What are the front mechanics? What are the different coverage contours? Are they stacking the box with a fallback option? Are they triggering downhill? Are they bringing a safety in or are they trying to fit the run with a lighter box?
These are just some of the questions Rams players must ask themselves ahead of and/or during run plays, according to head coach Sean McVay. The answers often change the approach players take to facilitate the desired results: A successful carry.
"The intent is to be able to efficiently move the football down the field and be able to create angles, leverage and positive positions for our players to have successful outcomes," McVay said.
The Rams relied on duo and outside zone schemes to fuel the most efficient run game the NFL has seen in the last decade. On designed run plays to running backs, the Rams' 49.7% success rate (including playoffs) is first among all teams since Next Gen Stats began in 2016.
During McVay's tenure, he has evolved the rushing attack, adapting to defensive trends aimed at mitigating its efficiency, as Ben Solak chronicled in a piece for ESPN. They shifted from a scheme that relied on outside zone to one that relied on duo, with outside zone runs sprinkled in against fronts that were susceptible to it.
The team then brought in players that would excel in that offense. To run duo, they needed bigger guards who could create significant push at the line, but also prize the agility to get up to the second level. Steve Avila and Kevin Dotson (both acquired ahead of the 2023 season) both represented that shift. And their progression in this offense helped facilitate the Rams' increased efficiency on the ground.
Earlier this season, running back Kyren Williams said the increased dialogue between players and coaches meant that everyone understood the intent of each play and what they need to do personally to help achieve it. Part of that is due to the continuity of the line, with most of the same players returning from last season. But reintegrating center Coleman Shelton, who played for L.A. from 2019-23 before leaving for one season, also raised the ceiling of the run game.
Williams called Shelton the "glue of the offense" apart from Stafford. His command of everyone's responsibilities and ability to communicate them ensured everyone on the offense was on same page.
"Just having (Shelton) basically just tell everybody what they're doing so I can just go do it (has been helpful)," said offensive lineman Warren McClendon Jr. "I'm not thinking, and I can just kind of play free."
The Rams' rushing success rate on designed running back carries in 2023 was 42%, per Next Gen Stats. It increased to 43.9% last season. But the shift that catapulted that mark by nearly 6% in 2025, in addition to Shelton's return, was the backfield split between Williams and Blake Corum.
In 2023, Williams' snap share was 81.4% when healthy and not resting ahead of the playoffs, per to Next Gen Stats. In 2024, Williams played 87.5% of snaps, with Corum and Ronnie Rivers taking a combined 12.5% snap share. That ratio changed this season, with Williams playing 66.7% of snaps and Corum taking 30.5% in 2025.
Both players spoke about the impact that split had on their production.
"I think (Corum) being able to come in, spell me, allows me to see the game from a different lens, see the game from a different perspective and... get my breath back whenever those long runs are needed," Williams said.
"Staying fresh is key," Corum said. "That's how you make those explosive runs, when you're fresh."
Those changes resulted in the Rams' highest explosive run rate (11.2%) since 2018 and lowest stuff rate (carries gaining zero or fewer yards) in the McVay era (12.2%) on running back carries, per Next Gen Stats. Their 4.9 yards per carry is also tied for the highest mark since McVay took over in 2017.
Tight ends and wide receivers were heavily involved in the run game as blockers. Wide receiver Puka Nacua was often motioned into the backfield or lined up in a tight formation to lead block for the running back. The "no block, no rock" idiom is taken seriously in McVay's offense, as skill position players are relied on to make key blocks.
Veteran wide receiver Davante Adams said that the Rams' young skill position players changed his perspective on run blocking during the 12th season of his Hall of Fame-caliber career.
"It made me evaluate my performance as far as how much I'm able to give and the things that I could be pressing on and straining a little bit more in the run game," Adams said. "I said, 'Look, y'all motivate me, man.' They laughed thinking that I was joking, but I let the jokes calm down for a minute and just let them know, 'I'm dead serious.'"
The Rams didn't need gadget plays or a high volume of counters or draws to punish defensive fronts consistently. All they needed was a clear understanding of their objectives across the board from players capable of executing their assignments.
Still, the time will come when defenses catch up to this scheme, and McVay is already preparing for the next evolution.
"I'm really looking forward to watching that continue to grow," McVay said. "We'll have to expand. We'll have to evolve and adapt. We can't do the same things that we did this past year and expect the same results. We've seen that before."
