In 2022, only five NFL teams used 12 personnel (one running back, two tight ends) on over 25% of their offensive snaps. In 2025, 13 teams met that mark. There were seven teams that utilized two tight ends on over 30% of offensive snaps last season, while there were no teams that did so back in 2022.
All this to say: there’s a priority in multiple tight end sets now across the NFL. Football is cyclical, so it makes sense. Offenses began to spread out and pass the ball more in the 2010s, so defenses countered that by drafting lighter linebackers and using more nickel and dime packages. Naturally, the best way to gain a competitive advantage now is to load up on heavy personnel and run the ball up the middle.
There are a few NFL teams in particular who appear to be ahead of the curve in this regard. All five of these teams made the playoffs in 2025, which might not be a coincidence. These are the five teams with the best tight end rooms across the NFL.
5) Pittsburgh Steelers
Headliners: Pat Freiermuth, Darnell Washington, Robert Tonyan, Lake McRee
The Pittsburgh Steelers had the second-highest 13 personnel rate in the NFL in 2025, and looking at their tight end room, it makes a lot of sense as to why. Jonnu Smith is gone, but their top two tight ends, Pat Freiermuth and Darnell Washington, both return heading into 2026. Both ranked in the top 20 in PFN TE Impact Scoring, making the Steelers one of two teams with two tight ends to rank in the top 20 in the league last year.
Pittsburgh brought in veteran Robert Tonyan to compete for their third-string tight end position. Though he’s had just one catch in the last two seasons, he was plenty productive a few years ago during his stint in Green Bay. He’ll battle with undrafted free agent Lake McRee and 2024 seventh-round pick Jaheim Bell for a spot. Though he projects best as a fullback, the Steelers also drafted Riley Nowakowski in the fifth round, who has tight end capabilities.
4) Los Angeles Chargers
Headliners: Oronde Gadsden II, Charlie Kolar, David Njoku
The foundation of Jim Harbaugh’s offense in 2026 appears to be the run game. Not only did the Los Angeles Chargers sign former Pro Bowler Alec Ingold to be their new fullback, but they also signed two quality tight ends to add to their offense. This is coming off of a 2025 season in which Oronde Gadsden II exploded as a rookie to the tune of 49 receptions and 664 receiving yards.
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Gadsden figures to remain the Chargers’ top receiving threat at tight end, but the additions of Charlie Kolar and David Njoku give them one of the best tight end rooms in the NFL. Kolar is a great blocker who’s been efficient when targeted in the passing game, while Njoku is a former Pro Bowler who consistently had great receiving production before 2025.
3) Buffalo Bills
Headliners: Dalton Kincaid, Dawson Knox, Jackson Hawes
As previously mentioned, the Steelers were one of two teams in the NFL with two tight ends in the top 20 in PFN TE Impact Scoring. The Buffalo Bills were the other. Dalton Kincaid ranked No. 3 in the NFL in the metric with an 87.7 score, averaging 47.6 receiving yards in a season that was good enough for him to make the Pro Bowl, in spite of him missing five regular season games.
Dawson Knox has long been a reliable blocking tight end for the Bills, but his 417 receiving yards marked the most he’s had in a single season since his lone Pro Bowl campaign in 2022. Along with them is Jackson Hawes, who ranked No. 17 in the aforementioned Impact metric. He proved as a rookie in 2025 that he might already be the best in-line blocking tight end in the NFL.
2) Los Angeles Rams
Headliners: Colby Parkinson, Tyler Higbee, Terrance Ferguson, Max Klare, Davis Allen
As far as pure depth goes at tight end, the Los Angeles Rams might have the most in the NFL. It’s not often you find a team with five genuinely rosterable tight ends, but that appears to be the case after having used second-round picks in consecutive NFL Drafts on Terrance Ferguson and Max Klare, respectively.
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Both young tight ends bring plenty of receiving upside, but the veterans certainly do, too. Colby Parkinson led the Rams with eight receiving touchdowns last year, tying for third among all NFL tight ends. Tyler Higbee has been a reliable veteran and is going into his 11th season in Los Angeles, while Davis Allen had a career-high 208 receiving yards last year. Excluding the rookie Klare, every Rams tight end here had at least 200 yards in 2025.
1) Chicago Bears
Headliners: Colston Loveland, Cole Kmet, Sam Roush
Though the Rams have the deeper room in terms of rosterable tight ends, the Chicago Bears have the superior star power at the top. They used a lot more 12 personnel with Ben Johnson becoming their head coach in 2025, jumping from No. 19 in terms of usage rate all the way up to No. 6. It sure helped to have the personnel that they had, as Colston Loveland and Cole Kmet were a formidable duo last season.
Loveland was incredible as a rookie, finishing sixth in PFN TE Impact Scoring and landing ninth in tight end receiving yards. That’s not even including his playoff run, in which he had 12 catches for 193 yards in the Bears’ two games. Kmet is a reliable blocker and a strong security blanket who’s only dropped 3.9% of his targets since coming to Chicago in 2020.
Then, the Bears brought in Sam Roush, the rookie tight end from Stanford who had the highest Relative Athletic Score of any tight end in the 2026 NFL Draft class. He was a dominant blocker in college who ranked fifth in the FBS in receptions, receiving yards, and PFN CFB TE Impact Scoring. Bringing him into a Bears offense that already has a top-tier tight end tandem gives Chicago an overpowered group at the position.
