Bengals Showed More Willingness To Use 12 Personnel vs. Patriots and Should Continue To Lean Into It

CINCINNATI – Since Zac Taylor took over as head coach in 2019, the Cincinnati Bengals have been among the league leaders in 11 personnel usage, leaning heavily into sets with three wide receivers, one tight end, and one running back.

They led the league in 2019 (75%) and 2020 (75%) and were second in 2021 (86%) and 2022 (82%) before dipping to fifth in 2023 (72%), per TruMedia.

While that dip last year was the first sign, the Bengals could be moving toward more than 12 personnel (one running back, two tight ends, and two wide receivers).

A clearer picture emerged when the team drafted Erick All Jr. in the fourth round this year.

Why Rookie Erick All Jr., More 12 Personnel Could Spark Bengals Offense

All stands apart from the other tight ends on the roster — Drew Sample, Tanner Hudson, and Mike Gesicki — in that he is a more complete player.

Sample is primarily a blocking tight end, while Hudson and Gesicki are primarily receivers who don’t offer much as inline blockers.

All made his NFL debut in Sunday’s 16-10 loss to the New England Patriots, and not coincidentally, the Bengals ran 29.2% of their snaps in 12 personnel, the third-highest total in Taylor’s six seasons as coach.

All played 25% of the snaps Sunday, and the Bengals were in 12 personnel for 10 of his 12 snaps, five of which came on the team’s only touchdown drive of the game.

Because All, while inexperienced and raw, is viewed as receiving threat – he averaged 11.5 yards per reception in his four seasons with Michigan and one with Iowa – the Patriots stuck with their nickel defense all 10 times he came on the field in 12 personnel.

The Bengals exploited that for 36 rushing yards on six carries, including Zack Moss’ four carries for 33 yards on the team’s lone touchdown drive.

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“I think there are building blocks there, for sure,” first-year offensive coordinator Dan Pitcher said. “I wish it would have been better earlier. I think we established a downhill rhythm in the second half of that game — a little bit in the second quarter, but definitely in the second half, the scoring drive, for sure.”

“I thought we came off the ball on the drive, and the backs ran hard and were running through contact,” he continued. “We had two 5-yard runs in a row from the 10-yard line to punch the ball in. Just like the rest of it, when you have (48) snaps, we didn’t get to do a lot of anything. We should have run it more, we should have thrown it deep more, we should have called more screens. We shoulda, shoulda, shoulda. You just didn’t have enough opportunity. That’s our fault.”

One area where we’ve seen the Bengals increase All’s usage since he was cleared from his ACL recovery was putting him in motion and having him crack down on a linebacker or rusher to help seal the edge.

Employing more 12 personnel Sunday in Kansas City could help the running game get going and look more like it did in the second half against the Patriots. And in turn, that would enable the Bengals to use more clock and keep Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes off the field for longer stretches.

It also will force Kansas City defensive coordinator Steve Sapgnuolo to make the decision to play more base defense, which could create more favorable matchups for Ja’Marr Chase and, if his hamstring is healthy enough, Tee Higgins.

Burrow didn’t target All Sunday against New England, but that option will be there as the offense moves toward more 12 personnel usage, especially when Sample is the other tight end, which was the case on nine of All’s 10 snaps when the offense was in 12.

But more than anything, adding more diversity to the scheme and leaning into more 12 usage will help the Bengals be more physical and successful in the run game.

“Early in the game, there were some good looks, but just missed it by a centimeter,” Taylor said. “As we got more opportunity, we averaged 4.4 per carry. It’s a good start. We started a flow there in the second half.

“I thought the execution up front by the tight ends and the linemen were good,” he added. “I thought the backs ran really hard. I thought they made good yards after contact. There were some encouraging things, but we need to create more opportunities for ourselves.”