Old, new, and borrowed: How Sean McVay’s Rams offense is evolving once again

When Los Angeles Rams head coach Sean McVay assumed control over the team in 2017, he took an already widely recognized concept — motion — and utilized it at a higher frequency than any coach in the NFL at that time.

The early years of that offense utilized motion to create advantages for outside zone, play action and screens. This helped his overall system — from the pass to the run game — become as quarterback-friendly as possible. When McVay and the Rams traded for veteran quarterback Matthew Stafford in 2021, their philosophy shifted toward the dropback passing game.

McVay’s evolution has not stopped there.

The Rams have also transitioned into a predominantly gap scheme running game, a far departure from McVay’s outside zone roots. They currently lead the league in gap scheme run usage and rank at the bottom of the league in zone run percentage. This is, in part, a reaction to the light box and odd front schemes that have taken over the NFL — which, ironically, has been partially due to McVay’s offensive success.

McVay entered the 2023 season with a directive to his young, half-overhauled Rams roster: to ingrain a new level of physicality throughout his team, starting with the run game.

“Coach said in our meetings, ‘We’re gonna be a gap scheme team this year,’” running back Kyren Williams said. “I love those gap schemes, because it’s a whole lot of movement — but if you understand it, it makes it a lot easier and makes it clearer when the holes are supposed to hit and where you’re supposed to go.”

Week 1, 9:32 remaining in the third quarter, second-and-7

The 2023 Rams often use speed motion to quickly get blockers on the side of the run before the defense can react. Here, they lined up in a bunch to the offensive right with a tight end to the left. This put the passing strength away from the running strength, which made it difficult on the defense. Receiver Puka Nacua (17) was sent in motion to block the corner to the run side.

Week 4, :59 remaining in the second quarter, third-and-1

Here, receiver/fullback Ben Skowronek (18) lined up outside of Nacua and motioned away from the run side. Nacua had to fold inside to block nickel Kenny Moore (23).

Moore knifed into the backfield aggressively, but Nacua quickly reacted, got in front of him, and pancaked him.

The Rams have at times been able to disguise some of their DUO concepts using their motion rules. They have sent tight end Tyler Higbee in motion, often from a simple pre-snap look on the back side of a formation to a pre- or at-snap “escort”-style motion to the front side. This can sometimes look like a sift block, or in a power concept, a “blast.”

“Tyler’s a psycho,” Havenstein said. “He’s a guy who loves that contact … now he’s doing a lot of stuff where he’s on the front side of things. In the past, he’d be on the back side taking those shots. But now, it’s getting him movement.”

A phrase often attached to McVay’s passing schemes over the years is “illusion of complexity” — running a variety of concepts out of very simple, often identical pre-snap looks. By implementing more disguises into their run game, they are aiming to similarly infuse the illusion of complexity into that phase.

The Rams have always majored in 11 personnel (three-receiver sets) but early in McVay’s tenure some joked that what they really ran was “11.5 personnel,” because Kupp and Woods could also run 12 personnel concepts (two tight ends) and more out of 11 personnel pre-snap looks — in part because of their effectiveness as run blockers.

Nacua still needs development as a blocker, but his willingness to do so sticks out.

“His size and his physicality, that’s what allows him to be able to throw down those run blocks, you see he’s filling the gap and he’s taking on safeties and linebackers,” former Rams star receiver and Hall of Fame semifinalist Torry Holt said. “That’s what Robert Woods had done really well, that’s what Cooper Kupp does really well. Puka is just continuing that trend.”

The plays the receivers make away from the ball can help hold the disguise of play-action concepts, because if executed effectively teams don’t know whether they will be blocking down into the run game or coming off the line in the pass game.

“(McVay) likes the plays to look the same, and then all the sudden you see Puka motioning down, you see Kupp motioning down — they’re acting like they are blocking, but all of the sudden they’re up in a route,” Holt said. “They are able to marry the run game with the passing game.”

The Rams’ run game is now deployed out of under center and shotgun looks. As a result, so is their play-action game.

According to TruMedia, Stafford is 11-of-23 when running play action from under center, for 233 yards (10.6 yards per attempt) and 0.23 EPA/dropback. He is 10-of-15 when running play action from shotgun, for 146 yards (11.2 yards per attempt) and 0.45 EPA/dropback. McVay strictly used to run play action from under center, but the threat of a run possibly coming from a shotgun alignment can help alleviate pressure in otherwise known passing situations. McVay started adjusting the play-action diversity when Stafford initially got to Los Angeles (and its frequency dipped dramatically), but now the Rams have also increased their play selection of runs and passes out of either look.

“Obviously when you’re in third down and in obvious pass situations, you’re mostly in the gun,” offensive coordinator Mike LaFleur said. “Being able to have a variety (of run and pass concepts) as opposed to just dropping back and maybe mixing it in one run here and there, I think that was something that Sean wanted to add to this offense and I think us as a staff have put together a menu to allow that to happen and make it so it’s not, ‘Hey, Matthew’s back there, it’s going to be dropback and the defense is pinning their ears back.’”

A play in the Rams’ Week 4 overtime win in Indianapolis demonstrated the Rams’ evolving deployment of motion within their play-action pass (disguised run) game:

Week 4, 9:05 remaining in the second quarter, first-and-10

Here, Nacua motioned inside like he was going to block DUO but instead of blocking, he ran through the C-gap to run a dig route.

Stafford faked DUO, which caused the nickel to step toward the line of scrimmage.

Nacua ran to the second window and Stafford hit him with a dart downfield. Nacua didn’t seem to mind that he ran a “gasser” on the play, Stafford chuckled this week, essentially a semi-circle to get to a spot on the field about 15 yards directly ahead of where he originally stood pre-motion.

Like many other coaches in 2023 (not so coincidentally, several come from the same coaching “family”), McVay also uses short motions, which are built to get the receiver running full speed before the snap. Short motions can have variants that include running a few steps toward the middle of the field, or to the sideline.

Teams often use speed players for this type of motion. The Dolphins deploy it for Tyreek Hill with great effectiveness (the Dolphins, Packers and 49ers and now even the Bengals all run the “jogging start” motion), and the Rams often deploy the short motion for third-year receiver Tutu Atwell. Atwell was also the first Rams player to run the jogging start motion that Nacua ran in the above concept, in Week 1 against Seattle for a 44-yard gain.

The new motions the Rams are using for Atwell aren’t just beneficial in helping to move defenders or showing a quarterback “tells” pre-snap about how the defense will react to certain plays. They also get Atwell a “wind-up” of sorts. He is a smaller-framed receiver who should not be attempting to get off the line of scrimmage straight into a hit or jam from a defender. Instead, Atwell gets moving in space before the snap and can click into his second or third gears much earlier in the play progression post-snap — and often in doing so, avoids the contact off the line that would slow him down.

“It’s a couple different things that you can see (the defense doing when a player goes in motion) to help the quarterback gain information,” Bengals coach Zac Taylor said last month when speaking about the Rams’ 2023 offense. “Oftentimes, they do call two plays at the line of scrimmage. So the quarterback’s job is to take (that) information and get to the best play possible. They do a great job with Tutu, motioning him to create releases — you see that a lot in Miami, you’re seeing that a lot in L.A. too. Motioning to utilize that speed, to complement different routes.”

Week 2, 6:27 remaining in the first quarter, first-and-10

On this play, the Rams had Atwell — the player they mostly put in the short-out motion — run a dig.

Week 2, 13:17 remaining in the second quarter, third-and-4

Here, Atwell was put in short motion to get to full speed while running a crosser, as Nacua ran a shallow cross on the opposite side of the field.

On the play, the 49ers’ defense was in Cover 1 (man-to-man with a deep safety and robber). Safety Talanoa Hufanga was the robber. His job was to help on short to intermediate in-breaking routes. With Atwell running full speed at him, Hufanga had to help cover him.

This left the middle of the field wide open for Nacua, who was also aided by a rub.

Week 4, 15:00 remaining in the first quarter, first-and-10

On this play, Atwell was put in a short-out motion to the left of the quarterback, while Nacua ran a dig on the opposite side.

Three defenders slid over to the left when Atwell went in motion, including Moore, who was lined up inside of Nacua.

The two linebackers ran toward Atwell but Moore got good depth in his drop.

Stafford saw Moore, but he was still able to get the ball over him. Nacua made a remarkable catch, tipping the ball to himself, but he had space to do that because the other defenders were occupied by the motion.

Meanwhile, Stafford opened the season healthier than he has in years, and as a result is playing some of the best football of his career. He’s made some of the highest-level throws of the NFL season through the first four weeks. His basic statistics — 103 completions in 166 attempts (62 percent complete), three touchdowns and five interceptions — don’t reflect the overall level at which he is playing.

Stafford is seeing opportunities that many other quarterbacks aren’t, and he has the arm talent to make throws that many other quarterbacks can’t.

“He’s always been able to make amazing throws,” McVay said, after a Week 1 win at Seattle. “I think (he is) getting the opportunity to be able to continue to fine-tune what’s been a rare skill set.”

With a healthy and productive Stafford, the progression of the run game and the new layers and motions building into the pass game, McVay’s offense continues to evolve — while still keeping some elements of the things Stafford likes, such as the dropback game and plays out of shotgun.

But the offense still isn’t done growing, because it has been missing Kupp.

When Kupp returns, Nacua can play the “Woods role” — meaning he can play inside and outside and be a threat on the layered crossers McVay loves to call, while doing a bit of everything else including run blocking.

“When we’ve been at our best from that receiver position, (we’ve had) players that can do multiple things — run after the catch, (have) aggressive hands through contact, digging out (with) force and competing in the run game,” McVay said, “all of which Cooper has done for us, all of which (former WR) Robert Woods has done for us when he’s been at a really high level. I think it’s easy to say, OK, this guy’s a ‘Z’, this guy’s an ‘X’, this guy’s an ‘F’, but there’s nuanced things. There’s certain skill sets that each guy possesses. … What you’re seeing is two guys (who) can do a lot of different things with the ball and without the ball and both stay grounded through the catch. Both are very good after the catch. Both are tough in contested situations.”

Meanwhile, Atwell could be the speed threat who creates space for other players, and can help force defenses to continue to stay in zone/shell concepts to prevent explosive plays — even as the temptation for many teams could be to play more situational man concepts after watching tape of four weeks of zone-beaters from Stafford and Nacua. While he had a little more of an under-the-radar start to the season than Nacua’s, Atwell can play all of the Rams’ receiver positions and has especially become a spatial threat as McVay’s “motion man.”

“Multiple guys are (now) trusted who can get the ball,” Holt said. “For defenses, it’s like, ‘OK, now who do we stop? Do we stop Cooper Kupp, now Puka Nacua, Tutu Atwell, Van Jefferson (are) getting some one-on-one opportunities? Do we take away Puka Nacua?’

“It can become a situation where it’s picking your poison, more so than whether there will be enough balls to go around.”

However, everything hinges upon the Rams getting consistent protection for Stafford week over week, especially now that he’ll be playing through a hip contusion suffered Sunday.

They’ll also have to continue their efficiency in running the ball. Sunday’s 164-yard afternoon marked their first notable rushing performance of the season, although the theory behind what they’ve been trying to do in the run game has been apparent.

“Just the work in training camp, the time under tension of getting in, getting the reps (and) making sure everything is hitting the right way, making sure everyone is seeing it the same way — it’s still a work in progress,” Havenstein said. “But I think it’s something a lot of guys have put a lot of time into.”