The Los Angeles Rams have shifted part of the identity of the offense in 2025. Throughout much of head coach Sean McVay’s tenure, the Rams have primarily been an 11 personnel team, operating with three wide receivers on the field. However, this season, the Rams have mixed in a lot more 12 personnel, utilizing two tight ends in the offense with depth at the position.
This season, the Rams have operated in 11 personnel at a 68.7 percent clip which is the 13th highest rate in the league. For comparison
this was 82.4 percent last year. That ranked second in the NFL. In 2024, the Rams were in 12 personnel on 15.6 percent of their offensive plays compared, ranking 25th and this season that has jumped to 29.7 percent which is 11th.
That variety can be a good thing and the offense hasn’t been a problem by any means. Still, it does seem limited in the sense that it feeds through just two players in the passing game. This season, Puka Nacua has a 36.5 percent target share while Davante Adams is right behind him at 29.2 percent. The next closest player is Tyler Higbee at 6.3%. Nacua has 36.5 percent of the team’s air yards and Adams is ahead of him at 46.4 percent. Higbee is at 1.4 percent, but the next closest to Nacua is Davis Allen at 5.7 percent.
All teams are going to have a disparity between their top two targets in the passing game and the third. However, this is the first time in the McVay era that the third target in the offense has a target share under 10 percent. For comparison, the Detroit Lions have a similar split to the Rams in 11 and 12 personnel. Amon-Ra St. Brown leads the Lions with a 25.3 percent target share with Sam LaPorta and Jameson Williams right behind him. LaPorta and Williams have a target share of 17.9 and 12.6 percent.
In other words, the targets are much more evenly dispersed throughout the offense. There is a legitimate third threat on the field when the Lions go to 12 personnel packages. That isn’t the case with the Rams currently.
Coming into the season, there were some questions on whether or not McVay would utilize tight ends in the offense, especially after drafting Terrance Ferguson with the 46th overall pick. However, as I wrote this offseason,
“It’s worth noting that Higbee and Everett combined for 77 targets in 2017 which would have been fourth on the team behind only Kupp, Todd Gurley, and Robert Woods. They combined for 84 targets the following year which would have been third behind Woods and Brandin Cooks. The duo combined for over 150 targets and 1,000 yards in 2019.”
This is a team that has utilized tight ends in the passing game in the past under McVay. So, why aren’t they doing so now? It then becomes a question of whether or not the talent is good enough. Higbee had some strong moments down the stretch last year after returning from injury. Still, he is a 32 year old tight end. The Rams signed Colby Parkinson last offseason, but he has not proven to be a threat in the passing game. Davis Allen has taken steps this year, but was a fifth-round pick. He hasn’t been a player that the Rams have trusted enough consistently. With that said, Allen is still getting more snaps that the player that the Rams drafted in the second round.
On paper, this is a deep tight end group, but in practice the production for whatever reason hasn’t been there. Higbee is an aging player and Allen was taken in the fifth-round and has 19 career catches in a little over two years. Parkinson has upside as a blocker, but is average in that aspect, ranking 16th among tight ends in run-blocking this season via PFF. Last season, he ranked 19th.
Ferguson was supposed to be that threat in the passing game at tight end and was a healthy scratch in Week 3 against the Philadelphia Eagles. He has four offensive snaps this season, all of which came against the Tennessee Titans. The Athletic’s Ted Nguyen wrote this offseason,
“Ferguson will help replace some of what Kupp did as a blocker. McVay won’t ask Ferguson to block defensive ends one-on-one frequently as a rookie — they still have Tyler Higbee for that — but he’ll be able to crack block and insert on linebackers. Also, with Nacua and Adams lifting the coverage, Ferguson can work choice routes against linebackers and run after the catch.”
That simply isn’t something we’ve seen through three weeks. While Ferguson should see more reps as the season progresses, it’s not as if the Rams are stacked at tight end with no room to break through. It should be expected for Ferguson to be getting snaps over Allen or at least rotated in more. This is a team with struggles in the red zone in the passing game and Ferguson ranked third in red zone touchdowns in the FBS over his last two years at Oregon.
This isn’t about Tyler Warren or other rookie tight ends in past years finding success immediately. During the 2025 NFL Draft, 15 tight ends were selected. Ferguson is one of six tight ends that haven’t taken an offensive snap and the only one before the sixth-round. Harold Fannin Jr. has found a role as the second tight end with David Njoku with the Cleveland Browns. Jackson Hawes has three receptions despite being behind Dawson Knox and Dalton Kincaid in Buffalo.
Being limited at the tight end position is hurting what the Rams are able to do in 12 personnel. The Rams are running 12 personnel at the 11th-highest rate, but rank 26th in offense EPA in that personnel grouping. Their -0.13 EPA per pass in 12 personnel ranks 22nd while their -0.19 EPA per rush ranks 25th. For comparison, the Lions are second and third in EPA per pass and EPA per rush in 12 personnel.
However, the Rams rank fifth in total EPA in 11 personnel with their 0.15 EPA per pass ranking 10th and 0.16 EPA per rush ranking seventh.
What’s really worth noting here is how much better of a receiving threat a player like Jordan Whittington has been than any of the tight ends. Whittington has 1.26 yards per route which is over double Higbee’s 0.59. While the Rams receiver may not be as good of a run blocker, he isn’t significantly worse. He and Nacua also lead all wide receivers in pass-blocking snaps.
Essentially, with two tight ends on the field, the Rams only have two legitimate receiving threats. The Rams are running more play action and operating under center more because of 12 personnel. However, Higbee leads Rams tight ends in routes run and is only running a route on 57.4 percent of the team’s dropbacks.
If the Rams are going to run more 12 personnel as they have done to start 2025, they need a tight end to be a legitimate threat in the passing game. Through three games, that simply hasn’t been the case.
