Rams Double Down on Tight End Depth as Sean McVay Continues Evolution of Modern Offensive Philosophy

You know, I got to thinking about this Rams pick and it reminded me of something I saw back in the day. The great thing about football is that the game evolves, but the principles stay the same. Back in the 1970s and 80s, you had coaches like Bill Walsh who understood that if you can move the chains with multiple receivers on the field, you've got yourself an advantage. The tight end position has always been underrated by folks who don't understand that a guy who can line up in the backfield and then split wide like a receiver is basically impossible to defend consistently. Now Sean McVay is taking that concept and running it through the modern NFL grinder, and let me tell you, the Rams adding Max Klare in the second round shows they understand something fundamental about winning football in 2025.

Here's what I love about this pick and this direction for the Rams. Too many teams in this league overthink things. They see a problem and they want one answer to fix it. But football isn't like that. Football is about creating situations where your offense can attack defenses in ways they can't easily respond to. When you watch the Rams operate last season with those multiple tight end packages, you weren't watching some gimmick or some cute idea. You were watching an offense that understood the defense has to choose between stopping the run and covering the middle of the field and matching up on the perimeter. You can't do all three things equally well, and that's football wisdom that goes back further than I can remember.

Max Klare isn't some household name coming out of the draft. He's not going to walk into a stadium and make everyone gasp with athletic tools. But you know what? Some of the best tight ends in football history weren't the ones making SportsCenter highlights. Rob Gronkowski was obviously a freak, but if you go back and watch Tony Gonzalez or Ozzie Newberry, these guys won through football intelligence and reliability and the ability to work within a system. Klare has the kind of tape that tells you he understands leverage and how to get open in meaningful spots. For a team like the Rams that's running specific route concepts and wants guys who execute within structure rather than freelance, that's exactly what you need.

Now let me tell you what this really means strategically. The Rams went through a season where they discovered something magical could happen when you line up with two, sometimes three tight ends on the field. It changes the math for a defense in ways that aren't always obvious to casual fans. When you have multiple tight end weapons, you're essentially playing chess while the other team is trying to play checkers. A linebacker has to decide: do I stay in coverage in the middle of the field where a tight end might be coming, or do I come down to help defend the run? The safety has to account for vertical threats from multiple tight ends simultaneously. Meanwhile, your offensive line gets extra help because tight ends can chip block before releasing into routes. It's this beautiful domino effect that opens up rushing lanes and makes play action more effective because defenses have to respect the run game more.

What impresses me about the Rams organization right now is that they're not getting fooled by the flashiness of trying to replace star power in one draft pick. They've got Cooper Kupp, who is as good as it gets at receiver. They've got their running back situation. But what they needed was depth and complementary pieces that allow them to execute their identity. Klare fits that like a glove fits a hand. He's not going to put up fantasy numbers that get people excited in September. But come January, when football matters most and teams are grinding through playoff football where execution and field position become paramount, this is the kind of player who helps you win close games.

I've been watching football for a long time, and I've seen teams get seduced by the draft. They see a guy who runs a 4.5 forty time and jumps high at the combine and they think that's football. But football is played on grass on Sundays and Mondays and it's about doing your job consistently and understanding your assignment. Klare is a student of the game. His tape shows effort and intelligence. He knows where to sit down in zone coverage. He understands how to work with his quarterback to get on the same page. Those are the kinds of things that don't show up in combine metrics but absolutely show up in wins and losses.

The Rams also recognize something that a lot of teams are slow to understand: you need optionality in football. Having multiple tight end weapons means your offensive coordinator can call the same play with different personnel and get completely different results. Defenses can't just substitute and assume they know what's coming. That unpredictability is currency in football. It's why great teams always have more than one way to skin a cat. When Bill Belichick and the Patriots were winning Super Bowls, people got so focused on their defensive schemes that they missed the fact that they had unbelievable offensive flexibility. They could line up the same way and run it one time, then run the same play out of a completely different look the next time.

Now I think about what this says about McVay's evolution as a coach. He came into this league with a reputation as this brilliant passing game architect, and that's all true. But the best coaches adapt. They understand that football has seasons and cycles within a season. Early in the season, you're trying to establish your identity. As the season goes on, you're learning what works against different opponents. Come playoff time, you're playing teams that have studied you all year, and you need ways to attack them they haven't fully prepared for. The multi-tight end package is McVay saying that he understands modern football is about creating conflicts for defenses, and you need multiple weapons with different skill sets to do that effectively.

I also want to point out something about the Rams' front office thinking that deserves credit. It's easy to look flashy. It's easy to trade up and grab the wide receiver who ran a 4.4 forty. But it takes real football intelligence to identify mid-round value in the tight end position and understand how that player fits into your system. That's what separates organizations that just have good years from organizations that build something sustainable. The Rams are building something. You can feel it in the way they're constructing this roster.

For fans of the Rams, this should give you confidence that your team understands what it takes to win in the modern NFL. This isn't a organization flying by the seat of their pants. This is a team with a clear identity and the discipline to add pieces that complement that identity. Max Klare might not be the name everyone's talking about right now, but come playoff time, I wouldn't be shocked if he's making a critical catch or taking a crucial block that puts the Rams in position to do something special. That's what good football teams do. They win with depth and complementary pieces and execution. The Rams are building that, and that's why you should care about where this team is heading.