The 2023 Los Angeles Rams saw a bounce-back season that ended with their first playoff appearance since winning Super Bowl 56 back in 2022. With starting quarterback Matthew Staffordat full health, and under head coach Sean McVay, the Rams finished 7th in the NFL with 359.3 yards of total offense per game.
A balanced attack saw second-year running back Kyren Williams finish third in the NFL in rushing (1,144 yards) and saw rookie wide receiver Puka Nacua finish fourth in the league in receiving with 1486 yards, which was an NFL record for a rookie wideout. Star receiver Cooper Kupp missed five games due to injury, but still managed to finish the season with 737 yards.
The emergence of Nacua and Williams as potentially elite players, combined with Stafford and Kupp's veteran leadership created the resurgence in Los Angeles, but the magic of the Rams offense lies within the mind of McVay.
Considered an offensive wizard since his days in Washington, McVay's dynamic offense revolves around a pre-snap motion that makes his team very hard to stop.
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How Often are NFL Teams Utilizing Motion?
In 2023, the Rams were among the league leaders in pre-snap motion.
Pre-snap motions are nothing new to NFL teams, but the ways that teams were able to use them in 2023 stretched the boundaries for how far offensive coordinators could take them. McVay's unit ranked second in the NFL in motion at the snap at 44.1% (70.4% pre-snap motion overall), trailing only the explosive Miami Dolphins, who led the league at a whopping 68.2%.
Dolphins HC Mike McDaniel, by the way, was also on Washington's offensive coaching staff as the wide receivers coach in 2013, when McVay was the team's tight ends coach.
All six of the top teams to use motion at the snap in the NFL made the playoffs, showing that the teams that could send their players in motion at the snap were more likely to find offensive success.
The Rams utilized multiple types of motion, but these plays usually resulted in a drop-back pass, a play-action pass, or a run with a lead blocker down the field.
Motion in the Passing Game
How did pre-snap motion help Puka Nacua evolve into a star?
Toward the beginning of the 2023 season, Nacua saw far less attention than he did later on during his record-breaking campaign. McVay was able to capitalize on this and utilized the former offensive player of the year to help free up his rookie.
As Stafford sends Kupp in motion, the defense reacts by "bumping" their coverage over one man, shifting the man-to-man responsibility from one player to another, and in this case the outside corner to the slot corner. Kupp is quickly blanketed, as well as the slot receiver, but they are able to clear out space which sets up the play.
On the snap, Nacua uses a quick jab and quickly breaks inside on a drag route toward the vacated area of the field. With his man a step behind and Kupp clearing out bodies, he catches a well-delivered ball from Stafford and breaks upfield for a huge gain.
McVay did a tremendous job of utilizing Kupp as a decoy, which helped Nacua flourish, but as the season progressed, McVay utilized motion at the snap to highlight Nacua's capabilities.
Stafford sends Nacua in motion, and as he nears the sideline, Nacua starts to slow down as the defense once again bumps their coverage over to account for the added body. With a quick burst of speed, Nacau re-accelerates on the snap and blows by the corner responsible for him.
The high safety is preventing anything deep, but Stafford has a nice window to throw into and Nacua finds it. As the defenders start to close in, Nacua shows off his size, strength, and catch radius by going up and making a sensational catch.
With elite play calling, elite quarterback play, and elite receiver play, the Rams utilizing pre-snap motion in the passing game allowed them to constantly put secondary players in binds, and find the matchups that they wanted to exploit.
Utilizing Motion in the Running Game
Nacua wasn't the only young player to thrive in McVay's system
While the passing attack garnered the most attention, the Rams' use of pre-snap movement elevated the run game and helped Williams on his way to becoming an All-Pro.
As the play above shows, the tight ends goes in motion before the ball is snapped, and once the play is live, he becomes the lead blocker.
Williams takes the toss, and with good vision, follows his blockers, heading for the sideline and close to a first down. This style of motion has become popularized across the league. It allows offenses to beat the defense to the attack point as well as win the numbers advantage along the perimeter.
Much like McVay helped set up Nacua by using Kupp in motion, he used Nacua to help set up Williams and the run game, by taking advantage of the attention that Nacua was drawing by the end of the season.
With the season that Nacua was having, it makes sense that the defensive backs would follow him in coverage. On third down, Nacua runs quickly down the line causing the secondary players to scramble and bump their coverage, but Nacua then stops on a dime and heads back the other direction.
As the ball is snapped, Nacua becomes the lead blocker on the duo, and Williams runs the ball right to the spot on the field that was vacated by the defenders who were looking to follow Nacua.
With the offensive line taking care of business, and a solid lead block from Nacua, Williams plows ahead for a physical first down.
The Rams' passing attack is elite, but their ability to run the ball with Williams made them all the more lethal.
The Bottom Line on the Rams' Usage of Pre-Snap Motion
Will the pre-snap motion continue in 2024?
The Rams' offense was one of the best in the league in 2024, and a major factor in this was their ability to use pre-snap motion to set the table for their star players.
The use of pre-snap motion is on the rise league-wide, so it seems likely that McVay will double down and continue to use it to find ways to help his star players exploit mismatches.
The NFL is a copycat league, so it also seems likely that several other teams will adopt variations of what McVay is doing with the Rams' offense and attempt to make it their own.
