Play-caller
- Calls plays: Tommy Rees, OC — confirmed. Stefanski publicly announced Rees will call plays and said he is "very, very comfortable" with the setup (atlantafalcons.com, Jan 2026; SI.com, sportstalkatl.com). Stefanski does NOT call plays.
- Tenure with team: Year 1 (hired 2026-01-22). Prior relationship with QB1: none with Penix or Tagovailoa; 2 years under Stefanski in Cleveland (2024 pass-game specialist/TE coach, 2025 OC).
- System context: the scheme is the Stefanski tree (wide zone + play-action, 12-personnel heavy); Rees and Stefanski built the Cleveland system collaboratively and continue that joint approach (clevelandbrowns.com / BrownsZone, Nov 2025). Treat tendencies as Rees-executed, Stefanski-shaped.
Last 3 play-calling stops (skip non-calling years):
| Stop (team, yrs) | PROE | Neutral pass% | Sec/play (neutral) | Motion% | PA% | 11 / 12 / 21% | Condensed% | RB tgt share | WR1 TS | Inside-10 pass% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CLE 2025, wks 10–18 (first NFL calling stint) | UNVERIFIED | UNVERIFIED (raw pass-play share 58.7%, script-inflated on a bad team) | UNVERIFIED (CLE full season 63.4 plays/gm) | 48.0% | 25.4% /dropback | 50.4 / 42.0 / 0.9 | UNVERIFIED | 23.9% | 21.8% (Jeudy); TE room 31.1% (Fannin 23.5%) | UNVERIFIED |
| Alabama 2023 (OC/caller, CFB) | n/a — CFB, no NFL-comparable rates | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Notre Dame 2020–22 (OC/caller, CFB) | n/a — CFB, no NFL-comparable rates | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
CLE wks 10–18 numbers computed from data/stats/2025/participation.csv + ftn_charting.csv (nflverse, pulled 2026-07-07); target shares from weekly.csv. Sample is 9 games with rookie QBs and a bad OL — low confidence, roster-contaminated.
Read: Rees's one NFL sample is TE-centric, play-action-heavy (25.4% PA/dropback = high band), 12-personnel-heavy (42% = extreme), moderate motion (~48%), with a healthy RB target share (23.9%) and no fed WR alpha — but he inherited no alpha in Cleveland. In Atlanta he inherits a true X getting $141M (London) and the league's scrimmage-yards leader (Bijan), so expect WR1 TS to run well above his Cleveland number while the 12-heavy/PA/TE-friendly shape holds — a near-ideal scheme for Pitts and a WR3-hostile one. Motion drops from ATL's 2025 level (63.8% under Zac Robinson → ~48% expected), and first-year install drag applies: slower pace and vanilla usage early, truer tendencies by midseason.
Scheme family
- Run scheme: wide/outside zone (Stefanski/Callahan) with duo/gap mixed — RB fits: one-cut burst backs. Bijan Robinson is an ideal fit; Brian Robinson Jr. fits the duo/short-yardage complement. 2025 RBWR 30th is the counterweight to Bijan's efficiency — Callahan hire is the bet to fix it.
- Pass-game family: Shanahan-tree West Coast — wide zone married to play-action (Rees 25.4% PA/dropback in CLE = high band), heavy 12 personnel (~40%+), moderate motion (~48%). Implications: intermediate in-breakers and PA shots, TE routes gated open (second-TE snaps real), WR3 snaps gated shut, mid aDOT, YAC-friendly. Slot volume is modest in base — the big-slot looks go to London and Pitts.
