playmaking receivers in the game in Brandon Marshall, and Hennings success as a coordinator in 2010 will largely ride on his ability to utilize this weapon and improve the Dolphins passing numbers.

Dirk Koetter - Jacksonville Jaguars

He made his name as a head coach at the collegiate level with Boise State and Arizona State, and when Jack Del Rio called him up he moved up to the big leagues and joined the Jacksonville Jaguars.

He saw success early, ranking seventh in the league in his first year as the offensive play caller, but has since dropped off, finishing last season as the 19th ranked offense in the league.

Koetter specializes in the passing game, yet his Jaguars only racked up 3,356 yards in the air in 2009.

His rushing game, lead by Maurice Jones-Drew, performed much better, ranking tenth in the NFL with 2,029 yards.

Hue Jackson - Oakland Raiders

Hue Jackson takes over an offense in 2010 that will feature a new starting quarterback, an under-performing running back in Darren McFadden, no real threats in the air, and a mountain of expectations.

He has had two previous stints as an offensive coordinator, in Washington and Atlanta, that both ended with him being fired after one year.

The Raiders were the second worst offense in the league last season with 4,258 yards.

They will likely see an improvement in the passing game with the acquisition of Jason Campbell.

To have any shot at getting to the postseason, they will have to see a drastic improvement in the running game, which ranked 20th in the NFL last season.

Greg Olson - Tampa Bay Buccaneers

In his first year as an offensive coordinator, Greg Olson was only able to produce 4,600 yards of total offense.

The Buccaneers were consistent, ranking 23rd in the league in passing and 24th in rushing, but consistently unimpressive isn't exactly a good thing.

He did an alright job for a first year coordinator, especially considering the limited amount of talent he had to work with in Tampa, but on a league wide scale he is not very good.

Scott Linehan - Detroit Lions

After an 11-25 record as the head coach of the St. Louis Rams, Linehan was fired four games into the 2008 season.

He then took over as the Detroit Lions offensive coordinator in 2009, where he took over an offense that ranked 26th in the league.

His offense had the most turnovers in the league with 41. Their 32 interceptions were more than 27 of the NFL's teams' total giveaways.

If he can not find a way to help his offense maintain possession of the football, he will likely find himself without a job before the 2010 season is over.

Pat Shurmur - St. Louis Rams

Pat Shurmur took over as the Rams Offensive Coordinator at the beginning of the 2009 season, and the Rams actually did worse than the year before.

While the Rams have Stephen Jackson in the backfield, who has the ability to be one of the best backs in the league, they were only able to muster up 1,784 rushing yards, 20th in the NFL.

They ranked 28th in the league in passing with only 2,686 yards. Now that Marc Bulger is out, the Rams must rely on rookie Sam Bradford to run their offense.

The Rams were also last in the NFL with only 175 points in the 2009 season. The New Orleans Saint had nearly three times that with their league leading 510 points.