My #1 all-everything Run play is QB Power Read with Fly Sweep Mesh. This is a version of the play that Jordan Lynch (NIU) has used to get him to New York as a Heisman Trophy finalist, and it has made our offense extremely dynamic.
At Aurora University in 2012, I had a drop back passer who was not a very good runner (in fact, his passing yards were greater than his total offense numbers). But that was okay because he was the most accurate QB I’ve ever had and ended up breaking all of AU’s passing records. However, there were times when the backup quarterback came in that we would decide to experiment with some different kinds of QB-Run schemes. Already being a big Fly Sweep team, we decided to use the Fly Motion Mesh as the basis for the QB run game. Our Fly Sweep is blocked exactly like outside zone and, if run enough, we would inevitably run into the problem of getting the DE reached whenever we showed Fly Motion (Diagram 1).
Our first experiment with developing a read play was to change the blocking scheme to Power. Now we eliminated the problem with the DE by not blocking him and reading him instead. Now the DE was caught with mixed signals – the down block by the TE or tackle told him one thing and the Fly Sweep told him another. Whatever he ended up doing was wrong, and we made a good amount of yardage as a part time play in our offense. In fact, there was a game where the QB had two carries for touchdowns of 34 and 4 yards – both untouched (Diagram 2).
In 2013, the back-up became the starter. Now we needed a little bit more in our QB run game than just one play – we needed a package. Enter my all-everything play. My biggest fear with the Power Read as we were running it was a crashing DE and the strong ILB flowing over the top (the pulling guard’s man). The LB could potentially run down the sweep. In answer to this fear, we decided to use our one-Back power blocking scheme instead. Now the TE will stay on the DE and the QB will read the Strong ILB. This is perfect against single-high teams (4-4) or against two-high teams that will spin the safeties down with your motion. The lead back has the force player, the QB reads the first LB in the box, and the guard pulls for the next one. We no longer worry about the DE stretching the play because of the Read-LB runs (Diagram 3).
This is obviously a good normal down and distance play. But we will use it in every situation anywhere on the field. Third and three or Fourth and two, this is my play. Inside the 5 (coming out or going in), this is my play. We were efficient on 30 of 40 plays this year (75%), and 13 of those were runs of over 10 yards. If only the rest of the offense were that efficient.