How will McVay avoid “tells” when he inserts Henderson and/or Everett?

[Rams43]

Might kinda tie in with the evolution from the 90% use of 11 personnel a little bit, too.

There’s no secret that McVay intends to get snaps for both guys, and probably lots of them.

So, how does McVay avoid giving away too much info to opposing D’s as he allegedly did in the SB?

I can see how 2 back sets might give D’s fits.

And 2 TE sets with an emerging Everett could also present big problems.

But will either give too much info away vs just remaining in the almost infinitely variable 11 personnel?

Gonna be interesting to see how this plays out. And I seriously doubt that McVay will give away even a hint during the preseason games.

 

[HitStick]

Let’s temper expectations, at least until pads come on.

I remember early predictions of Donnie Avery looking to “breakout.”

Same with Brandon Gibson

Mike Sims-Walker?

I mean, I know Everette has much higher potential than any of them did, but until the D is allowed to hit...

 

[Riverumbbq]

I'm more concerned about execution than 'tells'.

If our OL is opening holes, Gurley or Henderson will find a way thru them. If our OL is giving Goff the time to find the open receiver, and Everett happens to be that open receiver, he'll get his share of receptions.

 

[tklongball]

I think the best way to avoid tells, is to have variety when they are on the field. What you want to avoid is 'X results in Y'. So if you want to use, say, Henderson in a specific roll, you have to bring him in for other things as well, so that another coach can't realize 95% of the time Henderson is in, the Rams do 'This'

I think that Belichick is the best in the NFL at using Data Analytics. I think Belichick's guy (Ernie Adams??) is the best at mining the data for trends and tells, and Belichick does a great job of folding that into his game day strategy. The problem is that your own tells and tendencies, as a coach, are really had to know/discover, and can be taken advantage of before you even know they exist.

 

[tklongball]

I'm more concerned about execution than 'tells'.

If our OL is opening holes, Gurley or Henderson will find a way thru them. If our OL is giving Goff the time to find the open receiver, and Everett happens to be that open receiver, he'll get his share of receptions.

The problem is, if I know you are running, it is much harder for you to open up those holes.

 

[ReekofRams]

Umm. I guess we’ll find out won’t we?
There always has to be one of us in every crowd.:rolllaugh:

 

[bluecoconuts]

McVay spent a lot of time last offseason making sure that our 11 personnel plays all basically looked the same for the first few seconds/steps, my guess is he will work something out so that other personnel sets, including two RBs and two TE sets work similarly this year. That opened up a lot in our offense and was missing when Kupp went down. It's smart to take a similar approach to other sets.

 

[Riverumbbq]

The problem is, if I know you are running, it is much harder for you to open up those holes.

True enough, but outside of the New England game, how many times have we really heard about defenses reading McVays offensive tactics ? For 2019, McVay will have some new options for expanding his playbook, he has stated himself he wants to open things up, so i'm equally convinced he'll find new ways to distract the defense.
For 2018, I thought McVay abandoned the rush at times in favor of the passing game when perhaps pounding it out might have been more successful. Was this because McVay is a pass first HC, is it because he feared a 'tell', was it because he didn't believe he had a RB capable of consistently beating the edge, was it due to Gurley having some health issues ? I can't say for sure, although i'd be curious to see the Stats we compiled on what would be considered our obvious rushing downs, when defenses are prepared for what's coming.
One of the things I recall reading last season was about how well McVay disguised his plays, where defenses saw the same or similar offensive fronts whether we were passing or running, so i'm not really sure of what to make of his 'tells' at this point, or if it is really a thing we should worry over. Belishit is a very capable coach, he likely anticipated plays other coaches might not have, McVay accepted that he was out-coached, but McVay is also a very smart, disciplined young man, I don't expect to see him repeat his known mistakes of the past. I believe if we execute, we win. jmo.

 

[Ram65]

I can see how 2 back sets might give D’s fits.

Miles and Farr stated in the last mailbag they didn't see this happening much. Occasionally use the two in the backfield. One has to block. They will/can put one in the slot probably Henderson. They could have both in and go empty backfield. The Jet Sweep for Henderson. Could do quick screens to him to with Gurley in the backfield. I've wondered about this and think they will use plays they have and execute. A rested Henderson could take it to the house anytime with some good blocking especially late in halfs.

And 2 TE sets with an emerging Everett could also present big problems.

Two TE formations. I can see Everett shifting around. He has lined up outside and I think in the slot or inside a WR farther outside. He can be used as the move TE or even as inline blocking TE.

 

[Ramstien]

I'm not worried about this at all, remember we are talking about McVay here and not Fisher.

 

[bubbaramfan]

Easy answer is, play 'em every down.

 

[RamDino]

I'm still not convinced that NE "knew" all along what the Rams were running in the Super Bowl. McVay used the same plays, and the same 11 personnel almost every snap. The big difference was that NE's defensive line totally outplayed the Rams offensive line. If Goff would have had time to throw, he would have hit guys. And if Gurley or CJ had big lanes to run thru, like Dallas, they would have run thru them. And I still say, if Gurley had not been injured, the Rams would have won that game, because Gurley ALWAYS made the big play when they needed it. JMHO.

 

[1maGoh]

I'm still not convinced that NE "knew" all along what the Rams were running in the Super Bowl. McVay used the same plays, and the same 11 personnel almost every snap. The big difference was that NE's defensive line totally outplayed the Rams offensive line. If Goff would have had time to throw, he would have hit guys. And if Gurley or CJ had big lanes to run thru, like Dallas, they would have run thru them. And I still say, if Gurley had not been injured, the Rams would have won that game, because Gurley ALWAYS made the big play when they needed it. JMHO.

They had big holes against Dallas because they discovered tells for the Dallas d line that revealed when stunts and whatnot. I think it was Blythe that revealed that after the game. It's also why we didn't see huge holes in the Saints game and the NE game. We probably didn't have similar tells to know what each d lineman's plan was pre snap.

If NE discovered tells for the Rams it's easier to defend each play, or outplay the offensive line, because they can purely attack upfield on known passes and plug holes on run plays. They still have to execute, but it's easier. The thing you think didn't happen makes it easier for the thing you say did happen to happen.

Also, thought a media outlet did the stats and showed that the tell existed? And they learned about it from a NE player. Seems odd to say then that the tell didn't exist or NE didn't know about it.

 

[WestCoastRam]

Miles and Farr stated in the last mailbag they didn't see this happening much. Occasionally use the two in the backfield. One has to block. They will/can put one in the slot probably Henderson. They could have both in and go empty backfield. The Jet Sweep for Henderson. Could do quick screens to him to with Gurley in the backfield. I've wondered about this and think they will use plays they have and execute. A rested Henderson could take it to the house anytime with some good blocking especially late in halfs.

I mentioned this around the draft that Henderson may well take some snaps in the role that Tavon Austin had with the team (and not just backing up Gurley). Jet sweep, reverses, etc... It was a missing aspect of our offense last year. Yes, we had WRs running it but without the speed and running ability of Tavon (with the exception of Cook who ran them minimally, if at all).

Granted, you can make the argument that the offense was fine without Austin but he added a multiplicity and variety that couldn't quite be duplicated. I'm not gonna argue that Austin was some sorta key cog... but with an offense that works as well as this one, little changes and little affects are what stand out.

 

[WestCoastRam]

If Everett can take the "3rd year" leap this year, I'm not so sure we'll have to worry so much about tells. I could even see him take snaps away from Higbee in 11 personnel groupings. His blocking was much improved last year.

I'd love it if he became a bonafide starter in this league cause it could definitely lead us to use some more 12 personnel groupings.

 

[kurtfaulk]

.

Did the cheats worry about tells on their offense? Sony in, run. White in, pass. Just play better than your opposite number and you'll get the win.

The rams oline was overpowered the whole game. This had a negative effect on goff's game which led to many 3 and outs. That's why the offense sucked.

.

 

[bubbaramfan]

Back in the day, tell or no tell, defenses knew exactly what play was coming, but couldn't do a damn thing about it.

Sully and Blythe got manhandled in playoffs, SB.

 

[Rams43]

The Ram OL got outplayed. Gurley was hurt and highly ineffective.

That’s your Ram SB storyline.

Hopefully, Allen fixes things at C and Blythe (or a possible RG upgrade) “fixes” the other weak link. I have tons of confidence in Boom.

Let us pray that McVay can get a healthy Gurley into the playoffs via managed snaps plus a heavy dose of Henderson and Brown.

If the above come to pass, then I really like our chances against the Patriots, or anyone else.

 

[Zaphod]

Back in the day, tell or no tell, defenses knew exactly what play was coming, but couldn't do a damn thing about it.

Sully and Blythe got manhandled in playoffs, SB.

That's going to work against some defenses and not so much against others.

I'm not arguing that Sullivan and Blythe didn't struggle, but Belichick put his players in a position to make that happen.

It was night and day when McVay finally adjusted by running the play clock down, but that was a little to little to late.

 

[Flint]

Those “tells” can work against you in the right hands, and unfortunately Belichick is the right hands.
I forget the exact details but I remember hearing that the Pats did something they hadn’t done in any game all year in the SB, it caused confusion and uncertainty and McVay has said they didn’t adjust well.
So is Belichick establishing tendencies just so he can break them at a crucial time? You can’t put it past him.
I think Henderson and Everett will be added into the offense as another layer, if you suspect you know what’s going to happen that’s what gets you in trouble.
Jeff Fisher’s offense was predictable because there weren’t many threats, there weren’t many plays that worked well so it wasn’t hard to figure out.
The Rams offense was already explosive and now they’re adding more to it, but teams like the Bears and NE have an effective plan against it, McVay has to evolve and adapt and I think he will.