The offence under Sean McVay has been so successful in his seven years with the Rams, in part because of its unpredictable nature. It’s difficult to predict if the Rams will run or throw the ball because most plays use 11 personnel, which places one tight end, three receivers and a running back on the field.

After witnessing the success of McVay’s team in Los Angeles, a number of other teams have followed this tactic in recent years, and since the Rams brought in the 30-year-old offensive magician, the NFL as a whole has seen an increase in the use of 11 personnel.

However, McVay did not come to Los Angeles expecting to use eleven players ninety percent of the time. That was an unexpected and natural development.

In his latest podcast, “Daily Grind,” Cooper Kupp discussed the development of McVay’s offence and explained how the Rams came to rely so heavily on 11 players. The Rams discovered early in McVay’s first season that their three-receiver sets worked well in two-minute drills. This was during the 2017 OTAs.

McVay increased the number of plays in 11 personnel from eight to 20, and then from 20 to 30, gradually increasing that personnel grouping once the squad assembled for training camp in July.

Kupp remarked, “You get drafted, I come in there, I’m the F, I’m the slot.” “On third down and second-and-8-plus, Sean McVay’s offence with the Washington Football Team used 11 personnel. I’m supposed to stay out of the game until third down or second-and-eight-plus, then, when I arrive for OTAs. Then I enter. We performed eight plays, numbered one through eight, during OTAs. It was only for our little two-minute rush. “This is how we’re going to conduct ourselves during our two-minute segment.” When you get to the line, these numbers will represent complete plays for us, which we will simply have to commit to memory. We began utilising it, and after every two-minute drive, we would simply score by popping down the pitch. Sort of like, “Shoot, this is a good thing,” as OTAs were departing. This product is good. There is more to be said about this. Training camp, come back in a month. Now it’s one through twenty. There are now thirteen employees, not just twelve. We now consider the eleven persons to be somewhat of a standard. As it grows, we have items one through thirty. These include series one through thirty, as well as series sixty, seventy, five hundred, and seven hundred. The attitude has developed to the point that people say things like, “Hey, if you come into our offence, once you memorise one through 700, you’ll know all of our plays to dial in.” It’s kind of like that, but it’s just a joke. That’s not true. When something is good, you grow and expand it.

Kupp, Robert Woods, and Sammy Watkins were the Rams’ wide receivers in 2017. Kupp was so good at the outset that McVay didn’t want to pull him off the pitch, which is one of the main reasons Los Angeles switched to an 11-man roster. McVay has spoken about it previously, but Kupp’s explanation on his podcast is intriguing.

The Rams employed 11 players an NFL-high 93.1% of the time last season, according to Sumer Sports. They also had the highest rate in the league in 2022 (90.3%). Because of this, Les Snead and McVay placed a strong emphasis on the receiver position during their time there, making sure the team always had three excellent starting receivers.

If Kupp hadn’t become a playmaker at such a young age, McVay’s offence might not have looked the way it does now.