Everyone already knows that Todd Monken loves to run the football and that he’s been insanely effective at it. What most people overlook is how he’s able to be so consistently good at it.
It’s not because he ”always has great running backs”, though that’s probably a part of it, but it’s due to how he uses simple offensive formations to create extra gaps along the line of scrimmage. It’s one of the main reasons why he’s so accustomed to using unbalanced and 12-personnel formations.
One of the best parts
about NFL players and defensive coordinators is that they’re not stupid, and Todd Monken uses that to his advantage.
If Monken overloads one side of the line of scrimmage, whether that be with a fullback lined up next to the tight end in a wing formation or just with an additional tight end, he knows that defenses won’t simply overload that side as well. They’ll have to either rotate the backside safety down to occupy the spot vacated by the shifting linebacker, or they’ll be susceptible to a counter or weakside jet sweep.
Even if a defense does overload one side of the line to match the offensive formation on obvious run downs, it usually leaves smaller defensive personnel on the backside to counter up into.
Since defenses don’t usually match personnel unless they’re unusually confident in their ability to defend the flank, Monken’s able to run different power or playside pin/pull variations to extreme effectiveness. Whenever an offense can gain a consistent numbers advantage in the run game, it’s easier to take advantage of the defense either on the strong or weak side.
Be prepared to see a lot of power run in 2026, with lots of play and run-action sequenced off of it in the passing game.
