Part of what has made Sean McVay’s offense so dominant in his seven years with the Rams is the unpredictability of it. Most plays utilize 11 personnel, which puts one running back, one tight end and three receivers on the field, so it’s hard to tell if the Rams are going to run the ball or throw it.
Several other teams have adopted this strategy in recent years after seeing the success of McVay’s unit in Los Angeles, with the NFL-wide tendency of 11 personnel increasing since the Rams hired the 30-year-old offensive wizard.
But McVay didn’t arrive in L.A. with the expectation of using 11 personnel about 90% of the time. That happened organically and unexpectedly.
Cooper Kupp talked about the evolution of McVay’s offense on his new podcast, “Daily Grind”, revealing exactly how the Rams became so reliant on 11 personnel. During 2017 OTAs in McVay’s first year, the Rams quickly realized how effective their three-receiver sets were in practice during two-minute drills.
When the team returned for training camp in July, McVay expanded how many plays there were in 11 personnel from eight to 20, and then from 20 to 30, steadily increasing that personnel grouping over time.
“You get drafted, I come in there, I’m the F, I’m the slot,” Kupp said. “In Sean McVay’s offense with the Washington Football Team, 11 personnel was used on third down and second-and-8-plus. So the anticipation is when I come into OTAs, I’m on the sidelines until it’s third down or we’re in second-and-8-plus, right? Then I come in. During OTAs, we put in eight plays numbered one through eight. It was just for our two-minute hurry-up. ‘Hey, this is how we’re going to operate in our two-minute stuff. You’ll get to the line and have these numbers that are going to be full plays for us that we’re just going to memorize.’ And we started using that and every two-minute drive, we would just pop, pop, pop, pop down the field, score. It was kind of like, leaving OTAs, ‘Shoot, this is a good thing. This is a good product. This is something we can expand on.’ Come back one month later, training camp, it is one through 20 now. It is no more just 12 personnel, 13 personnel. It is now 11 personnel has become a little bit more of a staple for us. As that’s expanded, we’ve got one through 30. We’ve got one through 30, plus the 60 series, plus the 70 series, plus the 600 series, 500 series, 700 series. It’s grown to this point where it’s like, ‘Hey, if you come into our offense, once you memorize one through 700, you’ll know all of our plays to dial in.’ That’s just a joke, that’s not true, but it’s kind of like that. … When you have something good, you expand it, you grow it.”
When something works, lean in.
That was the case with Sean's early offensive evolution in LA, and what we have tried to do with Dodo Coffee Co. as well. pic.twitter.com/MntDOMAEC3
— Cooper Kupp (@CooperKupp) July 8, 2024
In 2017, the Rams had Sammy Watkins, Robert Woods and Kupp at wide receiver. Kupp impressed the coaching staff so quickly that McVay didn’t want to take him off the field, which is a big reason Los Angeles became an 11 personnel team. That’s something McVay has discussed before, but Kupp’s breakdown of things on his podcast is fascinating.
According to Sumer Sports, the Rams used 11 personnel an NFL-high 93.1% of the time last season. In 2022, they led the league with a rate of 90.3%, too. It’s why Les Snead and McVay have emphasized the receiver position during their tenure, ensuring they had three quality starting receivers each year.
Had Kupp not emerged as a playmaker so early in his career, McVay’s offense may not look the way it does today.