The Jet Sweep has become a staple running play for many offensive systems over the last 20 years. Even though you are seeing it from shotgun spread teams now, it actually started as an under center play. In fact I personally think it was harder to stop from under center wing looks because the motion was a lot shorter and harder to account for. From the shotgun however the Jet is becoming a much more dynamic play because it is being packaged with other plays. It is also being packaged with read concepts which makes it even more potent. Today I would like to discuss Play Action pass possibilities off the Jet and how to disrupt the run fits and rotations of the defense.
Attack More Than Just The Edge
The reason the Jet sweep is so important to some offensive schemes is its ability to attack the edge or perimeter of the defense. Today's offensive mindset for a lot of teams is to put speed in space. One of the reasons for that is the realization of how hard open field tackling really is on a defender. The other reason is the horizontal pressure on a defense helps create vertical running lanes on the inside of the defense. When you are talking about high powered offenses they all usually have the same characteristics. They have the ability to run the ball to the edge, they can run the ball inside, they slow you down with screens and draws, and they have the ability to play action pass with players that stretch the field. Now, you still have teams like Alabama and Stanford who just wear you out all game but at the high school and junior high level you wont always have the lineman and backs to do that. One of the ways you can create space in the run game is by attacking the perimeter, and play action passing to slow down support.
Adding To Your Package
In keeping with the theory of playing fast football, we need to look at how we can add play action passes into our offense while still staying simplistic enough to keep the learning curve to a minimum. Again, all the greatest plays in the game are worthless if they are not executed at full speed with a clear mind. All too often I see offensive guys who try to throw every new play they see or hear into their scheme. I'm not saying you should not add things to your playbook, but when you add something you should think about the carryover from other concepts in your scheme. As far as up tempo is concerned, you must always consider the verbiage and communication involved. I've always been a huge fan of Jon Gruden, not only his offensive mind but his passion and intensity. But let's be realistic here "Flip Right Double X Jet 36 Counter Naked Waggle at 7X Quarter" is probably not the best way to communicate to High School players in an up tempo offense. What we want to do here is build play action passes into an already existing offensive package. For us we like to use the Jet Sweep as a base play, as a read play, and as a play to run counters off. So adding play action passes into our jet package helps us slow down run support and safety spin while still staying within the structure of our offense. I will talk in the video segment about running base 5 step passing concepts and then adding a route concept to take advantage of secondary rotation. I will also talk about protection and making sure you can marry your protection schemes to your play action so your lineman have the ability to play fast and be efficient protecting the QB. I've said this in other posts but want to reinforce the notion of keeping the QB on his feet when throwing play action passes, especially if they are designed to take "SHOTS" down the field. It's very frustrating to see something in coverage you like, get a play called at the right time, only to have the QB get crushed. When throwing play action passes do everything you can to protect the QB. Again most of the concepts being covered will be discussed in the video chalk talk so please take the time to watch the video. I hope these ideas help you build an explosive offense.
For me the idea of using 3 Backs in the backfield started about 5 years ago watching a Green Bay Packers game. They were using 2 fullbacks or a TE and a fullback along with the tailback in the backfield. They were running typical zone plays with the fullbacks iso blocking LBS or kicking the edge on their zone plays. As a spread team I started running into problems when my opponents would load the box and play zero coverage to my 10 personnel sets. I got to a point where I conceded the run game vs. these looks and tried to throw the ball every down. The two big problems i ran into were 1)I felt like the defense was dictating what I did and 2)Their cats were better than my cats so they completely shut down my passing game. I did not want to incorporate Tight Ends into my offense because I had a hard time finding good ones every year at a public high school.
So after getting beat one night 21-0 I decided that I was going to add a 3 Back set into my offense to help equal out the numbers in the box vs those defenses. What i stumbled across was a great short yardage offense that not only helped me on offense but also helped my defense defend hardball running plays. We turned it into an up tempo package, added play action and waggles, and it is now one of my most called running plays every year. The fact that the tailback is in the pistol gives us the ability to run the blast play and our waggles to either side at any time. The set became so good for us we added two more versions of 3 back sets using the same personnel, made them up tempo formations, and now have the ability to jump into 3 different 3 back sets very quickly without changing the personnel on the field. Let's take a look at the simple blast play from this set.
We are going to use a down gap scheme with the front side fullback kicking the DE, and the backside fullback pulling and wrapping for the PILB vs 7 man boxes. It is actually a power scheme without using your backside guard as a puller. This allows us to account for 7 defenders in the box while using a very simple gap scheme that should help avoid penetration in the backfield and be solid vs. stunts and blitzes. If you get 8 man fronts you can put the backside fullback on the play side olb or force player to account for him.
Always remember that a good offense should have plays that protect your plays. Off the same run action we can use waggles to move the pocket, slow down the safeties, and give us 1 on 1 match ups on the outside to help convert 1st downs. Make sure your QB'S understand to get depth away from the LOS after fakes to buy time for the comeback and the drag routes, but also to get separation from any front side unblocked edge pressure.
The next thing we added was a play action pass to take "SHOTS" down the field. This also helped slow down the invert of the safeties if the defense was playing quarters or robber concepts with the safeties. We run a post on the front side while running post corner on the backside. It is an 8 man protection so it is a very safe play that can account for pressure and keep the QB on his feet to make plays. If the defense is 2 High and slamming safeties down we will look for the post route, if they are 1 High we will take the 1 on 1 match up with the post corner route.
The use of 3 backs in offensive formations has been around for over 100 years. Whether it be the T Formation, Power I, Maryland I, Wing T, Wishbone, or Flexbone offensive coaches have always tried to incorporate 3 backs as part of their base run game. With the development of the athletic QB that is a viable option in the run game, the Diamond Formation now gives the Offensive Coordinator 4 potential ball carriers. This set gives you the ability to run downhill, attack the perimeter, stretch the field with play action, and make the defense accountable with option principles.
Big Boys Are Catching On
Today I am going to discuss the "Inverted Veer" play and play action passes off the same run action. This formation is symmetrical which gives you the ability to run concepts to either side with no motions, shifts, or trades. When I say "Inverted" I mean the QB will actually become the dive player and the RB will become the perimeter player which is the opposite of traditional veer football. In the above diagram the 49ers are running the bluff version of the veer, which is a traditional veer concept with backs becoming lead blockers on the perimeter if the QB pulls the ball. This is a double option theory.
In the above diagram I have our Inverted Veer play with rules against a standard 8 man front. The scheme is the same as our base veer play which we run from the Pistol set as well. One of the keys to adding things into your offense is the ability to keep things simple for your offensive line. We start on Day 1 teaching the Veer or Zeer(Zone/Veer) concept so when it comes time to add the Diamond package it is nothing new for our oline. I also like to keep things relatively simple for my QB so all my option reads are front side C Gap defender.
Now let's take a look at a Play Action Pass off the Inverted Veer. I think it is very important to have plays that protect your plays. This version of our play action is an attempt to attack Quarters or Robber teams with very active safeties and get our RB matched up with an OLB on the wheel route. Even if you see a 1 high structure you should still get a favorable match up with the wheel route. This also gives us a simple 7 man full slide protection which allows us to call the play with confidence.
