Defenses got smaller to stop the spread, so college and NFL offenses are countering by featuring bigger, faster athletes in heavy formations
By Tom Fornelli May 1, 2026 at 10:14 am ET • 2 min read 
Getty Images There's always a chicken-and-egg debate between college football and the NFL, as people argue over who is following whom when it comes to trends in the sport. But regardless of where you think any trend started, it cannot be denied that tight ends are hot right now.
This spring's NFL Draft saw 22 tight ends selected over the seven rounds, the most in any draft since 2002. Nine of them were taken in the first three rounds. We've seen NFL teams with head coaches like Sean McVay (Los Angeles Rams) and Ben Johnson (Chicago Bears), both of whom are considered "offensive gurus," loading up on the position despite already having options because their offenses feature so much 12 and 13 personnel (two tight end and three tight end formations).
It's a logical step in offensive design. The sport is always evolving (or revolving), and over the last couple of decades, we saw the proliferation of spread offenses at the high school and college levels. Those offenses made their way to the NFL. To counter, defenses began focusing on smaller players who were better suited to defend such attacks. The logical counter to this adjustment was to get bigger, thus we are seeing more tight ends.
Will we see the same kind of tight end revolution at the college level? What if we already are?
During the 2016 season, college offenses ran 12 personnel 17.6% of the time. In 2025, that number was 23.0%, and while it hasn't increased in a linear fashion, it's been trending up the entire time (things peaked in 2024 at 24.0%). We've seen the same trends with college offenses using 12 and 13 personnel, too, rising from 19.2% in 2016 to 25.2% last year.
While the growth of personnel usage has not been linear, the production of the tight end position in that time frame generally has been. Statistically, tight ends are becoming a larger part of passing attacks at the FBS level. Whether you look at it from a targets, receptions or yards perspective, the evidence is clear.
As you can see in the chart, the trajectory is clear. With every passing season, the tight end position is becoming a more important part of college offenses. They're getting more targets, which is leading to more receptions and more yards. There are certainly teams where this isn't the case (variety is the spice of college football), but on the whole, FBS offenses are leaning into heavier personnel and taking advantage of the fact that there are simply more 6-4, 240-pound monsters running 4.5 40s out there than ever before.
Of course, before you read this and look at your son thinking, "I need to teach this boy how to play tight end," consider what we've talked about. By the time your son is of the age to play in college, the sport could revert to the days of the 5-10 slot receiver running wild against giant linebackers designed to cover tight ends. So instead of raising them for a position, raise them to be 6-4, 240-pound freaks with track speed, and leave the position to fate.
You can do that, right?
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