An increase in NFL teams using two- and three-tight end sets in 2025 was followed by an increase of draft selections at the position this year. Does that indicate teams will be going “heavy” even more during the 2026 season?
The use of multiple tight ends on a given play is on the rise in the NFL.
This tactical advantage has been around for a while, but the league saw over a 2.4% increase in in plays featuring two tight ends (12 personnel) and three tight ends (13 personnel) year-over-year from 2024 to 2025. More importantly, the average offensive success rate on those plays rose by 1.9%.
Why are teams doing this more? Because adding a second or third tight end to the field at the expense of extra wide receivers forces a defense into a compromised position. If the defense chooses incorrectly between a run or a pass, it can be exploited because of the size difference required to cover a tight end as a blocker and/or as a receiver.
It also forces defensive coordinators to think more strategically about their personnel. Bigger defenders are better suited to engage with tight ends near the line of scrimmage, but smaller players are vulnerable to blocks and pass-catching mismatches.
Now, simply using multi tight ends doesn’t necessarily equate to a better offense. Of the top-five teams in percentage of multi-TE plays in the 2025 NFL season, only one had an overall offensive success rate greater than 45% (the Los Angeles Rams) and only two made the playoffs (the Rams and the Chicago Bears).
A newfound interest in 13 personnel (three tight ends with just one running back and one wide receiver) emerged last season, one that could signal an upcoming trend in 2026.
Last year’s 28.7% rise in plays in 13-personnel sets was a jump to 1,804 from 1,287 plays just one season earlier. Much of that surge is attributable to the Rams, who went from running just seven such plays in 2024 to a league-high 388 last season.
The idea behind 13 personnel is an even bolder move than 12 personnel (two tight ends with either two wide receivers and one running back or two running backs and one wide receiver) because of the third tight end. While that may lend itself more to a running play, teams were actually more successful on average when passing out of 13 personnel – a 37.1% success rate – than running – 34.7%. (Notably, going a step further, there are also four-tight end sets, which are generally designed for short-yardage plays).
Only the Rams used 13 personnel on more than 10% of their offensive plays, and only four teams eclipsed 100 total snaps in the grouping. Only two of the five teams that utilized the grouping on at least 9% of their plays finished with a winning record, and only the Rams maintained a success rate above 50% at that volume.
This may not be a ringing endorsement of 13-personnel usage based on raw numbers, but the 2026 NFL Draft painted an interesting picture of the potential future of offenses in the league.
Twenty-one tight ends were selected in the draft – the most since 24 were taken in 2002. The 2026 class also tied the seven-round draft record with nine tight ends in the first 100 picks. The Miami Dolphins, Denver Broncos, Jacksonville Jaguars, Cleveland Browns and Baltimore Ravens each took two overall.
Tight Ends Selected in an NFL Draft
Most overall tight end selections in seven-round draft era (since 1994) based on position when drafted:
24 – 2002 21 – 2026 20 – 2009 19 – 2010, 2015, 2022 16 – 1996, 2008, 2013, 2019, 2025Most top-100 tight end selections in the seven-round draft era (since 1994) based on position when drafted:
9 – 2006, 2026 8 – 1996, 2019, 2023 7 – 2003, 2008, 2014Teams like the Rams and Chicago Bears, who were already one of the most heavily invested teams in “heavy” personnel groups, took tight ends in the third round despite drafting one with their first pick in 2025: The Rams took Ohio State’s Max Klare and the Bears selected Stanford’s Sam Roush.
The NFL is a copy-cat league, and the flavor of the day typically carries over season-to-season, at least initially. But while there may be an uptick in multi-tight end sets again this year, it doesn’t necessarily mean it’ll lead to more wins.
How Successful Teams Use Multi-TE Personnel
To date, there’s no direct correlation between more heavy personnel and more wins. When comparing each team’s offensive success rate in 13 personnel and 2025 winning percentage, the data doesn’t necessarily indicate any statistical significance.
The Rams are perhaps the biggest example, given how much of an outlier their 0.16 weighted success rate in 13 personnel (offensive success rate multiplied by percentage of plays) is compared to other teams (the next closest are the Arizona Cardinals and Bears at 0.04 each).
In other words, 13 personnel won’t win games as an offensive identity but it can enhance teams when used properly.
The Buffalo Bills exemplified this concept in 2025. They led the NFL with a 52.3% success rate in multi-TE sets on nearly 16.0% of their plays and finished second in 13-personnel success rate at 55.6% on just 5.2% usage. They also made the AFC divisional round with the second-best overall offensive success rate in 2025.
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4 months ago Taylor Bechtold, Kyle Cunningham-RhoadsSome teams also know they aren’t good in this space and simply don’t use it. The Houston Texans ranked last in offensive success rate on multi-TE sets (29.1%) and 21st in 13-personnel success rate (31.3%) on just the second-lowest usage (21st in 13 personnel), but they still made the playoffs. The Tennessee Titans and New York Jets, who were two of the worst teams in the NFL in 2025, also ranked in the bottom 10 in success rate and multi-TE usage last season.
The key is to pair quality players with good coaching for situational dominance. The Rams found a gap in defensive schematics, had four quality tight end options (Colby Parkinson, Tyler Higbee, Davis Allen and Terrance Ferguson) and exploited 13 personnel to the point where it made up more than 30% of their offensive plays.
Meanwhile, teams like the Cleveland Browns and Atlanta Falcons used 13-personnel and multi-tight end sets a lot but didn’t produce consistently.
But some interesting coaching changes and the draft pattern mentioned earlier could identify some teams leaning into heavy personnel more than they did in years past.
Which Teams May Go ‘Heavy’ More in 2026?
We’ve already touched on the Rams and Bears as clear multi-tight end users in 2026 again, but some other NFL teams could join them.
While teams like the Texans, Titans and Jets didn’t use a lot of multi-tight end sets last season because they weren’t good at it, all three used either draft picks or free agency to add to their tight end unit – perhaps signaling an interest in trying more in 2026.
The Browns and Falcons, who already ranked near the top of multi-TE sets in 2025, could continue to see a rise in those plays because of their new head coaches, Todd Monken and Kevin Stefanski, respectively.
Cleveland already ranked first in percentage of plays in multi-tight end sets in 2025, and Monken had been the offensive coordinator for a Baltimore Ravens offense that ranked third in multi-TE play rate (including 11th in 13 personnel play rate). The Browns drafted two tight ends in the late rounds and signed Jake Stoll in free agency.
Atlanta is another possibility because of its personnel and the hiring of Stefanski, who consistently utilized multi-TE sets as the Browns’ head coach. And last year, the Falcons ranked second in percentage of plays in multi-tight end sets (44.8%) and sixth in offensive success rate (46.1%). This indicates on paper the team was capable of utilizing this personnel grouping; it simply couldn’t turn the sets into wins.
Other teams to consider have direct Rams’ connections: the Jaguars and the Cardinals.
Jacksonville used its first draft pick at No. 56 on Texas A&M’s Nate Boerkircher after struggling in heavy sets last year, posting a middling 42.7% success rate in multi-TE sets and a meager 24.0% success rate in 13 personnel. Coach Liam Coen and general manager James Gladstone both have Rams roots and saw the potential of the scheme firsthand in Week 7, when the Rams scored four red-zone touchdowns out of 13 personnel against the Jaguars, posting a 45.8% success rate on those snaps.
Arizona, meanwhile, hired former Rams offensive coordinator Mike LaFleur as its new coach – he also witnessed Sean McVay’s personnel revolution firsthand. While the Cardinals didn’t draft a tight end this year, the cupboard is full with All-NFL first-teamer Trey McBride, 2025 draft pick Tip Reiman, Teagan Quitoriano and Elijah Higgins. They also weren’t shy in using tight ends with the sixth-highest percentage of plays (39.4%) and the second highest in 13 (10.0%).
Are Multi-Tight Ends Usage the Future of the NFL?
The longevity of multi-tight end sets in the NFL will depend entirely on how the best teams use it.
If teams with continued success use it more frequently because of good coaching and play calling, more teams will give it a try. But if a rise in usage doesn’t eventually equate to wins on a whole, the trend will go the same way as the Wildcat formation and other NFL fads.
For now, though, the year-over-year usage increase, recent draft pattern and the Rams’ success in 2025 are good enough indicators to project more multi-tight end sets are coming to the league this season.
The question will be how NFL defenses respond to multi tight ends. We’ve already seen defenses try more “big nickel” players – a hybrid linebacker/defensive back like Nick Emmanwori of the Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks is big enough to run-defend and/or cover tight ends and wide receivers. If more teams start using that defense, then the NFL may have already found its counterweight to multi-TE packages.
Kyle Cunningham-Rhoads, Greg Gifford and Jeff Mangurten of Stats Perform contributed data to this story. For more coverage, follow on social media at Instagram, Bluesky, Facebook and X.
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