Will NFL be able to handle LA Rams ‘5 eligibles’? Will the LA Rams?

If you had any doubts that the LA Rams offense was going to push the limits to the number of eligible receivers on a given offensive play, I think it’s safe to put those away. After all, the LA Rams now have more receivers on the roster than offensive linemen. It’s sad but true. The team has 13 offensive linemen on the roster to fill five starting positions on offense. The team currently has five tight ends and 11 wide receivers on the roster.

13 offensive linemen. 16 receivers. Let that sink in.

Now factor in five running backs and four quarterbacks and you’re looking at 25 non-offensive linemen on the roster, to just 13 offensive linemen. That is nearly a two to one ratio.  And yet, on game day, the Rams are required to send five of the 11 players on the field to be offensive linemen.

Who’s minding the store, anyhow? Or better yet, who is managing the inventory for the LA Rams roster?

House party offense?

Well, if the LA Rams can somehow handle a roster skewed so heavily to skilled players, the NFL may be in for quite a shock. You see, it’s a very risky offensive formation to use. Historically, it means an empty backfield, and either four wide receivers and one tight end, or five wide receivers.  Per SharpFootballStats.com, either configuration is seldom deployed.

In 2020, for example, the four WR one TE configuration was most often used by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers who used it for just 12 plays. Five wide receivers on one play were similar, with the five-WR configuration most used by the Pittsburgh Steelers for just 17 plays.

The sense of the Rams latest rhetoric, and the fact that the team has so many more receivers than offensive linemen, suggests that business for 5 eligibles will be picking up for the NFL, particularly for teams facing the Rams this year.  Per the same SharpFootballStats.com, the LA Rams ran a four WR one TE configuration just twice in 2020, and never ran a five WR configuration.  In fact, excluding 11 (1 RB, 1 TE, 3 WR) and 12 (1 RB, 2 TE, 2 WR) formations, the Rams only deviated 68 times, with 61 occasions lined up in a three tight end configuration.

The Rams carried six wide receivers, four tight ends, three running backs, and two quarterbacks on the 53-man roster in 2020. Will that repeat in 2021?  I don’t see how, to be honest.  The Rams will likely consider going with seven WRs, four tight ends, three running backs, and two quarterbacks on the 53-man roster for the 2021 NFL season.

Will the NFL be able to handle the LA Rams 5 eligibles on offense? Perhaps a bigger question is can the La Rams carry so many skilled players on the roster in a 17 game schedule to make a 5 eligible offense feasible?