This ain't your Daddy's Flood Concept

Sorry for the poor English...but the title just sounded good.

The traditional flood pattern has been a staple of many teams. The vertical stretching of defense has always been a part many offenses. The standard teaching of the flood was simple. 

#1 WR Streak to clear the deep defender.

#2 WR Square Out. Break at 10 yards.

#3 WR Speed Out. Break at 5 yards. 

The #1 WR was only an option if the defense had blown the coverage. Easy read on the Flat defender. If he flies to the Square Out, throw the Speed Out. If he sits on the Speed Out, then throw the Square Out. The variation I plan to use this year makes all routes viable for the QB.

FIRST, replace STREAK with BURST CORNER.

SECOND, replace SQUARE OUT with a SEAM OUT.

THIRD, still use a SPEED OUT or have the route come from the backfield.

The BURST CORNER (thanks to Coach Slack and Coach Maddox for showing this route in the R4 book) gives the concept a deep threat that is not determined by just blown coverage. The way I teach it is to have the WR take 3 steps in at a 45 degree angle then burst upfield and by the seventh steps make a corner cut. The common mistake is the corner is not skinny enough. You must tell you WR to line up inside (most people refer to as bottom) of the numbers and when he makes corner cut make sure to stay at or near the numbers. This gives the route the proper spacing. 

The SEAM OUT is similar to the SQUARE OUT the difference is the angle. The WR must run vertical to a depth of 10-12 yards. The WR’s route should not look like a 90 degree angle, but more like a backwards seven.

The SPEED OUT is pretty standard. The only difference is slight break in the gain depth to 5-6 yards. If the route is coming from the backfield make sure the release is clean.

A twist that I may use this year is running FLOOD from a 2x2 formation. The only difference is the SPEED OUT becomes a shallow route.

FLOOD from a 2 x 2 formation

FLOOD from a TRIPS formation

FLOOD from a WING formation, RB sneaks into flats

Of Course, the backside runs a POST. He must be reminded to get into the QB's view!

SPRINT OUT PART TWO: THE QB

When designing route combinations for the sprint out game, you need to remind the WRs the time it takes for the QB to rollout to his passing position.  Routes need to lengthen to fit the timing of the rollout.  A great rule of thumb is “get covered early, and open late”. The backside WR also needs to “get into the QB’s view” if he wants to be a viable option.

The QB’s drop needs to gain depth THEN sprint out. A poor drop results in a bad throwing angle. The poor drop affects the CURL route more than the FLATS route.

Next, when he gets into his throwing phase, you need to tell him to be ready to throw the FLATS route or the CURL route. This is the only time, I don’t coach R4 principles.

QB throwing to the FLATS route.

I just think it is real tough to ask the QB to get his shoulders square to the CURL route then redirect to the FLATS route.

QB throwing to CURL route.

The QB’s sprint results in first his shoulders square to the FLATS then to the CURL. When it is a SMASH concept then R4 principles can be applied.

When only running a two man concept, the third option is the threat of the QB run. The great aspect about sprint out is that the QB’s momentum gets him an easy scramble mode. One piece of advice I give my QB is to know where the defenders drop and when possible run to the drop zone of a defender is running away from you. The best scenario is the FLATS zone. The QB can get to the edge, away from the defense’s best tacklers and duck out of bounds to avoid “unnecessary roughness”.

Another point for the QB is after the throw is made, he should “follow the throw for two to three steps. This helps accuracy of the throw and gets the QB into running mode too. To help avoid contact from any rusher, you need to tell the QB to “peel” after throw.

When facing a rusher peel, or run away from contact!

Finally, when sprinting to the left, make sure the QB snaps his shoulders as he makes the turn after his sprint form the pocket.

Crack Screen

This is probably one of my favorite screens when a defense is giving you a soft corner on the boundary. It is a crack screen that we have run with a lot of success over the past couple of years.
The H bubbles and looks for the ball right away.
The X runs downhill and cracks the overhang over #2. The tackle releases immediately and runs to where the corner is going to be post snap. We want to kick the corner out and allow the H to come off the kick out. The F will take off at the snap and look to chip a DE who is flying up field. if he sees no one then he can climb to the next opposite color jersey. The rest of the offensive line steps to the direction of the play and controls their gap. If we get an odd front the fronside guard can climb to the frontside backer. The qb receives the snap and briefly looks downfield and turns his head to the H and delivers the ball to the frontside shoulder on bubble. The H may need to throttle their run momentarily to allow for the tackles kick out of the corner back. In the video below the F is on the wrong side of the formation and needs to moved to boundary.