--- slug: "10-personnel" title: 10 Personnel depth_tier: formation side: OFFENSE category: Personnel source_id: "OFF-0066" created: 2026-04-12 updated: 2026-04-19 canonical: https://learningfootball.xyz/formations/10-personnel --- # 10 Personnel ## Short Definition 1 running back, 0 tight ends, 4 wide receivers—maximum perimeter spread forcing favorable coverage matchups across the full width of the field. ## Definition 10 personnel puts one running back and four wide receivers on the field with no tight ends. The grouping maximizes perimeter speed and route combinations. Without a tight end, every defender aligned over a skill player is covering a receiver—the defense cannot hide a linebacker in a matchup that disadvantages it. The grouping is primarily a spread passing package, though some offenses use it to run the ball from spread formations with zone reads and jet sweeps. The four wide receivers create horizontal stress across the full width of the field, forcing the defense to spread its coverage thin or concede matchup advantages. Defenses respond to 10 personnel with nickel or dime packages to match the personnel on the field. Keeping base personnel (with linebackers) on the field against four wide receivers creates the matchup problem the offense is designed to exploit. 10 personnel is now common enough that many NFL teams treat it as a base grouping rather than a specialty package. ## Example "10 personnel—four receivers, one back, no tight end. Defense has to match with five defensive backs or put a linebacker on a wide receiver. They keep base personnel: linebacker on the slot. That's the matchup 10 personnel was designed to create." ## Common Confusion 10 personnel and empty formation are related but not the same. Empty is a formation—all five eligible receivers split out, no back in the backfield. 10 personnel is a personnel grouping—1 running back, 0 tight ends, 4 wide receivers. A team in 10 personnel can line up in trips with a back in the backfield, or in empty with the back split out. Personnel and formation are different layers of the same pre-snap picture. ## Related - 11-personnel - empty - spread - nickel-nkl - trips - wr --- Source: https://learningfootball.xyz/formations/10-personnel