If you run any sprint-out pass plays, you have probably run into the problem of the defense playing a wide DE or walking up an OLB to the edge so that the frontside OT or TE cannot reach him. There is an easy fix to this problem but you must be willing to take a receiver out of the pass concept and use him for frontside protection. Since I have gone to this, I have used sprint-out more often to change the launch point from the QB and slow down the rush. It also allows me to add a few counter-type plays to keep the defense honest. Base SO Alignment
Rules for Each Position:
QB – Gun or under center works best to allow the RB to get out in front of the QB as he sprints out. The Pistol just doesn’t time up as well and if you do get a free hard rusher from the front side, the RB will meet him in front of the QB.
Frontside OT – On the snap, he will take two lateral steps to the side the QB is sprinting out to. On his second step, if he has a defender to block, have him turn back in if possible. (Don’t continue to reach and widen looking for someone to block – that’s what the defense wants). If, after the second step, the OT turns back to look for work because there was no outside defender close enough to block, look first to a down lineman. I the offensive guard has him, look for a LB running through the B Gap.
Frontside OG – His rules are the same as the frontside OT. If he has an outside shade defender pre-snap, he may be blocking him unless that defender runs and widens on the snap. If he has an inside shade pre-snap, the center will probably be picking him up unless that inside shade widens on the snap.
Center – He will take one lateral step to the sprint-out side, look for a defender close enough to block (perhaps a pre-snap shade on the center or inside shade on the OG to the front side). If no one is close enough, the center will hinge back and look for any backside pressure close enough to block out away (inside out) from the sprint out.
Backside OG – He will take one lateral step to the sprint-out side while losing ground on that first step so that it is easier to hinge back with depth and pick up any backside pressure (inside out).
Backside OT – His rule is to take one lateral step to the sprint-out side while losing ground (there may be occasion for this player to take two lateral steps to make sure he can get inside-out of the defender pre-snap if that defender lines up tight to him and tries to merge down).
*Note for all OL: Working a “helmet Re-adjust” drill after one or two lateral steps is a great and necessary component, especially for the front side of the sprint-out protection.
Frontside TE – This is the most important part of the protection along with the RB to set the edge and allow the QB to get outside and to the perimeter. The TE is aligned off of the ball so as to allow for a short motion pre-snap if the defense has aligned a defender out wider than the TE. If this is the case, the QB can let the TE “shuffle” out a little wider so that he can reach him when the ball is snapped. Once snapped, the TE’s rules become the same as the frontside OT. He has no more than two steps to reach. If he cannot reach on second step, cut him loose for the RB to block and look back inside for someone to block. The key is to never take a third step out and then cut the defender loose. This will confuse the RB and you will end up letting a defender run free.
RB – His path on the snap will be to work with some depth and slightly wider than the frontside OT as he watches the frontside TE and OT. His primary responsibility will be to look for any work between the TE and OT (this could be a linebacker taking a run-through). If there is no one to block inside of those two players, the RB will continue on a wider course to get outside of the TE and look for any outside pressure coming late (if pressure outside of the TE, the RB needs to work outside-in on this defender or cut him down inside-out). If there is no one there, he looks to help out the TE on his block to make sure there is an edge for the QB to get outside of.
Note for TE and RB: Working the “Whole-Part-Whole” concept with this protection and making time to work the reads and blocks of the frontside protection (OT, TE, and RB) is of the utmost importance. As you can imagine, there are a lot of different looks and scenarios that these three players may come across and getting this “clicked off” is easy with a lot of reps. This is how I set up the frontside drill. Frontside Drill
As I mentioned earlier, there are a few great counter-type plays that work well off of this protection. Next time I will talk about the Sprint Draw and/or the Throw Back Screen.