Tight end usage around the NFL has shifted in a big way over the last decade, and the trend line keeps bending toward more versatility, more movement, and more bodies on the field.
Since 2016, the league has steadily moved away from lighter tight end looks. Zero tight end personnel has fallen from 5% in 2016 to 1% so far in 2026.
One tight end has also dipped, dropping from 70% to 64%. Meanwhile, two tight ends have climbed from 22% to 27%, and three tight ends have jumped from 3% to 8%.
Sean McVay has become the clearest example of where this is heading. The Rams are the only team to use three tight ends on the field more than 30% of the time in 2025, and they are already above 30% again in 2026.
Their 2025 rate of three tight ends is the highest over the last decade, with the 2021 Browns second at just 19%. At the same time, Los Angeles has gone almost the other direction with two-tight-end looks, using them at only 10% in 2025 and just 5% so far in 2026.
The Rams aren’t alone anymore. The Bills, Cardinals, Bears, and Ravens all have 2026 seasons that rank among the top seven in three-tight-end usage over the past 10 years. The league is starting to follow the McVay model.
That same shift shows up in where tight ends are lining up. More and more, playcallers are trying to move these players into space and create mismatches against smaller defenders. The jump in slot and wide alignments came in 2023, when usage rose by a little more than 5%, and those numbers have held steady since.
That fits the modern tight end profile. Kyle Pitts, Terrance Ferguson, Oronde Gadsden, Isaiah Likely, and Dalton Kincaid are all lining up wide more than 70% of the time. Even veterans like Mark Andrews and Mike Gesicki are above that mark.
The usage numbers tell the same story. In pass situations, tight ends are blocking less and running more routes.
Pass-blocking rates have fallen by nearly 5% since the late 2010s, while route rates have climbed by almost 10% over the past decade. In 2016, tight ends blocked on 30.1% of their pass snaps and ran routes on 65.6%.
By 2026, those numbers sit at 25.3% blocking and 74.3% running routes.
That increase in routes has come with more targets. Target rate reached 23.9% in 2025 and is still at 23.6% in 2026, both the highest levels of the decade.
The route tree has evolved too. Flat and curl routes remain the staples, and curl routes have stayed above 15% over the last four seasons, including 2026.
One notable change is that corner routes have overtaken seam routes in recent years. The explanation points to more Cover 2 looks, where a tight end can work behind the flat defender and in front of the deep safety near the sideline.
Running a seam straight into two-high safety coverage is a tougher ask when the defense is built to limit vertical shots.
When it comes to production, three-tight-end packages have been the most efficient on pass plays. They have led the way over the past three seasons and are up to 0.29 EPA per play in 2026. Zero-tight-end looks have bounced around, finishing second in 2025 at 0.03 EPA per play, but ending last in 2024 and sitting last again so far in 2026.
The run game has flipped that script. Zero-tight-end personnel has been the most effective in 2026 at 0.22 EPA per play, while two- and three-tight-end sets are tied near the bottom.
Alignment, though, does not move the needle much for individual success. Whether a tight end is attached to the line of scrimmage, split wide, or lined up in the backfield, the output stays close to 0.03 Total Points per play.
The bigger picture is clear: teams are using tight ends differently than they did a decade ago. They’re putting more of them on the field, spreading them out more often, and asking them to do more as receivers. The production results depend on the personnel grouping and whether the play is a run or a pass, but alignment alone does not appear to change individual output much.
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