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What tight end craze at NFL draft has to do with offensive innovation and Sean McVay
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- What tight end craze at NFL draft has to do with offensive innovation and Sean McVay
The story of the second day of the NFL draft revolved around one position group – tight end. And it's a clear signal of the next NFL offensive innovation that began to take hold across the league in 2025.
The Los Angeles Rams drafted another tight end and now have enough to build the entire offense out of them. Let's not give head coach Sean McVay any ideas after his team found another spot in an already-crowded room for Ohio State's Max Klare at No. 61 overall. The Rams are at the forefront of executing a passing attack out of heavy personnel, with two or more tight ends on the field at a time, also known as "12" (two tight ends) and "13" (three tight ends) personnel.
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The Chicago Bears and Philadelphia Eagles also took tight ends in the second round, meaning almost half of the NFC playoff field from 2025 deployed the same strategy. It's a copycat league.
ESPN draft guru Mel Kiper Jr. said the run on tight ends in the second round was the story of the night.
"You got guys that can catch the ball, you got guys (you can play) in-line," Kiper said.
In all, eight tight ends went off the board between the second and third rounds on April 25. Six of those teams made the playoffs last season. All except for the Miami Dolphins ostensibly have franchise quarterbacks in place (we are counting New Orleans Saints QB Tyler Shough in that category).
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The message is clear. You can't have enough tight ends, or sufficient versatility at this position, in this economy.
Tight end talent at a premium on Day 2
The New England Patriots , the defending AFC champions, selected a tight end – Notre Dame's Eli Raridon – in the third round (95th overall); Raridon, who tested well at 6-6 and 245 pounds, has untapped potential after only one year of playing, according to Patriots vice president of player personnel Eliot Wolf.
Last to take a tight end on Day 2, Wolf said the run on tight ends earlier in the evening had him and the New England front office nervous but they felt confident Raridon would make it to them.
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The Eagles took the first tight end of the second round in Vanderbilt's Eli Stowers , who started his college career as a backup quarterback at Texas A&M.
"The guy is super-talented," Philadelphia head coach Nick Sirianni said. "Athletically, he does some things that nobody else can do. Just to be able to create mismatches with him on third downs … he is a tough cover and catches everything. Good after the catch. Speed. Quickness.
"It's exciting that he has played the position for only a short time. With guys like that, we've done a ton of homework on the guy obviously – great character guy, high football IQ, having played quarterback – those guys continue to develop and (we're) excited to work with him because he's got room to improve as well."
To provide weapons for quarterback Jalen Hurts – and account for the impending departure of wide receiver A.J. Brown – the Eagles added wideout Makai Lemon in the first round a day earlier. But the first thing the team talked about with Stowers, general manager Howie Roseman said, was longtime tight end Dallas Goedert and the type of player he is. First-year offensive coordinator Sean Mannion came from the Green Bay Packers , whose head coach Matt LaFleur was heavily influenced by McVay.
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"Because obviously, that's a great room," Roseman said.
More: 2026 NFL Draft Round 2 and 3 grades: Analysis for every pick
The Bears swooped up Colston Loveland 10th overall last season, but that didn't stop them from adding Stanford tight end Sam Roush at No. 69 overall. General manager Ryan Poles explained that for a team that runs a lot of '12' and '13' personnel – the Bears ranked in the top five in both of those personnel groups last season, the first under head coach Ben Johnson – it is important to add a "Y" option to a room that also includes established veteran and team leader Cole Kmet
"So we'll have a really strong room there," Poles said, "feel great about that.
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"If something were to happen to Cole or Colston, all of a sudden you're changing a lot of game plan stuff that's kind of your bread and butter," he added.
A clear plan makes the draft process easier, Poles said, because there is no second-guessing.
The Jacksonville Jaguars took Nate Boerkircher from Texas A&M 56th overall, their first pick of the entire draft. Head coach Liam Coen dreamed of taking him for what he can open up in the run game.
"I just remember that it was somebody that we have had a lot of like for for a long time, and then you saw that run of tight ends go, so kind of glad we did it," Coen said.
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Said Boerkircher: "I was just talking to coach and he said he is really excited to get me in there in '12' personnel, for sure."
Rams' success inspires tight end additions
In 2025, the Rams ran 331 plays out of 13 personnel, or 30.5 percent of the time. No other NFL team had more than 140. But drawing defenses out of their base packages and making them play with bigger bodies on the field became an easy way to create mismatches in the passing game, particularly through play action. All Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford did last season was win MVP.
"There's nothing better than 13 personnel," Klare told reporters. "You always see those clips pop up and it's always fun to watch the guys get after it together, so I'm pumped up to be a part of that. I have to earn everything and put my best foot forward every day.
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"You can line me up anywhere on the field and I'm going to feel comfortable. I'm going to be able to attack the defense in a multitude of ways. I'm pumped up for whatever vision they have for me and whatever that might be."
McVay also mentioned versatility when it came to Kline.
"Some of the things that we want to continue to be able to," McVay said. "What a blessing it is to have (Tyler) Higbee, Colby Parkinson , Davis Allen , Terrence Ferguson, all those guys played significant snaps for us. They're going to continue to play significant snaps for us."
Klare can be an effective blocker and play "in-line," McVay said, and shows run-after-the-catch ability evidenced by his tape going back to his time at Purdue before transferring to Ohio State. McVay called Klare a "fifth piece" to a group that already complements one another.
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"He'll fit into that group … we're excited to bring Max into the mix," he said.
More: 2026 NFL Draft Day 2's most head-scratching picks, from Carson Beck to Nate Boerkircher
Snead jumped in to say that with his preference of running 13 personnel McVay asked for five tight ends to be active on game days. There wan an "intentionality" behind picking Klare, Snead said, based on "13 personnel." There is a decent chance that more than 10% of active players for the Rams in a game this season play tight end.
"I do know this – every single year represents a new year and there's got to be new iterations," McVay said. "There were some decent things that we did offensively last year. If we think we can roll the same things out, you're kidding yourself.
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"What is that next iteration? It starts with the players and adding a guy that we had a consistent appreciation for, a vision for."
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Tight end trend dominates Day 2 of 2026 NFL Draft, inspired by LA Rams
