In Matt LaFleur’s first season as head coach of the Green Bay Packers, the offense played 60% of snaps in 11 personnel (3 WR, 1 RB, 1 TE). Behind Davante Adams, the receivers on the field rotated pretty regularly with Allen Lazard, Geronimo Allison, Marquez Valdes-Scantling, and Jake Kumerow all seeing their share of snaps. 
In 2019, the Packers carried six receivers on the roster, but in recent seasons they’ve kept as many as seven and as few as five. With LaFleur vocal about wanting to run the ball, and the Packers selecting a bruising running back and versatile tight end on day two of the draft, wide receiver could be a less-emphasized position in 2020. And that’s not to say Davante Adams won’t remain a top-five receiver in the league and players like Allen Lazard and Devin Funchess won’t have big roles to fill on offense, because they will, but the Packers might not feel a need to carry a sixth receiver on the roster with LaFleur’s desire for versatility on offense. 
It’s not entirely out of the realm of possibilities that the Packers might only keep five receivers heading into 2020, deciding instead to carry an extra running back or tight end. (Though it’s hard to imagine five tight ends on the roster. This isn’t the Chicago Bears we’re talking about after all.)
On the topic of tight ends, though, the Packers played 20% of snaps in 12 personnel last season (2 WR, 1 RB, 2 TE). That number could increase this season. Green Bay will expect Jace Sternberger to take a leap in his second season, now as TE1 on the roster, and the remaining trio of Marcedes Lewis, rookie Josiah Deguara, and Robert Tonyan will give LaFleur plenty of options when it comes to how the offense can operate out of 12. 
What’s interesting about 12 personnel is that the Packers passed only 40% of the time from 12, meaning 60% of those 229 snaps were actually running plays. Running the ball out of 12, the Packers scored three touchdowns and averaged 4.2 yards per carry. 
Operating out of 21 personnel (2 WR, 2 RB, 1 TE) 12% of the time in 2019, the Packers scored only one rushing touchdown but averaged 4.8 yards per carry. The Packers obviously return Aaron Jones in 2020, but the selection of power back A.J. Dillon in the second round of the draft gives Green Bay another layer to its run game. Consider a personnel grouping that has Jones, Dillon, Adams, and Sternberger or Deguara on the field at the same time. That’s what 21 can do for this offense. 
A theme from both LaFleur and offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett this past offseason has been being multiple on offense, meaning that whichever personnel groupings are on the field, the offense still has options. The drafting of Deguara and Dillon has all but ensured the offense is going to emphasize some different packages in 2020. While some will continue to focus on a perceived lack of production from the wide receiving core in 2019, Dillon and Deguara help to further explain how LaFleur’s offense doesn’t funnel through his wide receivers. Players like Dillon and Deguara only make Davante Adams more dangerous by adding another layer of versatility to LaFleur’s personnel packages. 
Let’s look now at the San Francisco 49ers offense. In 2019, the 49ers ranked second in rushing yards per game, second in points per game, and fourth in yards per game. When it came to passing yards per game, however, the 49ers dropped all the way to 13th. 
What did the 49ers do on offense that made them so dangerous? They were multiple. On the ground, Tevin Coleman, Raheem Mostert, and Matt Breida all averaged 4.0 yards per carry or greater. Through the air, tight end George Kittle paved the way for the rest of the offense with 1,053 receiving yards, 622 of those yards coming after the catch. Wide receivers Deebo Samuel and Emmanuel Sanders both added over 500 receiving yards themselves, with Sanders only playing in 10 games for the 49ers. And this doesn’t include fullback and offensive chess piece Kyle Juszczyk, either. 
The 49ers only played 40% of snaps in 11 personnel. San Francisco had the most success in 21 personnel, playing 28% of snaps there with a 55% success rate. For reference, the Packers didn’t have above a 48% success rate in any personnel package in 2019 (unless we count 32 personnel, but they only played three snaps there so the sample size is minute). 
Only Minnesota (25%) and Arizona (36%) played fewer snaps in 11 personnel than the 49ers in 2019. And San Francisco played the most snaps in 21 by a wide margin, with no other team playing more than 21% of snaps in that grouping. 
With the positions the Packers emphasized in the draft, expect them to come out in some different looks in 2020. General Manager Brian Gutekunst said after the draft that the focus was on getting LaFleur the guys he needed to run his offense the way he wanted to moving forward. This should take some pressure off Rodgers and the receivers and give the offense some versatility regardless of which personnel groupings are on the field. 
All personnel statistics came from Sharp Football Stats. 
Filed Under:[URL=/blog/category/featured" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="]Featured[/URL][URL=/blog/category/maggie-loney" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="]Maggie Loney[/URL]----------------------------
Maggie Loney is a writer for Cheesehead TV and podcasts for the Pack-A-Day Podcast and Pack's What She Said. Find her on Twitter at @MaggieJLoney .
NFL Categories:[URL=/taxonomy/term/12336" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="]Green Bay Packers[/URL]Tags:[URL=/tag/offense" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="]Offense[/URL][URL=/tag/11-personnel" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="]11 personnel[/URL][URL=/tag/12-personnel" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="]12 personnel[/URL][URL=/tag/21-personnel" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="]21 personnel[/URL][URL=/tag/matt-lafleur" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="]Matt LaFleur[/URL]
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