All Twenty-Tuesday: Two Tight End Sets

There’s a reason the Patriots have one of the longest running dynasty in the modern sports era. It’s because they’re smarter than everyone else. Pairing Tom Brady with Bill Belichick is certainly a major part of that, but how those two have chosen to run their offenses over the years has meant just as much as the personnel that you can name.

That all stems from their desire to tip the scales in their favor as much as they can, and in no place has that been more prevalent than in their execution of two tight end sets.

Like everything else in the game of football, playing two tight end sets still starts with running the ball. As an in-line tight end, all of the mismatches we’ve talked about previously don’t exist unless there is some sort of mystery involved as to what a tight end is going to do. That starts with them being a good blocker first, then a viable pass catcher.

In the play above, we saw the Steelers use two tight ends to the right side in 12 personnel (1 running back and 2 tight ends) to properly help the run game and spring a big gain on the ground. Any time you can get an extra blocker in there as a tight end, good things can happen. Putting a tight end on the line creates another gap.

Think of the gaps we discussed earlier in the year with offensive line work. There’s the “A gap” between the center and the guards, the “B gap” between the guards and the tackles, and the “C gap” outside of the tackles. When you throw one or even two tight ends on one side, you’re creating more gaps for the defense to control. When a defense knows it has another gap to worry about, it then has to give away its alignment by shifting either a linebacker or even a safety down closer to the line of scrimmage – because if they don’t there will be such good push off the line of scrimmage at the snap that the run will be successful no matter what.

Once you establish to the other team that your tight ends can block, then you can start having some fun with them on the line and on the move.

(via Big Blue View)

When you make it known that your tight ends can hold their own blocking and receiving out of an in-line position (which just means on the line of scrimmage next to the offensive line), then you can start putting them in other spots, too.

The diagram above deals with the four most common ways that two tight end sets can be flexed.

The first is simple, one tight end on each side of the line of scrimmage next to the offensive line. When defenses know they’re about to face a two tight end offense, they’ll often designate one of the tight ends as the “strong side tight end.” So, by calling a play with both of them split, you can still force a defense to give away their alignment and also get whatever the side they shift from a bigger advantage with the opposite tight end.

In formations like that, you’re still strong to help with the run on either side of the line, and you’ll likely be guaranteed one mismatch with a defensive back – that’s usually the goal. You’re normally using double in-line tight ends on shorter yardage situation anyways, so, if you think about it, whichever tight end gets the defensive back can just run a five yard curl or drag route over the middle. If the quarterback throws the ball high, that tight end could likely box the defender out and make the grab you need.

That works for the easy short yards. But, as the game has become more vertical and spread oriented, big-time plays can also happen from a double in-line formation.

Playing from a two tight end set also helps manipulate certain kinds of coverages, not just coverage assignments. If a defense is playing in zone, double in-line tight ends can do what we see above.

In a vertical passing game, sending both tight ends up the middle against a zone means that one of them or one of the outside receivers is going to find a soft spot with no help. As long as the quarterback can time the route right, it’s nearly impossible to stop. Again, this all stems from the tight ends being threats as blockers first, then getting the bigger but slower players in front of them, then blowing by them and finding the weak spots. That spot between the safeties and the linebackers is a dangerous one.

Let’s move on to the next formation in the square where there’s one tight end on the line of scrimmage and one tight end in a slot position as a wide receiver.

The play above is easy to visual for the Buccaneers.

For this particular play, the Giants had both tight ends on the same side of the field – one was in the slot and one was in-line. On that play, Cameron Brate would be playing the slot role and O.J. Howard would be playing the in-line role as the better blocker.

Having a good blocker in-line means you’re not afraid of the team shifting or send their best pass rusher to that side. It also means that the defense has to stay honest in case the tight end that was blocking releases to the sideline. That kept the linebacker on the same side of the field frozen and didn’t allow for much help on the tight end coming from the slot.

Mismatches don’t come just from tight ends being bigger than their defenders; it has to be more than that. There has to be schematic mismatches paired with physical mismatches to get the most out of things.

That brings us to our next formation, a tight end as a wide out.

This is probably my favorite way to run two tight ends, because if you have the right guy, it’s impossible to stop.

When you put a tight end on the outside (mainly in the red zone), you’re almost guaranteeing a physical mismatch. Chances are they’re going to be matched up against a cornerback that is five or six inches shorter than them and about 60 pounds lighter than them.

Let’s start there.

If you play off coverage with no cornerback like in the clip above, you’re allowing for the tight end to get too much momentum for a defensive back to try to take (they just aren’t strong enough). Or, if you play close coverage, the tight end will just box them out or out-muscle them.

Now, I know what you’re probably thinking.

“Trevor, you’re using one of the most revolutionary tight ends in league history (Gronkowski) as an example for things. The Bucs won’t have that.”

Maybe they will have a little bit of it.

In the clip above, we saw Howard being used at Alabama in that outside tight end position, and from the get-go, you could see that it was a complete mismatch all the way.

The cornerback, Jalen Mills, panicked so hard that he didn’t even have a pursuit angle once the ball was even caught. If Howard can get good beating press coverage, then he’ll force cornerbacks to not play him up front. If he can do that, they’ll give him space like the play above, and if they do that, well, they’ve already lost the battle. Howard as a sideline tight end could be very intriguing.

The final square in the common two tight end sets is the in-line tight end paired with the H-back tight end – like the story we went over on page one.

They play above is of former Ole Miss tight end, now New York Giant, Evan Engram.

Engram was great in this role because he was so smooth with his routes. Though Howard isn’t as smooth as Engram, imagine the play above with Brate on the other side of the line in-line and running a drag route over the middle. If the linebacker group shifted far to the left to keep up with Howard, that would mean Brate would be open, and vice versa if the defense held firm in the middle; Howard would be open like Engram was.

Howard and Brate have the vertical receiving potential to execute all four of the main two tight end formations, and do it with a little creativity, too. If you throw in Antony Auclair and Luke Stocker as serviceable options on goal line plays, you also give your offense the chance to do cheeky things like this below.

If you can break the huddle in one formation, then completely change the entire look pre-snap with both options being threats to score, you’re living the good life as an offense in those crucial moments. Two tight end sets are all about creating panic. That’s what happened in the play above.

When it comes to creating mismatches, a rare pairing of top athleticism with size is where it all starts. From there you can be an option as both a primary player or a secondary support player. That versatility then creates specific defensive match ups, and once you command those, movement and motion and in the pre-snap can give away a defense or create a mismatch of its own.

Being able to effectively run an offense with two tight ends doesn’t just help the two players involved, either. It can boost the entire offense by creating space, one-on-one chances all over the field and, at the end of it all, points.