The Rams have regularly been among the league leaders in '11' personnel (3-WR) usage under HC Sean McVay. But The Athletic's Jourdan Rodrigue speculates that the Rams might use more '12' packages (2 WRs, 2 TEs) this season.
What They're Saying
Here's Rodrigue: "While McVay has run more 11 personnel (three receivers, one tight end with few substitutions) than any NFL team since 2017, there is a sense among many analysts (including myself) that the usage of 12 personnel (two tight ends) by certain teams will increase in 2024. This is partially due to the number of teams that favor adding smaller defensive backs to counter all of the 11 personnel offenses run, plus to take away the deep passing game. Larger pass catchers could present mismatches for those players, plus lend support in the run game — which has also cycled back around to feature more heavy-personnel schemes as defenses remove extra linemen from the box and even inside linebackers from the middle of the field, to utilize more defensive backs. Anyway, it’s partially McVay’s fault that a lot of this has happened because of his 11 personnel trend-setting all of those years ago (joke, people, though not really) and so it’s no surprise to imagine he’s at least exploring what could be possible as new schematic cycles begin."
2024 Fantasy Football Impact
This is much more speculation than report from Rodrigue, but it's certainly worth noting.
The Rams added TE Colby Parkinson on a surprisingly big three-year, $22.5 million deal in free agency and return 2023 fifth-round TE Davis Allen. TE Tyler Higbee also remains on the roster but will likely miss the start of the season after tearing an ACL in January.
It sounds like Parkinson and Allen have both been getting lots of first-team work early in training camp.
More '12' personnel would be bad news for No. 3 WR Demarcus Robinson -- and also likely make the Rams' target distribution even more concentrated on WRs Puka Nacua and Cooper Kupp.
We're not adjusting any Rams projections just yet. But we'll keep an eye out for more clues on McVay's 2024 plans.