The Sean Mannion Offense: Part 2: The Run Game

Full disclaimer: I have no idea what the Eagles’ offense will look like in 2026. Sean Mannion has never called plays over a full NFL season. Josh Grizzard has only done it once. There is no finished product to evaluate yet, no Eagles film to diagnose, no certainty to lean on. However, we can formulate some ideas based on past evidence. There is Mannion’s background inside the Sean McVay–Matt LaFleur–Kyle Shanahan ecosystem. There is his one public play-calling sample at the Shrine Bowl, where he installed an offense under time constraints. There are also years of league-wide data on how this coaching tree builds offenses.

The goal of this short series is not to guess which plays the Eagles will call, but to understand how this staff is likely to think about offense and what we might see from the Eagles next year. With Free Agency and the Draft just around the corner, I figured it’s a good time to get into it, as there may be some key takeaways regarding the type of player the Eagles may target.

PREVIOUSLY IN THIS SERIES: Part 1, Basic Principles

I don’t think we can start anywhere else than with the run game. It’s the basis for everything else. When talking about any offense from the Shanahan tree, you can’t do anything but start by talking about outside zone. The play that has survived decades of schematic evolution does something more important than just gaining yards. It is the basis for so much else.

Outside zone is a coordinated movement in which everyone has to be on the same page. There’s a reason why the Eagles and Jeff Stoutland parted ways. Mannion wanted his own guy to help install this play. The Eagles haven’t been that good at outside zone under Stoutland. Stoutland has always preferred other types of runs. The offensive line steps laterally in unison, stretching the defensive front horizontally. The running back’s footwork mirrors that motion, and his eyes are reading the defense from the edge inward.

Outside zone is meant to force the defense to move, stretching one side and sealing the other, until space appears as a consequence of structure. You are aiming to force a defense to move in a certain direction. Once you get them flowing, you can take advantage of that! Tags and adjustments can reshape responsibilities without altering the core picture, allowing the offense to present endless variation while still running the same foundational idea. We won’t touch on all the variations today (perhaps an offseason article idea?), but believe me, there are a lot of adjustments!

You can see the importance of the run game all over the Packers’ film from last year. Green Bay’s offense has been very RPO-heavy the past few years, and I’m a huge fan of attaching a backside pass concept to a run play to prevent a defense from fully committing to the run. I expect the Eagles to get back to running a number of RPOs next year. Against Chicago, a counter run paired with bubble motion stretches the defense out horizontally.

Another key thing to note about this scheme is the importance of blocking from tight ends and receivers. Every eligible player must be involved. There can be no passengers when it comes to running the football in this scheme! The Eagles’ condensed formations were a disaster last year (for numerous reasons), but expect to see them a lot this year.

In particular, Sean McVay’s offenses have long favored condensed splits, pulling wide receivers tight to the formation to reduce the distance to the edge. This means the running back’s path to the edge becomes shorter, allowing outside zone to threaten the perimeter quicker. Over time, this has also influenced personnel, elevating the importance of larger slot receivers capable of functioning as hybrid blockers and route runners. Which is why I keep banging on about the importance of receivers and tight ends in this system. Johnny Wilson, anyone? (If he can catch, of course…).

It’s not all outside zone, trust me. I expect to see some more heavy personnel and downhill runs next year. The Eagles had success with Duo this year, but never committed to it. Here is jumbo personnel and classic duo against Kansas City. This is the perfect counterbalance to outside zone. You get the defense flowing horizontally early on, then get vertical quickly! It all begins with outside zone, but that’s almost a starting point for the run game. The idea is that you build on that.

This run is from under center, and I would expect the Eagles to dramatically increase their under-center rate next year.

Sean Mannion’s offensive philosophy marks a departure from the shotgun-heavy tendencies that have defined the Eagles’ recent seasons. By operating from under center, the Eagles can better disguise their intentions, using Barkley’s downhill threat as a decoy for play-action boots and slides. This strategic marriage of the run and pass simplifies the field for Jalen Hurts by forcing defenders to bite on the run, but we will get into that more next time…

Modern Shanahan-derived systems rarely rely on a single rushing answer, and Green Bay’s film shows why. Gap scheme runs are perfect changeups, punishing fronts that overplay outside zone with 5 and 6 man fronts. One of the best ways to stop outside zone runs is by putting more men on the line of scrimmage, which is why gap-scheme runs have been on the rise over the past couple of years. If you force the defense to play heavier fronts, it also makes your passing game easier!

The Eagles’ running game was far too simplistic last year. As with the passing game, the Eagles’ run game has been focused on being more talented and, therefore, not needing to be diverse. I think this changes next year. Here’s another example of the importance of good blocking tight ends.

Having a mobile quarterback is perfect for an offense that wants to start with outside zone, too. It’s so easy to get the defense flowing one way and send the quarterback in the opposite direction. Green Bay’s film with Malik Willis is a glimpse into what we could see next year.

Football has undergone a massive shift in recent years. While the league remains “pass-heavy,” the effectiveness of that passing game now often hinges on a dominant ground attack. As NFL defenses counter explosive passing with light boxes and deep shell coverages, a physical run game has become the ultimate equalizer. For the Eagles, hiring Sean Mannion signals a shift toward an offense in which the run and pass are no longer separate entities. This is something the offense has badly missed.

Under Mannion, the goal isn’t just to increase rushing yardage. In the LaFleur and McVay systems Mannion has worked under, the run and pass are designed to look identical for the first part of the play. By using under-center formations and outside-zone blocking, the Eagles can force defenders to hesitate and get them moving. This all contributes to the “illusion of complexity” that everyone talks about in this system.

For the Eagles to return to the NFL’s elite, Mannion must move away from the “we are simply more talented up front than you” style of run game that we have seen in recent seasons. If he can successfully install a cohesive, run-first infrastructure that ties to the passing game, this offense will be much harder to defend. Without that marriage, the offense risks remaining a collection of talented individuals rather than a strong overall unit.

Studies have shown that pass rushers are less effective against under-center passes because they expect a run. The idea of this offense is that the run is never just about the run. We will get to play-action next time!

Thank you for reading! I’d love to hear your thoughts, so feel free to comment below and ask any questions. If you enjoyed this piece, you can find more of my work and podcast here. If you would like to support me further, please check out my Patreon here!