Personnel groupings in football are important to understand as this is how offensive formations are numbered based on which skill players are in that formation. It is a two-digit system. The first digit is how many running backs (RB) are in the formation. The second digit is how many tight ends (TE) are in the formation. For example:
12 personnel = 1 RB, 2 TE
You can only have five skill players at a time. Using the example above, if we have one RBs and two TEs, that means there are two wide receivers (WR) in the formation as well. Below is a chart showing all the main personnel groupings along with more explanation on how each perosnnel grouping is used in various schemes.
00 Personnel
These are the five WR formations. Most of these will be shtogun formations used by many Spread offenses. Most will have at least one of these formations in their playbook.
01 Personnel
This one is becoming more popular than 00 personnel because many teams will have a solid TE that is better than their fifth best WR. These formations will also be mostly shotgun oriented.
02 & 03 Personnel
Don’t be surprised to see these formations in college and especially the NFL as again, teams love stacking their TE room with good players so having two or three on the field with the rest being WRs is possible.
10 Personnel
These are the classic four WR formations. the Run and Shoot is built around this personnel grouping, and some of the older Air Raid teams would have four WRs on the field. Use this if your fourth best WR is better than your best TE.
11 Personnel
This is the most popular personnel grouping in football. Practically all NFL teams stick with this along with countless Spread, Air Raid, Veer and Shoot, and other offenses base their entire attack around it.
12 Personnel
This is probably the second most popular personnel grouping in football. As mentioned earlier, the popularity of TEs never stops as most teams tend to have a backup TE that can help in some way. Perhaps the biggest reason this is popular is that fullbacks (FB) have been replaced by TEs in most offenses.
13 Personnel
For those who can’t get enough TEs on the field, this personnel grouping is for you. These formations tend to get used in short yardage situations but can also be a base set if you have enough good TEs to work with.
20 Personnel
Our first two RB gropuing, this one used to be popular years ago when FBs were used more but teams still wanted three WRs on the field, especially with under-center formations. Today, you will we more Spread teams out their two best RBs in the shotgun to run various concepts.
21 Personnel
This is the classic Pro Style personnel grouping from long ago. Having a HB and FB in the backfield with a TE and two WRs is what used to dominate the NFL. Some Pro Style teams at various levels still use it, especially those who have a soft spot for FBs.
22 Personnel
For those that need to beef up the front line, these formations tend to be used for short yardarg situations and for those who want to pound the rock more than usual.
23 Personnel
Goal line formations are the most popular with this personnel grouping, but any run heavy team will have at least of one these formations in their playbook.
30 Personnel
This is where you will see the more old school Option-heavy attacks. The base Flexbone formation is build around this one along with others like Wishbone that wants two WRs on the field.
31 & 32 Personnel
These formations are mainly used to beef up the run game for Option offense along with other really old school schemes like Power I and Maryland I.
