Teams for years have used their largest wide receivers to help block either at the point of attack or at the edge of a formation to help seal the defensive pursuit. This also aids the offense in possibly drawing a superior run support defender to the back side and allows the offense a softer corner in which to run against.

Note – There are two types of ball fake the quarterback will be required to understand and execute flawlessly every single time he runs one of our play action passes.

(1) The “hip tow” fake
(2) The “one hand” ball fake

HIP TOW FAKE

The “hip tow” fake is very important on our sweep series fakes. What the “hip tow” fake is will simply be the way the quarterback carries out his fake after disengaging from the running back. The quarterback will execute his pivot normally as he would in the sweep but will “sweep” his free hand to the running back as he goes by.

After disengaging from the running back, we tell the quarterback to “hide” the ball on the hip nearest to the running back. So that for a quarterback to be faking the sweep to the right side, he will have the ball on his left hip as he turns to execute his bootleg. This is a cross-over with the right arm. So, as the quarterback is disengaging from the running back, his left hand is coming out of the bread basket of running back. The right arm is crossed over on the left hip with the ball just above the left hip, and just below the ribs. The defenders on that side of the formation simply cannot see the ball.

Now, as the quarterback is making his turn, we tell him to keep the ball on his hip until he gets his shoulders turned up field. This will require approximately two to three steps. When he gets his shoulders turned back up field, he is instructed to bring the ball back into a throwing position so that he can execute his pass in a quick and accurate manner. He then follows his reading progression.

ONE HANDED BALL FAKE

The “One handed” ball fake is the technique used on play action passes that are run off of run actions going between the tackles in the formation. It will not be discussed in this particular article. This is simply for information purposes.

This play is from our “Brown” formation in our terminology, and on some occasions depending on film study, we will pull the guard to help influence the defense into chasing the sweep. One of the things we look for is the reaction of the defender who is responsible for the flanker while he comes in motion to seal the back side when we do run the sweep away from him. If we can cause him to hesitate, later we will run the “late” route.

But, our original purpose is to get the player responsible for containment to chase the sweep. The flanker is required to “stick” this defender whether it’s a run or pass, so that it sets up the pass later on.

Another aspect we look at with the bringing a large receiver into motion against the weak side is what can happen with a defense who plays zone and likes to utilize the “bump” philosophy in their adjustments. What I am speaking of is what happens when utilizing motion. If we can create a mismatch by the use of motion against a defense who likes to move over to the next player that is created by motion, we will try to execute that fake with the “late” route. Sometimes, you can get a size mismatch or a speed mismatch that you can exploit.

By utilizing the “late” route with the flanker, we can create a mismatch or we can attack the back side containment.

This is the second of a five part series of articles by John Anderson, author of West Coast Offense at the Youth Level.

Next up …. Fullback Slide.