QB Power Read: A Constant 4-Yard Steal

Jun 13, 2011 | Offense, Run Game, Gap Run Concepts

 

Researchers' Note: the following is a supplemental report to the Coaching Research Report, Attacking the Alley Against Odd Front Defenses.

By Dan Ellis Head Football Coach Springfield High School (PA)

 

"The QB Power Read has been a tremendous play for us and gives us a lot of flexibility in attacking the defense." Dan Ellis

We have created our offensive scheme to fit the reality of our situation – in almost half of our league games we are playing teams from schools that are significantly bigger than ours.

We are a shotgun, fast pace, no-huddle offense with a zone scheme (and we also will add pistol in as well). This allows us to take advantage of our athleticism and numbers at the skill positions and uses our supposed weakness - smaller, more athletic lineman - to our advantage.

With our offense, our QB must be able to run the football and be a weapon that the defense must account for. He does not need to be a 1,000 yard rusher; he just needs to keep the defense honest with his feet. Our key play for the QB is our QB Power Read.

Our QB Power Read up front is blocked just like a typical power play. Because we are a predominantly zone team at a small school with most of our linemen going both ways, we do cannot invest the time into teaching combo blocks. So we will run this play to the 1-technique. We do that in a number of ways – either formation/motion or by using our freeze call at the line of scrimmage to ensure we call it the right direction. The only major difference up front is that we are not going to read the play side defensive end.