PHILADELPHIA – One of the more curious aspects of the often-maligned Philadelphia Eagles offense is its continued reliance on multiple tight end packages despite the unit’s main trio at the position all struggling from a blocking perspective.
Through the team’s 8-4 start the Eagles have used 12 personnel (one running back, two tight ends) on 28.59% of their offensive plays (199 out of 696 total through Week 13), according to SumerSports.
Add in 13 (one RB, three TEs) personnel on 41 plays (5.89% of the team’s total) plus a few other specialized packages and 34.48% of the Eagles’ offensive plays contain multiple TEs on the field, showing a significant commitment to the usage of the position despite the limitations of backups Grant Calcaterra and Kylen Granson, especially in the run-blocking aspect of the job description.
The 2025 season has not been a stellar year for the Philadelphia TEs. Of the 74 players at the position league-wide who’ve played enough to be ranked by Pro Football Focus, veteran stalwart Dallas Goedert, typically a top-20 presence at the position, is No. 33 while Calcaterra is dead last at No. 74.
In 150 offensive snaps, Granson would be below Calcaterra if he reached the threshold.
In each case, run blocking is weighing the group down, with all three grading out at sub-50.0 by PFF, a factor that has contributed to the Eagles’ run efficiency being down 144% this season based on EPA per play.
Pass blocking has been slightly better, with Calcaterra actually showing the most fight in that aspect.
However, too often the Eagles have tasked the group with tough duty, something head coach Nick Sirianni was asked about Monday by using Calcaterra matched one-on-one with a defensive end as an example in the Black Friday loss to Chicago.
“On that play and the one you’re talking about, they obviously brought the nickel off the edge and kind of stunted the other guy down in there pretty far inside, which is going to be a tough block regardless of who’s in right there,” Sirianni explained. “We have a lot of faith in Grant and the things that he can do.”
That faith doesn’t seem warranted right now as negative plays and tackles for loss come far too often for the offense.
“Like I said, it’s always our job as coaches to first start them off in positions that they can succeed,” said Sirianni. “Sometimes the loss is drawn up to execution. Sometimes the loss is drawn up to the scheme. Sometimes the loss is drawn up to, you might’ve loved your scheme, but they did something that made it really difficult to do and I think that was the case right there.”
Both Calcaterra and Granson are better as flex tight ends who catch the football, not in-line Y-backs.
A Tweak?
Sep 21, 2025; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Eagles tight end Cameron Latu (36) in a game against the Los Angeles Rams at Lincoln Financial Field. | Bill Streicher-Imagn Images
Ultimately, this seems like a roster construction problem in that a run-heavy team should be identifying and pursuing blocking TEs, especially as backups.
The move from the physical Cameron Latu from TE to fullback has been too literal and the Alabama product should be able to handle minimal snaps at FB, Granson’s snaps at TE, as well as his special teams work. In a small sample size (55 reps), Latu’s PFF run-blocking grade (85.9) would be No. 1 in the NFL among all tight ends.
Yes, the angles are different and there’s no guarantee Latu’s success at fullback translates in-line but he’s clearly the best blocker the Eagles have at the tight end position.
Pulling that lever is an obvious tweak that could help the running game.
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