Eagles personnel usage in Brazil:

  • 11 personnel (1 running back, 1 tight end, 3 receivers) – 66.2%
  • 12 personnel (1 running back, 2 tight ends, 2 receivers) – 24.3%
  • 13 personnel (1 running back, 3 tight ends, 1 receiver) – 4.1%
  • 21 personnel (2 running back, 1 tight end, 1 receiver) – 4.9%

They were smack dab in the middle of the NFL in both 11 personnel and 12 personnel usage, then mixed in a bit of 3 tight end and 2 running back looks.

One of the offseason storylines was the lack of depth behind Dallas Goedert, with Jack Stoll released and re-signed to the practice squad, C.J. Uzomoah not making the team, and Albert O on injured reserve. And with the trade for Jahan Dotson, you’d think they might go heavy on 3 receiver looks to complement Saquon Barkley and Dallas Goedert. That wasn’t necessarily the case in Sao Paulo, because they used Grant Calcaterra on 36 snaps and E.J. Jenkins for three. Calcaterra caught one pass for 11 yards, and it’s rare to see Jalen Hurts throw to a backup tight end at all. Usually they’re in there to block or run a route that won’t get a first or second glance from the QB. But there was enough tight end usage in this game to push the Eagles into the top half of the NFL in 12 personnel for week 1, and even a couple of snaps where all three were on the field at the same time.

The other consideration is that Dotson was a late camp addition, so he’s likely not up to speed with the entirety of the playbook. He played 32 snaps, but Johnny Wilson and Britain Covey got 19 combined and the Eagles did not run any 4 WR sets, so their snaps came at the expense of Dotson’s. I’m curious to see if the 11 personnel number rises and 12 personnel number drops, but the Birds scored 34 points on another continent while turning the ball over three times, so if they can do that, they can keep deploying the guys how they did in Sao Paulo. If you look at Kellen Moore’s history with the Chargers and Cowboys, the 12 personnel number has been in the 19-26% range consistently over the last five years, so this seems like a natural continuation of his approach in Dallas and LA.