The Philadelphia Eagles are loaded on offense and have explosiveness and versatility at all of the important skill positions. The Eagles best offensive players could be their two tight ends, Zach Ertz and Dallas Goedert. Both are extremely talented and compliment each other very well. Both players are important in the Eagles offensive scheme, which is why the bulk of the offseason was dedicated to implementing more 12-personnel sets.
In that formation, the Eagles line up two wide receivers, two tight ends and one running back. The Birds led the NFL in the personnel grouping last season and Groh was giddy on Saturday while describing Dallas Goedert’s continued development and the versatility he brings to the offense from that formation.
“In the passing game, the guy is explosive. He gets down the field in a hurry, he’s a big target, and he’s got soft hands. He’s easy to spot down the field, so we had a really explosive, a really good looking play down the field to Dallas.
Even more than that, we think he’s continuing his development on the line of scrimmage as a blocker. Really understanding the game and the communication that it takes to not only play his position but next to the tackle and all the things they gotta get done to together. He was really strong at the point of attack and continued to improve all year long last year.”
The Eagles are one of two or three teams in the NFL with the personnel to run out of two-tight end sets consistently. With Zach Ertz and Dallas Goedert, Philly could use 12 personnel as their primary formation.
For some, the 12-personnel would seem less than ideal because it takes away from a teams ability to full spread the defense out because of the two down tight ends. Groh disagrees and told reporters that he believes the formation allows for the most versatility.
“We think it’s a very versatile personnel group. I think more people on defense, you’re not getting base defense as much as you used to. More people are playing, what we would call, big nickel so they’re bringing safety into the game instead of a corner, so we still really like that match-up with both of our tight ends on a safety.”
Groh’s comments back up the offseason narrative that Dallas Goedert’s improvement and involvement in the passing are one of the biggest reason why that formation will be even more highly featured this season, with the Eagles being versatile with how they line the wide receivers up in the formation.
The one thing that will remain consistent is Goedert’s involvement in the offense going forward.
