Simple Approach to No-Back
This applies to standard 3x2 no-back as well as Quads, stacks, etc. Keep in mind from a playcalling standpoint I want to always keep the perspective that I want to do things that are easy to do and will score points. So if I approach the no-back like you would say a wing-t package where they must stop each thing you do and it fits together, then I want to bubble screen first, run inside second, throw quick 3-step passes third, screens 4th, and 5 step drop passes fifth. This is not necessarily how I approach the entire game but it is when I get in no-back.
1. Go gun - Let your QB see the field better, give him an extra moment to see the rush.
2. Numbers - Are they manning up all 5 of our receivers? Do they have at least 5 in the box?
a. Bubble screen or all-hitch (Purdue's favorite tactice)?
3. When to run?
a. When they only have 4 in the box (and often 5)
b. When they stack the line with outside rushers
c. When the defensive ends are flying upfield (draw)
d. When the defensive tackles/Inside Linebackers are penetrating hard (QB trap)
e. QB draw and QB trap from 5-wide are very good 3rd and long calls. Do not take unnecessary risks (on 3rd and long you are often risking the confidence of your entire team and quarterback. This mitigates the value of taking some of those risks.)
f. When to not run?
1. When you will not get at least 4 yards (this is actually helpful, because we all know we have had many different types of QBs. 4 yards for some is not 4 yards for another.)
2. When he inside linebackers/DTs are dropping back to spy your QB.
3. When down and distance makes it difficult (4 yard rule comes into play).
4. When to throw 3-step?
a. We want free access to the flats. The receivers should not take incredible splits to make the wide-field hitch impossible for anyone but John Elway.
b. When we can easily isolate a favorable man to man matchup (usually on a slant or a fade, depending on the leverage). The best example is going quads or four receivers to one side and isolating a superior receiver backside (much as Archie Cooley did with Jerry Rice).
c. When a blitz leaves an obvious zone hole (beware of zone-blitzing teams).
5. When do we not want to throw 3-step?
a. It is not an immediate call vs. all blitzes
b. I do not get excited about throwing 3-step vs. rolled up cornerbacks (press man, cloud, Cover 2). This is only permissable if the 5 wide has created significant seams in the zone or a corner is rolled up by a S is playing 8 or 9 yards off. Again, this goes back to that we see all hitch and bubble as similar concepts to take advantage of numbers.
6. Screens
a. I have already spoken about bubble screens.
b. Jailbreak and rocket screens are very effective tools. They are best in two very disparate situations:
1. Deep dropping 7 and 8 man coverages, especially Cover 4
2. All out blitzes (and zone blitzes)
This makes them excellent calls on 2nd and 3rd and long. The no back often creates an effective context for these plays to be successful.
c. They are also good at getting the ball to playmakers even with a mediocre QB. Further, they make the defense pursue and the defensive line run, which should help vs. pass rushes.
d. To me their greatest function is really vs. zone-blitzes though, whose danger vs. no-back cannot be underestimated.
7. 5-step passes
a. Once these other, more easily executed plays have been called (and the proper adjustments have been made, if they work you need not make the switch to anything else) it is time to give consideration to passes further downfield.
b. One must be justified calling these plays from 5 wide instead of a formation that allows better protection and play action threat, such as 2 back or 1 back with a tight end.
c. Versus man to man we focus on bunching type routes such as mesh (#1 whip, #2 corner, #3 flat or bubble) and stem/drive (#1 shallow, #2 curl or square-in, #3 flat or wheel route). These come open quickly with places to go with the football quickly, are difficult to defend in man, and are simple reads for the QB.
d. Versus zones we will call the appropriate play to defeat the zone (corner, post corner vs cover 2, curl/flat vs 3, etc plus flood routes.)
e. When to call these plays
1. When lining up in no-back elicits a simple and predictable coverage response from the defense
2. The defense is sufficiently stretched from your running, screens and 3-step game to create good passing lanes
d. When not to call 5-step passes
1. When there is an easier option to gain the required yards
2. When you have difficulty determining the coverage
3. When protecting the football is uncertain (notice I said uncertain. Not weak or succeptible, but simply uncertain. )
Other notes:
1. Protection
a. On bubble screens the line will stay low and punch hard to keep the defender's hands down.
b. On 3-step they will man the frontside and zone block the backside. The QB will identify where the most dangerous rushers can come from. Any outside rusher not accounted for via fan call (4th man to either side) will be unblocked.
c. On 5-step the protection is the same but he has less time. The QB must do his best to determine what the surrounding coverage is (the MLB and the Safeties will aid this the most).
1. The defense will be able to bring a free rusher and drop inside linebackers/defensive linemen out to zone blitz if they so choose, and there is little we can do about it. We must have other options (QB trap, jailbreak screens, bubble screen).
d. We have the option of bringing one receiver in to create a 6man slide
1. Will this take care of a 6 man blitz? No.
2. Then why do it? We do it not to fully protect against the blitz but instead to force the blitz into one we can better handle: we can protect against inside dog blitzes by inside backers and we can force any unblocked rusher to come from the outside.
a. An added bonus: We can fake this call and have the man who comes in run a delayed pass route. Purdue does this every so often, usually for a touchdown.
2. Formationing:
a. I prefer a standard 3x2 or 4x1, because it better lets me run the full range of options and I can do more with personnel (I can move my weakest and best receivers around to my advantage, or even my RB on a LB for a fade route, etc.).
b. However, vs. teams with talent advantages who like a lot of man to man then stacking, bunching, and even diamond formations with receivers become desirable and often cause very odd reactions from the defense that results in the QB running untouched on a draw or isolating your best receiver backside. The main drawback? It is difficult to throw 3-step routes to 4 receivers in close proximity, so often you must protect longer.
c. Motioning and shifting can be excellent but also can make it difficult to do and get into the correct play, so you must have some predictive ability with the defense and find a balance.
3. Other options:
a. Jet sweeps (with QB trap as a counter)
b. Play action (QB fakes dive then backs out)
c. Fake screens
d. Sprint outs (I do not usually group this into true no back since you usually motion someone in to block the edge)
1. Go gun - Let your QB see the field better, give him an extra moment to see the rush.
2. Numbers - Are they manning up all 5 of our receivers? Do they have at least 5 in the box?
a. Bubble screen or all-hitch (Purdue's favorite tactice)?
3. When to run?
a. When they only have 4 in the box (and often 5)
b. When they stack the line with outside rushers
c. When the defensive ends are flying upfield (draw)
d. When the defensive tackles/Inside Linebackers are penetrating hard (QB trap)
e. QB draw and QB trap from 5-wide are very good 3rd and long calls. Do not take unnecessary risks (on 3rd and long you are often risking the confidence of your entire team and quarterback. This mitigates the value of taking some of those risks.)
f. When to not run?
1. When you will not get at least 4 yards (this is actually helpful, because we all know we have had many different types of QBs. 4 yards for some is not 4 yards for another.)
2. When he inside linebackers/DTs are dropping back to spy your QB.
3. When down and distance makes it difficult (4 yard rule comes into play).
4. When to throw 3-step?
a. We want free access to the flats. The receivers should not take incredible splits to make the wide-field hitch impossible for anyone but John Elway.
b. When we can easily isolate a favorable man to man matchup (usually on a slant or a fade, depending on the leverage). The best example is going quads or four receivers to one side and isolating a superior receiver backside (much as Archie Cooley did with Jerry Rice).
c. When a blitz leaves an obvious zone hole (beware of zone-blitzing teams).
5. When do we not want to throw 3-step?
a. It is not an immediate call vs. all blitzes
b. I do not get excited about throwing 3-step vs. rolled up cornerbacks (press man, cloud, Cover 2). This is only permissable if the 5 wide has created significant seams in the zone or a corner is rolled up by a S is playing 8 or 9 yards off. Again, this goes back to that we see all hitch and bubble as similar concepts to take advantage of numbers.
6. Screens
a. I have already spoken about bubble screens.
b. Jailbreak and rocket screens are very effective tools. They are best in two very disparate situations:
1. Deep dropping 7 and 8 man coverages, especially Cover 4
2. All out blitzes (and zone blitzes)
This makes them excellent calls on 2nd and 3rd and long. The no back often creates an effective context for these plays to be successful.
c. They are also good at getting the ball to playmakers even with a mediocre QB. Further, they make the defense pursue and the defensive line run, which should help vs. pass rushes.
d. To me their greatest function is really vs. zone-blitzes though, whose danger vs. no-back cannot be underestimated.
7. 5-step passes
a. Once these other, more easily executed plays have been called (and the proper adjustments have been made, if they work you need not make the switch to anything else) it is time to give consideration to passes further downfield.
b. One must be justified calling these plays from 5 wide instead of a formation that allows better protection and play action threat, such as 2 back or 1 back with a tight end.
c. Versus man to man we focus on bunching type routes such as mesh (#1 whip, #2 corner, #3 flat or bubble) and stem/drive (#1 shallow, #2 curl or square-in, #3 flat or wheel route). These come open quickly with places to go with the football quickly, are difficult to defend in man, and are simple reads for the QB.
d. Versus zones we will call the appropriate play to defeat the zone (corner, post corner vs cover 2, curl/flat vs 3, etc plus flood routes.)
e. When to call these plays
1. When lining up in no-back elicits a simple and predictable coverage response from the defense
2. The defense is sufficiently stretched from your running, screens and 3-step game to create good passing lanes
d. When not to call 5-step passes
1. When there is an easier option to gain the required yards
2. When you have difficulty determining the coverage
3. When protecting the football is uncertain (notice I said uncertain. Not weak or succeptible, but simply uncertain. )
Other notes:
1. Protection
a. On bubble screens the line will stay low and punch hard to keep the defender's hands down.
b. On 3-step they will man the frontside and zone block the backside. The QB will identify where the most dangerous rushers can come from. Any outside rusher not accounted for via fan call (4th man to either side) will be unblocked.
c. On 5-step the protection is the same but he has less time. The QB must do his best to determine what the surrounding coverage is (the MLB and the Safeties will aid this the most).
1. The defense will be able to bring a free rusher and drop inside linebackers/defensive linemen out to zone blitz if they so choose, and there is little we can do about it. We must have other options (QB trap, jailbreak screens, bubble screen).
d. We have the option of bringing one receiver in to create a 6man slide
1. Will this take care of a 6 man blitz? No.
2. Then why do it? We do it not to fully protect against the blitz but instead to force the blitz into one we can better handle: we can protect against inside dog blitzes by inside backers and we can force any unblocked rusher to come from the outside.
a. An added bonus: We can fake this call and have the man who comes in run a delayed pass route. Purdue does this every so often, usually for a touchdown.
2. Formationing:
a. I prefer a standard 3x2 or 4x1, because it better lets me run the full range of options and I can do more with personnel (I can move my weakest and best receivers around to my advantage, or even my RB on a LB for a fade route, etc.).
b. However, vs. teams with talent advantages who like a lot of man to man then stacking, bunching, and even diamond formations with receivers become desirable and often cause very odd reactions from the defense that results in the QB running untouched on a draw or isolating your best receiver backside. The main drawback? It is difficult to throw 3-step routes to 4 receivers in close proximity, so often you must protect longer.
c. Motioning and shifting can be excellent but also can make it difficult to do and get into the correct play, so you must have some predictive ability with the defense and find a balance.
3. Other options:
a. Jet sweeps (with QB trap as a counter)
b. Play action (QB fakes dive then backs out)
c. Fake screens
d. Sprint outs (I do not usually group this into true no back since you usually motion someone in to block the edge)
posted by Chris at
11/07/2004 02:57:00 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home