Rams may have no choice but to lean into what clearly works on offense

How radical will the Los Angeles Rams change the offensive playbook in 2025? This is a question that many fans wonder. After all, despite investing more into the offense than all but a handful of NFL teams, the Rams have had little to show for it. Changes are definitely on the way this season. But what kind of changes?

While it didn't seem to work out that way in 2024, the Rams front office continues to focus on adding talent to the tight end and running back rooms. In fact, the team has never appeared deeper or more talented in either position since hiring Head Coach Sean McVay in 2017.

Per Los Angeles Daily News beat reporter Adam Grosbard, the team is thrilled with the tight ends on the Rams roster in 2025. That thrill is carrying over to the players, too. Just check out veteran tight end Tyler Higbee's comments.

"This is probably one of the deepest rooms I’ve been a part of, so it’s exciting. If we can make defenses, throw some extra looks, make them work a little bit harder on their game plan during the week." - Rams TE Tyler Higbee

That's a profound comment from a player who has been with the Los Angeles Rams since 2016.

The front office loaded the Rams roster for a 2 tight-end offense

Let's be clear. Innovation is not meant to be invention. The Rams offense can innovate by changing the mix of personnel packages, not by inventing a wishbone formation. So the trick to projecting 2025 is less about new formations and more about emphasizing what worked for the team in 2024. And to that end, more 12-personnel packages seem like the obvious innovation.

And to that point, we tracked the team's usage of two tight ends and compared that with the outcome of the early games. To no surprise, there was evidence of a direct correlation:

• Rams 12-personnel usage per 2024 game outcome
• Week 1- 0 percent | Loss
• Week 2- 0 percent | Loss
• Week 3 - 45 percent | Win
• Week 4- 8 percent | Loss
• Week 5- 5 percent | Loss
• Week 6 - BYE
• Week 7- 15 percent | Win
• Week 8- 45 percent | Win
• Week 9- 31 percent | Win
• Week 10- 9 percent | Loss
• Week 11- 35 percent | Win
• Week 12- 0 percent | Loss

So, armed with that evidence and the fact that the tight end room is bursting with talent, why would the Rams not deploy more two-tight end offensive formations? With the addition of highly regarded rookie tight end Terrance Ferguson, the Rams must assess who adds more to this offense. Should the team emphasize a third wide receiver like Jordan Whittington, Tutu Atwell, or even Konata Mumpfield?

Or should the Rams emphasize two tight ends to get rookie Terrance Ferguson into the offense?

The Rams offense played 1090 offensive snaps in 2024. Of that total, the distribution of offensive snaps to tight ends last season was as follows (per Lineups.com):

• Tyler Higbee - 58 snaps, 5.3%
• Colby Parkinson - 601 snaps, 55.1%
• Davis Allen - 309 snaps, 28.3%
• Hunter Long - 279 snaps, 25.6%

That adds up to 114.3 percent of the offensive snaps, or 12-personnel packages getting used just 14.3 percent of the time. With the way the Rams roster appears to be skewed in 2025, I expect the Rams to deploy two tight ends as often as 25 percent of the time. That is nearly double the rate of 2024.

There are many reasons to use two tight ends more frequently in 2025. The Rams have abundant tight end talent. More tight end favors a strong rushing offense. And even WR Tutu Atwell or Xavier Smith, with their speed, are ideally suited for 12-personnel packages.

If the Rams want to optimize protection for QB Matthew Stafford and put up more points this season, then getting heavier doses of two tight ends in the offense is the best way to achieve that. Now, the only question that remains is whether or not the Rams' coaching staff follows suit.

As always, thanks for reading.

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