During his playing days, Sean Lee was one of the smartest defenders in the NFL. The former Dallas Cowboys linebacker made two Pro Bowls and was selected as a first-team All-Pro once in his injury-ravaged career, but he’s found a way to stay close to the game of football since retiring in 2021.
Lee is now in the business of football analytics and AI with his company Adrenaline, which aims to predict offensive and defensive tendencies for viewers at home.
In a conversation earlier this offseason at the Zebra Technology panel, Lee was asked which coach is the most difficult to predict using his model. Immediately, he said Sean McVay, and for good reason.
“Sean McVay is really tough to track,” Lee said. “This year, he used a lot more 13 personnel but generally, he used just a lot of 11 personnel. Similar formations. And so what we’re doing is tracking the formation, the splits, where every player is specifically aligned. And with Coach McVay, a lot of the stuff looks the same, percentages seem the same. This year, they came out in 13 personnel but then they would make it look like it was a spread 11 personnel-type of formation. Because he’s so versatile as a coach, he can run his whole playbook whether there’s three tight ends on the field or only one tight end on the field. So that’s a guy I’ve admired when he was in Washington, I played against him a lot. It was always tough. And with our models, he’s one of the better guys of not being able to predict what’s coming.”
What makes McVay so unique as a coach and playcaller is the way he makes everything look the same, as Lee pointed out. When he leaned heavily into 11 personnel early in his career, it was with the intention of keeping defenses on their toes because the Rams could run or throw the ball out of that three-receiver package.
With 13 personnel, it’s the same story. That would ordinarily be a run package with three tight ends, but the Rams were excellent throwing out of 13 personnel last season. That’s partly because when defenses see three tight ends in the huddle, they match with heavier personnel instead of nickel and dime packages.
McVay is a master of making every play look the same, ramping up the unpredictability of his offense from week to week and year to year.
This article originally appeared on Rams Wire: Former All-Pro LB explains what makes Sean McVay a brilliant playcaller
Reporting by Cameron DaSilva, Rams Wire / Rams Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
