Mike McCarthy personnel
Mike McCarthy personnel
New HC Mike McCarthy’s offense is expected to have noticeably different personnel tendencies than last year’s. Today, I will examine data from Sports Info Solutions (SIS) on this and provide some takeaways.
Included in this study will be 11-, 12-, 21-, and 13-personnel (the four most common groupings for most NFL teams). The first digit represents how many running backs are on the field and the second represents the number of tight ends. For example, 12-personnel means one RB and two TEs.
Here is a table of NFL rankings since 2018 for McCarthy (MM) and Pittsburgh (PIT). McCarthy’s seasons are colored gray and blue (Cowboys) and green/yellow (Packers). Each personnel column is ranked, out of 32 teams, by how often the Steelers or McCarthy ran the grouping.
Lots to unpack. First, we see that Pittsburgh was a heavy 11-personnel team from 2018-2023. Top 10 in each season, in fact. Then the team landed 26th the last two seasons under former offensive coordinator Arthur Smith.
McCarthy also ran 11-personnel frequently, notching top-ten ranks in four of six seasons, including his last year in Dallas. He used 11-personnel the most in 2018. This was his last season in Green Bay with current Steelers QB Aaron Rodgers, when they ran 11-personnel second-most in the NFL. McCarthy has bolstered Pittsburgh’s wide receiver room; he clearly wants to deploy more wide receivers than Smith.
Looking at 12-personnel, we see a domino effect. If you’re seldom in 11-personnel, you likely have more tight ends on the field. This was exactly Pittsburgh’s case, with the table highlighting much higher rankings in 12-personnel. McCarthy’s last two seasons with Dallas had lowly ranks in 12-personnel, but he used the grouping more frequently in earlier seasons.
12-personnel ranked 18th when McCarthy was with the Packers. His group of tight ends included Jimmy Graham, Lance Kendricks, Marcedes Lewis, and new Steeler Robert Tonyan. Pittsburgh has two solid starters atop the depth chart in Pat Freiermuth and Darnell Washington, so it would not be surprising to see a strong ranking in 12-personnel in 2026.
21-personnel is interesting, as McCarthy had a notable uptick in his last two years with the Cowboys. This correlates with Dallas bringing in undrafted free agent FB Hunter Luepke in 2023. The Steelers made an even bigger investment to the fullback position in the 2026 draft with fifth-round pick Riley Nowakowski. So it’s reasonable to expect an uptick in 21-personnel, especially when compared to ranking in the twenties the last three years.
13-personnel will likely change with Smith’s affinity for tight ends out the door. With him as OC, Pittsburgh ranked second most 13-personnel in each of the last two seasons. Comparatively, McCarthy ranked 29th and 23rd his last two years in Dallas. Before this, though, he ran it more, including two top-ten rankings.
One of these was the 2018 season with Rodgers and the list of Packers tight ends I mentioned earlier. So, it’s nearly certain to be less than Smith, but it will be interesting to see how much he uses it in 2026.
The big, encouraging takeaway is that McCarthy’s formations are much less predictable. He has assembled a strong roster with quality depth at nearly every offensive position and has a track record of adaptability. I can’t wait to see how it unfolds in 2026.