Sean McVay explains Rams’ recent shift toward more 12 personnel

In Sean McVay’s first season as a head coach, the Los Angeles Rams utilized 11 personnel (1 RB, 1 TE, 3 WR) a whopping 80% of the time, most in the NFL. In 2018, that rate increased to 89% – once again, the highest percentage in the league. Last season, McVay made a noticeable shift away from his heavy 11 personnel usage, deploying those groupings just 73% of the time; that was still tied for third-most.

But this season, the Rams’ use of 11 personnel has decreased even further. They’ve deployed 11 personnel only 69% of the time, according to Sharp Football Stats, ninth-highest in the NFL. That’s still their base personnel package, but it’s hardly the only grouping McVay has used.

In the last two weeks, the Rams have actually used 12 personnel more than any other package. According to Next Gen Stats, the Rams have had one running back, two tight ends and two receivers on the field 59% of the time, which ranks highest in the NFL. On Thursday against the Patriots, for the first time ever in McVay’s tenure, two tight ends played more snaps than all of the Rams’ receivers, deploying 12 personnel 69% of the time.

It’s been impossible to ignore the mentality change the Rams have undergone in the last two weeks against the Cardinals and Patriots, getting Tyler Higbee and Gerald Everett on the field together more often than ever.

The result has been a resurgence in their rushing attack, with Cam Akers gaining 171 yards on the ground Thursday. It’s obviously intentional and something McVay feels is important

“I think it’s added another layer to our offense that’s important,” McVay said last week. “That was something that we wanted to be intentional about this offseason. I think Coach (Aaron) Kromer, our coaches and then it all goes back to the players’ execution. It’s big because when you play against some of these bigger defenses, where they’ve got some heavy edges, being able to have seven true bodies committed to the blocking surface gives you a little bit more versatility in what you can activate in the run game, as opposed to when you’re just in your three-receiver sets. For us, we want to make sure that we’re able to be as multiple as we can, kind of try to continue to try to apply pressure to the defense based on what they’re giving us. The last two weeks has definitely been reflective of that and really a lot of credit to the players.”

Opponents used to know exactly what they were going to get from the Rams. They planned to be in nickel and dime packages for the majority of the game, countering L.A.’s three-receiver sets. But with Higbee and Everett playing together more, it’s hard to predict how the Rams will attack a defense.

They saw a weakness in the Patriots’ run defense and exploited it by going heavy on the ground with Akers, and it worked; L.A. cruised to a 24-3 win. That doesn’t mean the Rams will primarily be a 12 personnel team now, as the plan will change from week to week.

“The coaches and the opposing teams that were playing, they know that’s been something we’ve used a lot more. But last night, in terms of just the way that the percentage is, in terms of how heavy it was 12 personnel, those numbers sometimes get skewed too,” McVay said. “It really matters, what I mentioned earlier, that you’re going to be in 11 in a lot of the known-passing situations, third downs, and some of the second-and-longs. What’s really a good reflection is what type of personnel groupings are you activating in the normal down-and-distances – first and second downs? We’ve been a good balance where it’s been about 50-50 11 and 12 personnel. Last night obviously was almost exclusively 12, as was last week in some of those normal DNDs (downs-and-distances). That could adjust and adapt by the week. That is something that has been consistent for the most part throughout the year. You’ve just seen it reflected and we’ve had success each of the last couple of weeks. Because we’ve been successful in the early downs, that’s where you can stay in it a little bit more. It’s been a good thing for us. We’ll see if it ends up being the recipe that we think is most important for our success moving forward and in the next week against the Jets.”

The Jets aren’t very good in most areas on offense and defense. They rank 30th in points allowed, 29th in yards allowed and 31st in net yards per pass attempt. But they’re at least respectable against the run, allowing the 11th-fewest yards on the ground and only 3.8 yards per carry.

McVay is obviously well aware of that, so he may opt to attack this defense through the air with 11 personnel, getting three receivers on the field often. Their game plan can (and will) change by the week, which includes utilizing different personnel packages, like McVay said.

We’ll just have to wait and see which one gets the most usage next week.