Offense in the NFL is evolving rapidly, and outpacing Defense at a record pace.
Watching the close games the past few weeks, I’ve seen two “hook and lateral” plays, and it got me thinking:
If you can predict with a reasonable degree of certainty what the safety or corner will do in a particular coverage, you should be able to determine what they will do post-completion as they track towards the ballcarrier. At this point, you could anticipate - and plan for - where the next pocket of space will open up.
For so long it’s been a one hit approach: find the open man, and he runs in space until he scores, gets tackled, or goes out of bounds.
What if it was a combo approach? Find the open man, gain yards, and provide him with an option to lateral to a crossing receiver who should be able to get another chunk.
You see this with rugby runs all the time. Why not more often in football? [Reply]
I'm going to continue to bump this over the years when relevant.
Missed this play from the Jets earlier this year. Would be wild to have Kelce or Bell (former QB's) throw this or something similar to Hardman or Tyreek.
Originally Posted by Dante84:
I'm going to continue to bump this over the years when relevant.
Missed this play from the Jets earlier this year. Would be wild to have Kelce or Bell (former QB's) throw this or something similar to Hardman or Tyreek.
IIRC, I saw 2 this last weekend. One was the Cardinals and it ended up being an illegal forward pass back across the field. The other was a true lateral but I can't remember which team did it. [Reply]
One issue I foresee is Kelce and Hill are both covered very tightly nowadays. To run anything like this, it would require space after the initial catch.
In this recent example, the defenders are playing to defend the sticks and don't mind allowing a catch with some space underneath. When they swarm to tackle the ball carrier, it even further frees up the receiver who gets the lateral. If the pass misses, it goes out of bounds and they punt. If the guy is covered, don't lateral/throw it, and try to get the first down on your own.
It would require a mix of 2 things:
- Game situation. 3rd and long, middle of the field, middle of the game would be perfect. Ideally you have a slight lead to further pad yourself if it fails.
- Role players. As mentioned, Kelce/Hill are going to draw heavy focus. Someone like Hardman, Pringle or McKinnon would be less covered, and have the speed & wiggle to get a big gain. [Reply]
