NFL Film Study: How to Watch Football Smarter with Personnel & Formation Breakdowns

When watching the game, most people's eyes basically just follow the football around the screen. And this is fun for

big moments, but you're missing out on so many fascinating things happening elsewhere. So, in this video, I'm going

to immediately make football more fun for you to watch because I'm going to show you exactly what to look for.

Starting with number one, personnel packages. Personnel packages are the positions that are on the field for a

play. Let's focus on the offense. There's 11 players on the field. Five are always going to be linemen. One's

going to be the quarterback, which leaves five remaining players that are going to be some combination of skilled

players, running backs, tight ends, receivers. The personnel package is described with a two-digit code. The

first digit is how many running backs, the second digit is how many tight ends, and then we just have to do math to

figure out how many receivers. There's technically 15 different combinations of personnel packages that can be used, but

more than 80% of NFL plays are called out of two personnel packages. A specific thing that you can do when

watching games is before the snap, count how many running backs, tight ends, and receivers are on the field and call out

which personnel package they're in. Because this is going to give you clues about what the team's strategy is. This

is going to be a new way of watching the game and it might feel a little bit like homework at first, but I promise you

after a few games, you're going to start to pick up on it really quickly and start to spot patterns. These are the

top five most frequently used personnel packages for average NFL teams. You can see 11 and 12 are the most common with

more than 80% of NFL play calls being in these two personnel packages. But there are a few teams like the Ravens, 49ers,

Chiefs, and others who utilize personnel packages in a very unique way compared to average teams. For example, the

Ravens use 11 personnel about half as often as a typical team. But interestingly, they use 21 personnel

more than three times as frequently as typical teams. 21 personnel is two running backs and one tight end. This

might be surprising for casual fans to hear because when you think of the Ravens, you think of Derrick Henry. He's

their number one back. They're not a team that has two running backs that they use equally like some teams do. But

you'd actually be surprised to know that both Henry and Justice Hill, their second running back, have pretty similar

snap counts. In their week one game against the Bills, the offense had 51 total snaps. Henry actually ran the ball

35% of those plays and Just as Hill ran the ball just 4% of those plays. However, their snap count, the plays in

which they were on the field, Henry was at 57, Hill was at 45. Pretty similar. This demonstrates that Hill is actually

used more often than maybe you realized. The Ravens also used 22 personnel more than any other team in the league. Two

running backs, two tight ends. An average team will run about 2% of their plays out of 22. The Ravens about 12%.

Similar story here. You probably think of Mark Andrews, who is on the field for about 75% of the team's plays. But in

week one, Charlie Kohler, their second tight end, was on the field for 61% of their plays. Probably never even heard

of Kohler, but he was on the field more often than Henry was. Last year, he only had nine catches, 131 yards, and one

touchdown. Because receiving is not his role. He's there to block. 49ers call about 83% of their plays out

of two personnels, 11 and 21. They're most frequently used as one running back, one tight end. This is possibly

because of Kyle Shanahan's heavy influence of the West Coast offense philosophy, which uses more short passes

instead of runs. So, heavy multiple tight end formations are less common, but also due to the team's personnel

advantages. Last year, they had Debo Samuel, who is a large 215 lb receiver. Most receivers are about 200 lb. So,

he's he's bigger. He's effectively a tight end. They also have McAffrey, who's an incredible running back. He's a

receiving back. He can act as a slot receiver. They have these players who can act as multiple positions. This

versatility allows them to essentially call plays that would normally require two tight ends or four receivers, but

they can call them out of 11 personnel. This is important because they can keep the same players on the field with no

substitutions. Nobody gets a rest. They can keep the tempo up. they can keep the momentum going and it makes it more

confusing for the defense what's actually going to happen. But they also use a lot of 21 personnel just like the

Ravens. Although the 49ers are the team that uses it more than anybody. The main reason for this is their use of Kyle use

their fullback. They're one of the remaining teams who actually uses a fullback on their roster. He does get

some carries, but he's primarily used as a blocker. So because they have this really talented player on their roster,

they leverage his strength. They build their team's scheme around the strengths of their personnel instead of just

trying to force players into a a rigid scheme. So, when you're watching the 49ers, keep an eye out for two running

backs in the back field. The Chiefs are interesting because they use a couple personnel packages that a lot of teams

don't use that often. The first one is 12 personnel. So, this one is used pretty commonly, but the Chiefs use it

almost twice as often as typical teams. One running back, two tight ends. So, of course, we all know about Kelsey, but

they also have Noah Gray, who's a really effective blocking tight end, but also he's getting more reps in the passing

game as well. Kelsey is used on about 84% of the team's reps. Noah Gray is used on about 41%. Next time you watch

the Chiefs, instead of watching Kelsey, take a look at Noah Gray, number 83, and see how they utilize him in both the

running and passing game. But one thing the Chiefs do very different than most teams is the use of 13 personnel, one

running back and three tight ends. This is really interesting and I've got a really good example of how they use this

in week one against the Chargers. We'll look at that in a second. I've put every team's personnel packages into a 2025

team guide which also breaks down specific things to look for when watching those teams on TV. So, you'll

see the game in a totally different way. Links below for that. Another thing to do is look for odd personnel based on

the down in distance. This could be an indication of something interesting about to happen that the average fan

might not expect. For example, let's say it's third and eight. Most people would expect to see a pass, but you notice the

team comes out in 21 personnel with two running backs, which is a little bit weird. You'd expect to see more

receivers. Maybe the reason for this is because the team's about to run a screen play and so they've got more running

backs in there to block. Could also mean that they're preparing for a deep shot and so they're adding more blockers on

top of the line for max protection to give the quarterback more time and to allow the receivers more time to develop

their routes. Now you're starting to get into the territory where you can predict what might happen next. This is where

football becomes really fun to watch. Here's a play from the 49ers using 22 personnel. Got two running backs in the

back field or a running back and a fullback in this case. Two tight ends on the left end. They motion the fullback

into the back field and then they run a pass play. Before the ball is snapped, we notice that the defense has seven men

in the box. That means there's five linemen on the line of scrimmage and then there's two that are within five

yards directly behind them. This is pretty balanced, not leaning heavily towards run protection or pass

protection. When defenses see 22 personnel, they often might bring an extra eighth man into the box to help

with run support because 22 personnel is often used for running plays. And if they were to do that, that would have to

be one of the safeties, which right now there's two safeties in the back field playing what appears to be a two deep

coverage. So if they did bring the safety down into the box to protect against the run, we now only have one

safety deep in the middle, which could indicate a cover three formation. The play call has a receiver running up the

right seam, which is a cover three weakness, which is a really interesting and smart play call. And it appears to

be Pertie's first read, too, after the ball is snapped. What I think they might have been trying to do here is use this

22 personnel to bait the defense into using cover three in order to make the box heavier to protect against the run,

but then actually call a sneaky pass play that exploits a weakness of that cover three in the seam. However, the

defense ended up playing cover two. So, Pury had to go to his second read, which was this Texas concept, which is where

that initial seam route clears the linebacker in this curl route. He has to follow him before passing him off to the

deep safety, which opens up room underneath for McAffrey to run this angle route across the middle. It's kind

of an innocuous play, but I think it's a good example to showcase some of the strategy that goes in behind the scenes.

Now, spotting personnel tells you who is in the play, but what really decides the outcome is where they line up. The shift

from personnel to formation is where you start predicting what's about to happen. Formations. Formations are where the

players line up before the snap. There are some rules about how many players are allowed to touch the line of

scrimmage and how they must line up in order to be considered an eligible receiver.

But the main thing to look for are number one, how many receivers are on each side of the field? Are there two on

the left, two on the right? That's a 2x two. Is there one on the left, three on the right? That's a 1x3. And also, how

close are they together? Are they huddled close to the ball and there's nobody wide? is the tight end attached

to the line of scrimmage. What you can start to do is observe what your team seems to use a lot. And if you really

want to take it to the next level, try to notice which formations they use in certain down and distance situations. A

good example of this are the Bills. One of the formations they use involves having two receivers on one side of the

field and three on the other. Either a 2x3 or a 3x two. On early downs, first or second down, they use these

formations about 8% of the time. But on late downs, third and fourth down, that increases to 20%. That's kind of

interesting. Why might they be doing this? A couple advantages of this. Number one, you've got five receivers on

the line of scrimmage compared to a lot of formations where you might have four or maybe three or even two. With five

receivers on the field, forces the defense to respect the passing threat. Also, with five receivers, they're

likely going to have to be spread out across the entire width of the field, which makes it more difficult for them

to disguise what they're doing. If the formation is condensed and everybody's lined up pretty close to the center of

the field, the defense is able to kind of disguise what their intentions are and maybe stand in different positions

that don't suggest what their assignment might be. But when you're spread out wide, that's a little bit more difficult

to do. Another reason the Bills might do this is because it forces the success of this play on their best player, Josh

Allen. It gives him five receivers. What they're likely going to do is have quick passing routes, and he's going to have

to read the play, find the open guy quickly, and make a good choice, which he can do consistently. They're

leveraging that strength. The third reason is with this empty formation, with the defense lined up wide, it's

also going to cause the box to be lighter. you're going to have fewer defensive linemen and fewer linebackers

on the field. So, when the play is snapped, Josh might actually have a lot of open space in the middle of the field

for him to just run up and gain yards and perhaps a first down. The Eagles use a 2x2 formation 54% of the time on early

downs, which is more than any other team in the league where the average is 43%. Next time you watch them, take note of

that and ask yourself, why might they be doing this? Each of these formations has different advantages. So, here are a

couple things you can look out for when you see them on the field. With three receivers on one side, there's usually

one on the other side all by himself. And this is usually where teams like to isolate their star wide receiver. This

forces defenses to move more of their coverage towards the trips side of the formation and it gives more space for

that isolated wide receiver. This is great for teams who feel very confident about the matchup between their receiver

and the defense's cornerbacks. Trips also stresses coverage rules. If the defense is playing cover two with two

high safeties. Generally speaking, the two cornerbacks are going to be playing the flat zone.

Each safety is going to play a deep half. And then the linebackers in nickel corner are going to cover the hook zones

in the middle and then the curl zones outside of them. But overloading receivers on one side can create

conflicts. If you have three receivers running a route combination on one side of the field where there's only two

defenders, of course, there's going to be one receiver that's always open, one of these receivers can run deep to take

the safety. One can run into the flat to take the corner, and the other could run a deep sail route and be open in between

those two zones. It's going to put either the safety or the corner in a difficult situation where he has to

choose to cover one or the other. It's an impossible choice. With bunch formations, it can cause confusion and

congestion because the receivers are lined up so closely next to each other. And if the receivers are running

crossing routes in front of each other, the defenders can run into each other. We call these pick plays or natural

picks. The offense is intentionally creating congestion and traffic so that defenders are unable to play tight

coverage on the receivers, allowing the quarterback to make a quick completion and give the receiver an opportunity to

maybe break a tackle and run up the field for some extra yards. It's also tough for defenders who like to play

with leverage, meaning they'll line up slightly on the inside or outside to try and put pressure on the receiver and

prevent them from running a route that they think they might run. But with again, with so many people in the same

area of the field, there's so much traffic, it makes it difficult for that leverage to be executed effectively.

Condensed formations are where receivers line up usually closer to the offensive line instead of being out wide near the

sideline. The Ravens are an excellent example of this. Take a look at this play against the Bills. The formation is

condensed and Lamar RPOS's out to the left. The reason this is effective and why the Ravens play a lot of these

condensed formations is because Lamar is fast. When you have a quarterback who can outrun defenders, he could

potentially just run to the sideline and get an edge around the defender. But another advantage of condensed

formations are crack blocks. This is where the tight end or receiver lined up on the edge of the line gives a quick

block to a rushing defender from an unexpected angle before proceeding to run his route. It's a tactic that might

buy the quarterback an extra half second. These formations are also great for play action, fake runs that are

actually passes because it looks like they could be runs and teams have to respect that, especially because they

have Lamar and Henry. So, as long as they're running the ball effectively and getting yards, teams are going to have

to respect that and it's going to create more opportunities to pass the ball down the field. And because the Ravens have

built their entire scheme around these heavy formations with multiple running backs, multiple tight ends that are

condensed, it's very difficult for the defense to anticipate what's coming because everything looks very similar.

Empty formations are where there's no running backs in the back field. So, you'll have either five receivers or

maybe four receivers and one tight end. A casual fan might look at this and think, "Oh, this is absolutely going to

be a long deep pass, but that's actually often not the case. Empty formations are common with air raid style offenses." I

made a video on offensive philosophies if you want to learn more about that. But basically, it's about short, quick

passes. But another big advantage of empty formations, like we talked about before, are QB draws. Take a look at

this play from the commanders in week one. Jaden Daniels is using an empty set in the red zone. And there's only four,

maybe five players in the box, which is really light. Like we said before with the 49ers when there was seven players

in the box, that's pretty balanced. Six is starting to get pretty light. So in this case, this is very empty. So as

long as he has a bit of a gap between two of his offensive linemen, he can rush up through the middle and capture

some pretty good yards. And that's exactly what he does here. Let's look at a couple fascinating plays

from the Chiefs week 1 game against the Chargers. Early on in the game, they come out in 13 personnel, which as we

learned before is not too uncommon for the Chiefs, but is very uncommon for typical NFL teams. Three tight ends on

the field. This is the first time in the game they're using this personnel and formation. And it's a gap run. See, when

the play is called, the left guard and the tight end don't block the people in front of them. They pull across the line

and block on the right side. The running back then runs through this four hole and it's a small gain. Also notice here

that it appears to be a cover three look from the defense. There's one deep safety and immediately as the ball is

snapped, the two corners start backpedaling to play the other deep thirds. It's a pretty innocuous play

with kind of an unremarkable result. But it's the play that the Chiefs call later in the game that's really interesting

because it builds on top of this. A few drives later, the Chiefs come back out in the same personnel in the same

formation, except this time it's flipped. Chargers again come out in a single high safety look. And what I

think is happening here is that the Chiefs are calling a play that they think is going to take advantage of a

weakness of cover three because that's the coverage they saw the last time they called this personnel in formation.

First of all, they motion the tight end across, which to them confirms that this is zone coverage. Instead of running

that gap running play like they did last time with those two pulling blockers, this time they switched it to what

appears to be a zone run to the right. Notice the offensive line all shift laterally to the right. This is a zone

blocking technique, which we talked about in the run scheme video. Mahomes drops back, gives a handoff, but it's a

play action, a fake handoff, and he bootlegs out to the left and he runs to the sideline and gains 5 yards. Well, in

cover three, the two cornerbacks who are on the edge of the field both play a deep coverage. So, they backpedal to

make sure that they're playing those deep responsibilities, which means that this flat area of the field is usually

open. If the Chiefs were correct, this flat zone is going to be open and create enough space for Mahomes to get some

pretty good yardage with his legs, which he does. The result is not spectacular. It's not a massive play. It's not a play

you'll see on the highlight reels, but it's a good safe yardage play that showcases strategy that teams will build

over the course of a game where they'll use the same or similar formations and play this chess match between

coordinators.