During the 2025 season, no team used “13” personnel (1 RB, 3 TE’s) more often or more effectively than Sean McVay and the Rams offense.

The benefit of the personnel grouping is that it generally forces the defense to match up with base personnel (3 linebackers). That’s a big deal because in today’s NFL, most defenses rely on nickel (5 DB’s) in order to keep up with the speed and lighter personnel packages that offenses normally deploy.

That means they generally use just 2 linebackers or fewer the majority of the time, and rosters are built accordingly. The 3rd linebacker on the roster is often a non-starting-caliber player or run specialist who only comes in on early downs and short-yardage situations.

And this means an offense that can throw out of 13 personnel can exploit the weakest pass defenders on the field.

Read the full breakdown here: