Shotgun Zone Fly Sweep Play Action Passes

by: Michael Parker
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For any team that wants to establish the run, a good play action pass alternative is crucial. Play action keeps defenses from over-aggressively playing the run. This is especially true of the newer forms of the shotgun spread offense that are becoming the staple at the high school and college level.

Coach Bryon Hamilton, at Foothill High in California, has found tremendous success in his own hybrid spread offense. One of Foothill’s favorite run plays is the Fly Sweep (outlined in depth in the December issue of AFM). The play action passes off the Fly Sweep that Hamilton has found the most successful (in the past few years of using this system) are the Waggle and the Dart Screen.

Using these two passes as a complement to that particular run action will help any system that utilizes the Shotgun Fly Sweep.

THE SHOTGUN FLY WAGGLE

“The waggle pass is one of the more effective play action pass plays that we run at Foothill,” says Hamilton. “I think the reason that it has been so successful is that teams are hypersensitive to stopping the Shotgun Fly Sweep. In doing that they often commit the high pass defenders (FS/SS) to the run.”

The waggle then makes it possible to take advantage of the holes in the defensive secondary downfield without having to drastically change the blocking scheme up front. “The sweep threat also causes OLBs and ILBs to be quick to flow to the sweep side,” remarks Hamilton. “This often causes them to be out of their pass responsibility areas.”

The nature of Hamilton’s form of the waggle puts an athletic QB in a position to move away from the natural flow of the play. The receivers move in the same direction as the QB through the defensive players working across the field to stop the run threat.

“Most teams that run the waggle use the HB in a counter look to sell the action,” says Hamilton. “We use the sweeper for that fake.”

Hamilton has a few rules that he follows to make sure that the receivers on the waggle are as effective as possible.

“Our rules are simple and they apply to all formations that we run the waggle series out of,” says Hamilton.

FOOTHILL’S WAGGLE PASS RULES

• “The #1 receiver to the QB roll side (away from the sweep fake) has a stretch route into the deep third on that side of the field.”

• “The #2 receiver to the roll side has a bench route gaining immediate stretch and getting to a depth of 8 yards.”

• “The #2 receiver away from the QB roll or to the sweep side has a drag, gaining depth as he crosses the field. He must maintain a good relationship with the QB, trying to stay one to two steps in front of him.”

• “The #1 receiver away from the QB roll runs a post route and climbs over the FS. This is very effective if the high defender cheats up on the run fake.”

• “The sweeper fakes the sweep and then runs a wheel route behind the post.”

A FEW KEYS TO REMEMBER

1. Good fakes are critical. “A good fake usually slows down the backside pressure, eliminating the need to keep a back home to pick up the backside,” says Hamilton.

2. Use all the same looks as you do when you run your sweep. “It does not matter what formation we are in, those rules apply,” says Hamilton. “One of the formations that has been successful for us is a 3x1 set, flexed TE set” (See Diagram 1). “In this formation we fake the sweep to the flex side and roll to the remaining two receivers. The #1 runs the vertical and the #2 runs the bench. The flex TE runs the drag and the Sweeper runs the wheel. The only adjustment on that formation is the HB. He aligns like he would if we were running the sweep – to the flex side. He runs his blocking track (the alley) and then continues up the hash.”

Diagram 1: Shotgun Fly Waggle

3. Don’t forget to tell your QB he can run if it’s there. “One thing that makes the waggle very effective is that the QB has a run option on the play,” says Hamilton. “He has simple rules. If he gets to the perimeter on the roll, he attacks the LOS and looks Vertical, then to the Bench route, and then to the Drag. If the defense plays soft in coverage, he pumps and runs. If the QB gets pinned and can’t get out, he steps up and looks to the Post, and then to the Drag.”

4. Keep pass pro rules simple, stupid! “The offensive line has simple rules,” says Hamilton. “They slide protect away from the QB roll side and – depending on the defense that we are playing – either the roll side guard will pull and try to reach or log the DE. Or if a team likes to bring a lot of edge pressure, we will stick the playside (with man blocks) and pull the backside guard to the roll side perimeter.”

5. Don’t forget the complements. Because people know of Foothill’s affinity for this waggle pass, Hamilton has turned to a few complementary plays to keep the defense on their toes.

“Complementary plays off this are: 1) a screen back to the sweeper after he makes his fake and then settles in the flats and 2) a reverse waggle, where the sweeper gets the ball, hands off to the WR on a reverse eliminating the backside post. Then that WR acts as the QB and makes his waggle reads,” says Hamilton.

“You also can change up the routes as long as you attack each area. We can tag a ‘switch’ call which tells the #1 and #2 receivers away from the QB roll to switch routes. This would allow the WR to run the dig and the TE or slot to run the post. This is a very effective route combination and a great complement to the sweep.”

Along with the waggle pass, Hamilton relies on a quicker way to attack an overzealous defensive flow – the Dart screen.

THE SHOTGUN FLY DART SCREEN

“Another play we like is the dart screen,” says Hamilton. “This screen play is another play that we use off the Fly sweep fake” (See Diagram 2).

“The dart screen is usually run from a 3x1 formation. We use the #3 receiver on the trips side to execute a fly sweep fake. The #2 receiver is responsible for blocking the second defender to the screen side. Or if the #1 defender is in a press alignment, he is responsible for walling off that defender and the WR receiving the pass will come underneath that block.

We run several screen plays, but to keep it simple for our linemen, we block all screens the same.”

Diagram 2: Shotgun Dart Screen

BLOCKING RULES FOR THE DART SCREEN

The base rules are as follows:

• “The OT to the screen side executes a set punch-and-go technique; he is on a straight track to the #1 defender, usually the corner. He will take the #2 if we get a press on #1 and the #2 receiver will give him a call if that is the case.”

• “The OG to the screen side also executes a set punch-and-go and he tracks to the first high defender to the playside.”

• “The rest of the OL executes a set and cut technique.”

A FEW KEYS TO REMEMBER

1. Fakes are still critical and the throw must be quick. “The QB must give a good sweep fake and then set and throw the screen quickly out to the receiver.”

2. The receiver must get upfield, selling run, before bellying back to make the catch. “The receiver initially takes one hard step up field, plants, drives back and settles behind the line of scrimmage.”

3. The receiver can’t attack upfield until he first sets up his blocks. “Once he receives the block he works off the adjacent receivers’ block and attacks up field.”

4. Run the screen to your QBs easier throw side. “One of the things that we have learned is that it is an easier play to execute – and the timing is better – if we use the fly sweep fake rotation by the QB to ‘load’ the ball and get the pass off quickly,” stresses Hamilton.

“An example of this would be if our QB is right-handed then we would want to primarily run the sweep fake to the right. This allows the QB to ride the sweep fake to the right which naturally rotates his hips and moves the ball to his natural throwing side. This negates the necessity to re-rotate the hips and re-set the feet if we were to throw it to the opposite side.”

A FEW VARIATIONS

Again, just like with the waggle, it is important that there are a few different ways to run this play. Otherwise, defenses will be able to key pre-snap what you are able to do. Hamilton will run this screen out of several different looks.

“We also run this out of empty. In this formation we usually ‘bounce’ (motion) the HB back to the backfield, fake an inside zone to him and then throw the dart.” Between these two play action variations, Foothill has found it easier to do what they really want to do: run the football.

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