Ever since Los Angeles Rams coach Sean McVay came into the league, he’s been an offensive leader. He won a Super Bowl using his motion offense and advanced play schemes, and now he’s innovating by using three tight ends.
So what does this have to do with the Las Vegas Raiders? Well, the Raiders don’t have a lot in the way of receivers, but they do have tight ends. One of them, Brock Bowers, caught over 100 passes as a rookie last year, and the other, Michael Mayer, is a fine blocker and a solid pass catcher.
Why not lean into what McVay is doing and play follow the leader here? According to NFL and New England Patriots columnist Ben Volin of the Boston Globe, the Rams are using three tight ends for 97 plays over their last four games, more than double any other team and more than McVay used in his first 137 games combined as a coach.
This configuration gained 6.7 yards per play, Volin added, and all four tight ends McVay has used currently have over 100 yards and a touchdown so far this year.
One advantage of this kind of approach is that big tight ends who can catch the ball aren’t all that hard to find. A lot of them are mid-round draft picks, and the Raiders already have Bowers to lead their tight end pack to go with Mayer as a reliable option.
This would also help open up the run game for running back Ashton Jeanty. He’s had a tough year trying find holes behind a banged-up offensive line, but outside runs with big tight ends leading the way are a different problem for defenses to handle.
There’s a catch here with the Raiders, of course. The coach and the offensive coordinator both have to be innovators, or they at least have to strongly believe in innovation, and that’s not the case with coach Pete Carroll and offensive coordinator Chip Kelly. They’ve been at odd for most of the year about play calling, and while Kelly has a reputation as an innovator, he’s mostly about motion, not using multiple tight ends.
The concept is intriguing, however, to the point where it’s downright tantalizing. Carroll and Kelly aren’t going to be around for very much longer—the coordinator is almost certainly gone, and the coach is scrambling to keep his job.
But the kind of innovation McVay is doing now with the Rams would put a jolt in the Raiders offense, especially if the quarterback is someone other than Geno Smith, who likes to hold the ball and take deep shots to fast receivers. It’s something the team should at least consider going forward, especially given what fans have been forced to watch so far this year.