How the Vikings can adopt 3WR sets with Irv Smith Jr. out

Will the Vikings use some of the L.A. Rams’ concepts to survive Smith Jr.'s absence?

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By Matthew Coller

EAGAN — Losing Irv Smith Jr. for any amount of time is a real stinger for the Minnesota Vikings.

The third-year tight end suffered a knee injury against the Kansas City Chiefs that will require surgery. His injury comes on the heels of a terrific offseason that seemed to put him in line for a breakout season. Now it’s unclear, even to Mike Zimmer, how long Smith Jr. will be missing.

“A lot of times you can’t really tell anything until you get in there,” Zimmer said.

We do know that Smith Jr. will be out to start the season, which forces the Vikings to make adjustments right from the get-go. With Tyler Conklin being the only other tight end with significant experience, the Vikings are likely to move away from one of the staples of their offense: Personnel groupings that use multiple tight ends.

Last year they used multiple tight ends on 384 plays, per PFF data. The plan for 2021 was for Smith Jr. to replace Kyle Rudolph’s usage and Conklin to slide into the TE2 role. Over the final four games of last season with Rudolph injured, Smith Jr. and Conklin proved they could be a solid duo. But Conklin as TE1 isn’t capable of handling all of the duties that Smith Jr. was set to take on, meaning the Vikings have to find another option.

One way would be to search for another tight end since Brandon Dillon and Zach Davidson aren’t needle-movers. Another is to switch up the philosophy and move toward putting more receivers on the field.

“We may end up being a little more three-wide with some of the guys we have,” Zimmer said.

Moving to 11 personnel (three receivers, one running back) would look pretty unusual for the Vikings’ offense. Last year they used three receivers on only 28% of plays, by far the lowest in the NFL. Tennessee was next lowest at 39%.

On the other end of that spectrum is the Los Angeles Rams, who play a similar wide zone/play-action style but use three receivers, one tight end and one running back on the field for nearly every play.

USA Today Rams reporter Cam DaSilva explained to Purple Insider Rams head coach Sean McVay’s reasoning for using 11 personnel so often.

“I think it’s about [McVay] trying to mask what he’s doing on offense so he can do a lot of different things out of 11 personnel…he likes to make everything look the same so he’s not tipping his hand,” DaSilva said. “They can throw the ball deep, they can throw a quick screen pass, they can run the ball up the middle, run it off the edge.

So how can the Vikings apply some of the principles of the Rams’ system to succeed with a personnel grouping they haven’t often used? Could they actually find some things that work well and could carry with them throughout the season? Let’s have a look at the upside to mixing in more three receiver sets…

Lighter boxes for Dalvin Cook and receivers blocking

Last season defenses piled players around the line of scrimmage to stop Dalvin Cook. The Vikings’ star back faced at least eight men in the box on 31% of his rushes, the fourth most of any RB with 150 or more carries (and higher than Tennessee’s Derrick Henry, who led the league in rushing), per NFL NextGEN stats.

When Todd Gurley was dominating the league in 2018 to the tune of 4.9 yards per carry and 17 touchdowns, he saw more than seven defenders up front on only 7% of his rushes, by far the lowest rate of any starting running back.

Putting three receivers on the field forces opponents to counter with nickel defenses, which feature five defensive backs. Using multiple tight ends resulted in the Vikings seeing the lowest rate of nickel defenses in the NFL.

“Todd Gurley faced a ton of loaded boxes when he was with Jeff Fisher in 2016,” DaSilva said. “Teams were gearing up to stop the run and then Sean McVay comes in and uses all this 11 personnel and teams go to nickel defenses with a couple of linebackers or sometimes only one linebacker on the field….It makes it more difficult for inside linebackers to stop the run…you’re losing battles in the trenches because you don’t have the bodies in the middle. Teams have corrected with these wider fronts to stop outside zone but the Rams still have success running the ball.”

Of course, the Rams’ strategy doesn’t just work because they create an advantageous situation for their running back. It can’t be done without the right type of players at receiver. In other words: You need some grit.

“It’s an essential part of it and it’s something [McVay] has talked a lot about,” DaSilva said. “It’s something that receivers don’t always get credit for… They treat him as a fullback almost, especially when they run these motions across the formation, he essentially serves as a lead blocker for the running back.”

Pro Football Focus analyst Seth Galina pointed out a particular wrinkle that the Rams used, which took advantage of their receivers’ blocking ability. In the two clips below, you can see they sent Woods in motion and then have the other receiver run underneath the formation as a lead blocker.

There aren’t many teams in the NFL using their receivers as lead blockers but it’s part of the reason the rushing attack can be so successful despite having less blocking beef on the field.

Galina said that the Vikings wouldn’t have to massively change a ton of the things they do in the run game conceptually if they get good blocking from the receivers.

“Is it going to be Jefferson who lines up and plays like Robert Woods…who is just going to maul people?” Galina said. “Do you have a guy like that? Then you can get away with running a lot of the same stuff that you would normally do.”

One potential pitfall of getting lighter boxes, however, is that defenses have more options against the passing plays. There’s always give and take with different schemes.

“[With two tight ends] you’re able to get the matchups you want when you go heavy because they’re putting the Sam [linebacker] on the field and there’s two good Sams in the world…with the nickel they have so much more they can do in coverage,” Galina said. “If you look at the nickel coverages in a playbook it’s twice the size as base coverages. That’s not easy to deal with.”

In terms of breaking tendencies, 3WR sets could be helpful. The Vikings only ran 11 personnel 85 times on first down last season and most of those plays came when they were down and needed to pass the ball. They could become less predictable on first down with their run/pass ratios if they ran more out of 3WR personnel.

Motions, condensed splits and bunch formations

One of the counters to facing different coverages is using motions. The Vikings were 25th in motion last year, per PFF, while the Rams have been toward the top of the NFL since McVay took over.

It stands to reason that tight ends running motions wouldn’t be nearly as intimidating as receivers who could potentially take handoffs or take off at full speed into their route.

“When you have two tight ends out there, you kind of know what the tight ends are going to do,” DaSilva said. “They’re not going to be these huge downfield threats or guys who are going to beat you over the top. If you have three receivers, especially three guys who can really threaten the defense.”

“When you have Cooper Kupp running jet motion, you have Brandin Cooks running a post and Robert Woods running a crosser, it puts a lot of stress on the defense…when they’re passing off receivers to communicate and things like that.”

Motions are designed to distract the defense and force them to quickly adjust assignments. Anthony Barr once compared it to having something flash in your face just before the snap.

Many of the motions and run plays that the Rams use are run out of bunch/condensed formations. That means putting receivers close together in twos or threes and having them tight with the formation rather than out at the boundary. The Rams were first in bunch formation usage last year (per PFF) and the Vikings were last, using them on just 19% of plays. However, that number went up to 31% when the Vikings did use three receivers.

Galina said bunching is needed in part to get more bodies on bodies in the run game. DaSilva points out that it helps receivers get off the line of scrimmage easier and allows them to put all the receivers in different spots on the field rather than locking them into an X or Y.

“Especially when you have a smaller receiver like they had Brandin Cooks where they can put them in these bunch formations where you’re almost protecting them at the line of scrimmage from being pressed and being hit at the line by more physical corners so by getting more versatile and creative with the bunches they protect the smaller, quicker receivers from getting pressed,” DaSilva said.

Last year Justin Jefferson lined up 30% of the time in the slot and averaged 19.2 yards per reception lining up inside, which was No. 1 in the NFL. Five of Adam Thielen’s touchdowns came out of the slot. More slot usage could help both.

Tight end role, deep threats and fullback

With three receivers on the field, the tight end isn’t asked to do nearly as much. DaSilva called Rams TE Tyler Higbee a blocker and “security blanket.” That would seem to be an appropriate role for Conklin, who caught 19 passes at 10.2 yards per reception last year and was on the field as a blocker 222 times in 449 plays.

Conklin may end up being the sixth man on the offensive line at times while the three receivers go out. The Vikings are starting swing tackle Rashod Hill at left tackle to begin the season. He’s set to face a number of high quality rushers that the Vikings could be better off double teaming with a tight end.

“The more bodies you can put in to protect, the deeper downfield your plays are going to be so at least you can create some shots that way that maybe you wouldn’t have taken with Irv on the field,” Galina said. “You might as well keep him in.”

This could open the door for someone like KJ Osborn, explosive rookie Ihmir Smith-Marsette or (if healthy) Dede Westbrook to become deep threats while the TE stays in.

“Especially if you are condensing in a bunch on one side of the field, your lone receiver split out to the field, he’s gotta run, he’s got to take the top off the coverage because to the bunch side you can’t just run a straight ‘go’ route or post route because you’re standing in the middle of the field,” Galina explained. “I do think it’s important to have that [deep threat] player who is faster than Jefferson or Thielen. Jefferson is fast but you’re playing him in the bunch.”

The Vikings could also add something to the mix that they’ve rarely done: A personnel group without a tight end. They could play 20 personnel with fullback CJ Ham in the game and three receivers. Last year the Vikings used two RBs in the backfield the second most often in the NFL. There might be opportunities to use Ham more or even Cook/Mattison at the same time.

The bottom line

The Vikings probably won’t install the entire Rams offense in the next week-and-a-half after losing Irv Smith Jr. However, they might discover some things along the way by adding more three-wide. It could provide an opportunity to become more versatile and learn about themselves and then use the elements that they added down the road when Smith Jr. does return…whenever that might be.

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