LA Rams: Why is 12-personnel package more tempting than ever?
In LA Rams News: With increased athleticism and physicality on the roster, the LA Rams 12-personnel package is more tempting than ever
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Why is 12-personnel package more tempting than ever?
The LA Rams training camp will begin soon, and in the process, some answers will come, some more questions will arise, and the overall matter of who’s in and who’s out will create quite the preseason drama. Of course, who are we kidding? Like it or not, the high-stakes moves of the organization’s front office make each preseason with this team as thrilling as a looper roller coaster. Right now, we are all strapped in, being dragged by the creaks and clangs of the chains that push us to the precipice of the season. At the very top, as preseason games begin, we are able to view the entire season before us. And then, off we go, down down down into the NFL season at breakneck speed.But before all that happens, let’s try to pause for just a moment and try to make heads or tails of the season before it begins. Even as training camp is about to begin, I cannot help but believe that all the while that the LA Rams have touted deep passes, explosive offenses, versatility, and athleticism, there may be a new wrinkle to this offense that wasn’t advertised. It starts with the 12 personnel package.
Why?
Well, let’s use the data at SharpsFootballStat.com to examine how the Rams lined up the offense in 2020. The team used a base 11 personnel grouping 65 percent of the time. That is one running back, one tight end, and three wide receivers. Their next most frequent package is 12 personnel. That configuration is one running back, two tight ends, and two wide receivers, and was used 30 percent of the time. Finally, the LA Rams used the 13 personnel package, which is one running back, three tight ends, and one wide receiver.
Over the past several years, the LA Rams have constructed that offense around the compatible but equivalent talents of tight ends Tyler Higbee and Gerald Everett, with the augmentation of Johnny Mundt’s blocking ability. But Everett is gone, and the Rams coaches have hinted at a change in offensive philosophy. Word won’t change things. So how might the LA Rams go about getting more points on the board from the tight end room?
More than Mundt’s the aye
The LA Rams TE2, for now, is veteran Johnny Mundt. While that may not hold true throughout training camp, it is where the Rams have things for the moment. Historically, the Rams have used Mundt from a number of positions, but have deployed in such a way that emphasized his incredible blocking skills.
Perhaps that was never more on display than the latter part of the 2019 NFL season. At that time, the LA Rams offensive line was already decimated by injuries, the running game was getting no push, and the team’s passing attack was running into too much predictability and too few yards. And then, tight end Gerald Everett got hurt in the last game of November 2019.
What happened next was completely unexpected, and we’ll discuss that next, but the first surprise was how effective Johnny Mundt’s presence on the offensive line helped to stabilize their effectiveness and enable the team to run the ball much more effectively. Now, with a running game at least partially firing on some cylinders, the offense restored some options.
Johnny Mundt is more than just a blocking tight end. If the Rams could only see him that way. They just don’t. And as long as the Rams do not throw to the 6-foot-4 233-pound eligible receiver, the defense will ignore him too. That’s a bit disappointing because when the Rams had thought Mundt worthy of a pass or two, he has stepped and caught the thing. Well, of 12 targets, Mundt has nine receptions in his career. If he could sustain that completion percentage in a normal range of targets, he could put up from 300-400 receiving yards.
Stick with historic success
Okay, now back to the rest of the story. With Mundt drafted to the starting offensive lineup, the Rams had a dilemma. One more tight end meant one fewer wide receiver. Historically, the Rams allowed starters to rotate into the slot to create mismatches against defensive backs. Now, with just two wide receivers on the field, those mismatches did not line up.
So the Rams began to throw to 6-foot-6 255-pound tight end Tyler Higbee for the month of December 2019. The results were amazing. Higbee put up 522 yards in just one month, a performance that displayed just what his talent could unleash upon the NFL if given the chance. Higbee helped to carry the Rams to a 3-2 record in that month, a record that fell just shy of the NFL Playoffs.
With so much instant success, the belief was that the Rams would follow it up with a similarly structured offense in 2020. That sort of fell through. Well, more truthfully, it never happened whatsoever. It was another “Who shot J.R.” version of the NFL, where the LA Rams discovered that tight end Tyler Higbee has serious pass-catching chops, and then forget everything the following year.
The Rams need to get back to that. Especially now with the need to sort out the backfield. An extra blocker/receiver on the line of scrimmage, running either a 12-personnel or an 02-personnel package to help shoulder blocking over an extra man while continuing to threaten secondaries with an entire arsenal of receivers. Higbee can help carry the team on his back. Maybe the Rams should give him another chance of doing so?
Aloha Jacob Harris
Finally, the LA Rams have already begun to start the buzz about the rookie tight end, or is he a wide receiver, no wait.. tight end Jacob Harris. Harris is the 6-foot-5 211-pound rookie who leads an entirely new type of offensive weapons for the team. You can throw 6-foot-4 245-pound Brycen Hopkins and 6-foot-3 224-pound wide receiver, Ben Skowronek, into that mix as well.
Unlike the Robert Woods, Cooper Kupp, Van Jefferson, Trishton Jackson mold of solid speed, solid footwork, great routes, Harris is a fast tall athletic-style receiver who will fight for and win contested catches. He is the guy who the Rams believe can get downfield faster, but who can come out of a scrum with possession of the football.
While Harris and Skowronek are rookies, Hopkins is returning for his second season after being redshirted for his entire rookie season. Hopkins was not alone, as rookie receiver Trishton Jackson and rookie running back Xavier Jones were benchwarmers as well. Rookie running back Raymond Calais did see some action on special teams, and rookie receiver Van Jefferson was seldom used until Cooper Kupp missed games late in 2020.
Harris, Hopkins, and Skowronek are a bit unique to this Rams offense because they are less finesse and more physical receivers. They mark the team’s efforts to get more scoring, as they will likely be deployed more frequently in red zone offensive packages. That is not to say they will be exclusive to within the 20-yard line. Simply that in smaller areas to work in, the Rams will need to attack defenses with multiple strategies.
Two tight-end sub-packages are no longer limited to short-yardage rushing attempts. This year, and with the players currently on the roster, the Rams will need to explore attacking defenses in a variety of ways.
