Rams Offense May Need More Than 13 Personnel to Stay Effective in 2026

The Rams dominated out of 13 personnel in 2025, but with defenses now prepared, Sean McVay could be forced into another offensive evolution.

Jun 2, 2026; Woodland Hills, CA, USA; Los Angeles Rams coach Sean McVay during organized team activities at Rams Practice Facility. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

Throughout the Sean McVay era, the Los Angeles Rams have consistently set the standard for NFL offenses. When teams look at the best offenses in the NFL, McVay’s system with the Rams has become one of the league’s most influential offenses, forcing defenses to adjust while other teams try to steal from it. 

This has forced the Rams and McVay to consistently innovate and adapt. Back in 2017, McVay took the NFL by storm with 11 personnel and his version of the wide zone running game combined with play action. 

When the Rams played Vic Fangio and the Chicago Bears in 2018, it became one of the more important games of the last 20 years. Fangio’s 6-1 defensive front stalled the Rams offense and the New England Patriots replicated it in the Super Bowl. Teams were able to copy Fangio’s defensive approach the following season. 

McVay adapted, and with a new quarterback in Matthew Stafford, the Rams operated out of empty formations to spread defenses out. While the Rams won a Super Bowl, they did so without a run game. In 2023, the Rams got back under center and transitioned away from the classic zone run scheme to more of a gap scheme and man-blocking. 

Since 2017, McVay has constantly needed to adapt, and prior to last season there had been three different iterations of the offense. McVay adapted again last season, introducing 13 personnel. 

Prior to the 2025 season, the Rams used 13 personnel on a total of six snaps over the previous four years. Last season, the Rams operated out of 13 personnel twice as often as the next closest team and had a total EPA of 77.4. That was about 15 times as effective as the average NFL team running the same formation. 

When the Rams introduced 13 personnel last season, it happened almost overnight. They didn’t run a single play out of 13 personnel for the first 5.5 games of 2025. Against the Jaguars in Week 7, that usage jumped to 39 percent of the offensive snaps, and the Rams scored four of their five touchdowns out of that personnel grouping. 

Following the Jaguars game, the Rams operated out of 13 personnel on just under 45 percent of their offensive snaps. 

After barely operating out of 13 personnel at all, it became the Rams’ offensive identity overnight. To say it caught defenses by surprise would be an understatement. That won’t be the case in 2026 as defenses have had an entire offseason to watch film and prepare for it. With the NFL being a copycat league and looking to utilize heavier personnel, defenses will have to be ready for it. This is exactly what Sports Illustrated’s Connor Orr is predicting. 

“I would imagine that, barring a vast evolution in 13-personnel, what we will be seeing from a lot of NFL teams is a rushed transition toward heavier goal line-looking sets, with only about half of them actually capable of weaponizing it,” said Orr. “And I would also predict with some degree of certainty that the Rams’ efficacy on 13-personnel dwindles, along with the collective efficacy of every NFL team. That’s not some crystal ball prophecy, that’s understanding that literally every defensive coordinator in the NFL took home a volume of Rams 13-personnel tape thicker than your library VHS copy of Titanic.”

That’s not to say that the Rams still won’t have success running their offense out of 13 personnel. While generic grocery store brands can try to recreate the Oreo, the knockoff is never quite as good as the original. Star Wars Episode VII tried to recreate the magic from A New Hope. It replicated the pattern and tried to reproduce the structure, but that alone isn’t why A New Hope changed the science fiction genre. 

However, as McVay always has, he’ll need to continue innovating and build on the foundation the Rams have already set. George Lucas changed science fiction with A New Hope, but The Empire Strikes Back is seen as the better movie. The first movie of the series created the foundation of what was to come. 

With an offseason of watching film, defenses are going to be dialed in more on the Rams’ tendencies. A big reason 13 personnel was so effective last season was that it forced defenses to make a choice and create hesitation. Defenses had to choose whether or not to stay lighter and get beat in the run game or play heavier and live with the mismatches in the passing game. 

The Rams don’t need to abandon 13 personnel, but keep building on it. Based on what the Rams did this offseason, that appears to be the plan. Terrance Ferguson could take that next step and become more dangerous. The Rams also drafted Max Klare in the second round to attack the underneath spaces. 

While defenses may be more prepared for 13 personnel this season, the Rams only scratched the surface in 2025. With Ferguson developing during his rookie season, that wasn’t the finished product. Defenses may have an offseason to be better prepared, but McVay has also had an offseason to add more. 

It’s unlikely that the Rams will catch defenses by surprise with 13 personnel this season as it appears to be where offenses are heading. However, McVay has consistently stayed one step ahead and that coaching advantage is what will continue to make the Rams’ offense dangerous.