Football terminology has a long and storied history of confusing the uninitiated. A coach picking up a new system gets inundated with numbers, tags and play calls that are completely foreign to him.
Some of that is on purpose. You don't want an opponent picking your offense up quickly, and the calls your kids know cold were never meant to make sense to the other sideline. Short, simple and private works fine inside a program. The problem is coaches move, and the words don't move with them.
Sometimes there's a simple equivalence between two systems. Sometimes one system emphasizes different skills, with different tags and personnel. And sometimes the same term means something completely different in another system.
This glossary is our humble attempt to categorize terms, where they are used and occasionally their etymology, so a coach learning a new system or talking to somebody running a different one can get up to speed quickly.
Four down linemen, two linebackers and five defensive backs, with the fifth back on the field every snap rather than arriving by substitution.
also: 4-2-5 · nickel base
Four down linemen and three linebackers, which puts seven bodies near the line before the safeties are counted.
The same front with a smaller, faster strongside linebacker, usually a response to a spread offense rather than a design choice.
also: 4-3 · base 4-3
One running back. That is what the word names in most rooms. It says nothing about the receivers.
One receiver split out to each side. Doubles is the same kind of word for two to each side.
In the Air Raid it is one specific formation: four receivers, one back, X and Y on the line.
also: ace backfield · single back · ace formation
Center and guard combo one interior defender, with one of them climbing to a linebacker.
'Ace' also names three different formations, none of which has anything to do with this.
also: ace · ace combo · deuce, trey (the same naming system)
A pass-first spread offense: shotgun, four receivers, one back, no huddle, concepts read off one defender, and a simplified run game that punishes light boxes.
An alignment halfway between two reference points, usually the end man on the line and a slot receiver.
The player standing there, named after the alignment.
also: apex alignment · apexed · apex defender
Release around the first edge defender to block the next threat outside or at the second level.
also: arc release · arc
A lead blocker bypasses the tackle box to block the strong safety or alley force player, freeing offensive linemen to down-block on the perimeter run.
also: BOSS · BOSS tag · back on safety
The side away from the point of attack, whose job is usually to stop pursuit rather than to open anything.
also: awayside · back side
One lineman on the defender aligned over him, straight ahead, with no help from anybody.
In a rule-based scheme, 'base' can be the instruction rather than the technique: take the man on you if there is one.
also: drive block · base · man block
The back sweeps away from the blocking scheme while the quarterback reads the backside edge defender to keep on Counter.
inverted read option pairing an outside back sweep with an off-tackle Counter keep
also: counter bash · back away · GT counter bash
A nose covers the center and two 3-techniques cover both guards, closing interior running lanes and denying clean offensive combination blocks.
also: Bear · double Eagle · 3-0-3 front
A run-heavy offense with three backs packed near the line or spread toward the side being attacked.
also: Beast formation offense · Beast formation · Beast
A fullback run with its own blocking scheme and no pulling trap block, forming its own Wing-T series.
also: belly series · down · belly G
Pass protection: the linemen block the down defenders and a back is responsible for a named linebacker.
also: BOB · big-on-big · back on backer · man protection
A block on an opponent approaching from a direction he is not looking, typically on a return or a play that has reversed field.
High-school, college and NFL rules do not define an illegal blindside block the same way.
also: blind side block · blindside
The quarterback fakes a run one way and works back against it, with someone assigned to protect that edge.
The same action with nobody assigned to that edge, so the fake is the protection.
also: boot · waggle · naked · naked boot
A defensive alignment placing both interior defensive linemen on the same side of the center to create 1-on-1 matchups and break 5-man pass protections.
also: BOSS · Bigs On Same Side · Load front · overload front
Defenders play outside-in with the outside arm free, building a hard perimeter wall to turn all runs back into interior tackle-box pursuit.
Frontline defenders play inside-out with a wrong arm or inside leverage, squeezing interior seams and forcing all runs to bounce horizontally to secondary support.
also: box and spill · wrong arm · contain vs spill
A slot receiver takes a step back and out, catches it immediately, and the outside receivers block.
also: bubble · quick screen
outside run to the wing, both guards pulling
Wing-T
Three receivers aligned tightly in a triangle, so no defender can align squarely on any of them.
Receivers aligned directly one behind the other, which makes a man defender choose which one to align on.
also: bunch · stack · cluster · close
A brief hit on a pass rusher by a player who is releasing into a route anyway.
also: chip block · chip and release
The moment one of two linemen leaves the defender they were both blocking and goes to a linebacker.
Used loosely for a lineman getting to a linebacker at all, whether or not he was on a double team first.
also: come off · work up · climb to the backer
Two linemen start on one defender and one comes off to block a linebacker once that defender is controlled.
also: combo · combination block
A read defender assigned both an interior run fit and a pass coverage window, forced to compromise one to defend the other.
also: conflict player · conflict read · RPO conflict defender · dual-read defender
misdirection run that starts one way and brings the ball back against the defense's flow
Single Wing
One free safety plays the deep middle third while underneath defenders match receivers man to man.
also: man free · man-free
Two safeties each take half the deep field, with five defenders playing zones underneath them.
The same two deep safeties, with man coverage underneath instead of zone.
also: two deep · cover two
One safety in the deep middle and two corners on the outside thirds, which frees a fourth defender for the run.
also: three deep · single-high zone
Four defenders each own a quarter of the deep field and play the ball rather than a man.
The same four-deep picture, with defenders picking up receivers once the routes start.
also: quarters · quarters coverage
How far out and how deep a defender must align to handle the slot in front of him, which decides whether a safety is free for the run.
also: covering down · cover down to number two
A defender is aligned over the lineman, so the scheme's rule gives him that man.
No defender is aligned over the lineman, which sends him to help a neighbor or climb to a linebacker.
also: covered · uncovered · covered lineman · uncovered lineman
Two neighboring linemen block each other's man, with one going first and the other going behind him.
also: cross · criss-cross block · X block
A blocker goes below the waist to take a defender off his feet rather than drive him upright.
also: cut · low block
A vertical route pulls a deep defender out of the middle, and a dig route arrives in the vacated space.
also: dagger concept
The backside tackle pulls across to lead up on a linebacker; the line zones.
also: tackle pull · dart tackle
Numbers counted outward from the center that describe which offensive lineman a defender is on and which shoulder he shades.
also: defensive line alignments · DL techniques · technique numbers · alignment numbers · 2i · 4i · shade
A sixth defensive back replaces a second linebacker, usually in obvious passing downs.
also: dime package · quarter package
A back takes a fast handoff and hits an interior gap immediately, with no read.
In an option offense, the dive is the first of the three choices and the thing the quarterback rides before deciding.
also: fullback dive · belly dive
Give the ball to the dive back unless this unblocked defender closes down to make the tackle.
also: dive read · No. 1 key · mesh key · first read
Two adjacent linemen block one defender together.
also: double-team block · deuce
Two eligible receivers to each side, written 2x2. The default balanced spread look.
Doubles can mean any 2x2 alignment or one program's specific formation within that family.
also: 2x2 · deuce · spread 2x2
Blocking the defender inside you, which gives you an angle on him instead of a straight-ahead fight.
Blocking the defender outside you, the mirror image of a down block and the base of most pass protection.
also: down block · fan block · down · fan
delay run disguised as dropback pass protection to punish aggressive rushers
Air Raid
Join the post man on the down defender and move him without losing the linebacker read.
also: drive blocker · drive
Two double teams at the point of attack, no puller, and a back reading the linebackers rather than a hole.
Whether duo is gap, zone or its own category is genuinely disputed, including by coaches at the highest level.
also: double team run · power without a puller
Dave Aranda's system shifts the Tite front against formation strength, keeping a frontside 4i while moving the nose to a shade and the backside end to a 3-technique.
also: Eagle
The wide side between the ball and the farther sideline.
The short side between the ball and the nearer sideline.
also: boundary and field · boundary · field · wide side · short side
An alignment on the outside shoulder of the offensive tackle.
also: 5 technique · 5i
Deep, intermediate and short routes to the same side, giving the quarterback a top-to-bottom read against too few defenders.
also: sail · Y-sail · three-level stretch
The defender who owns the outside edge of a run and turns the ball back inside.
also: force · contain · the force defender
Strength starts on the short side of the field.
also: FIB · formation into boundary
Four hands work the first level and four eyes read the second, so the combo can move one defender and still sort the next one.
also: four hands on, four eyes up · four hands and four eyes · 4 hands, 4 eyes
four receivers to four deep landmarks
Air Raid
The side of the center the ball is going toward, which decides what nearly every lineman's rule says next.
also: playside · play side · front side
The second man into a double team arrives with a shuffle and strikes with his hip, staying square downfield so he can come off to a linebacker.
The same word names the drill that reps it, which is why a coach hears it used both ways.
also: gallop technique · gallop drill · gallop step
the second man into a double team, hip first, so he can leave for the linebacker
OL
The space between two offensive linemen, lettered A, B, C and D outward from the center.
also: A gap · B gap · C gap · D gap · gap letters
Run blocking built on down blocks and at least one puller, aimed at winning one point rather than moving the whole front.
also: gap-scheme run game · man-gap scheme
Check your inside gap, then the man down inside, then climb to the linebacker. The playside rule for gap-scheme runs.
Check your gap, then the man on you, then the man down inside. It has no second level.
also: GDB · GOD · gap on down · blocking rules
Two-puller gap-scheme run with the backside guard kicking out and the sniffer H-back leading into the C-gap crease
Lincoln Riley
A player motions to change the picture, usually without an exchange built into that movement.
also: ghost · fake motion · sham motion
gap-scheme misdirection run using a pulling backside guard to kick out and a backside tackle to wrap
Lincoln Riley
post-snap Run-Pass Option pairing a GT Counter gap-scheme run with a backside glance route
Lincoln Riley
Triple-threat option marrying interior GT Counter with pre-snap orbit motion and a perimeter pitch option
Lincoln Riley
GT names the two pullers directly: the guard kicks out and the tackle wraps up through the hole.
An older and more famous name for what is usually the same play, though some programs use trey to mean a different second puller.
also: GT counter · counter trey · counter · guard-tackle counter
Explosive play-action deep shot marrying GT Counter run fakes with a boundary wheel route behind a post clearout
Lincoln Riley
An off-ball hybrid skill player who combines the blocking power of a fullback with the receiving ability of a tight end.
also: H back · hybrid back
If a play ends near a sideline, the next snap comes back to the nearer row of hashes.
also: hash · hashes · inbounds lines
A defender lined up directly across from a blocker rather than on either shoulder.
also: heads up · zero technique · two technique · four technique · six technique
A lineman steps down into the gap a puller vacated and turns back to protect it.
also: hinge · hinge back
A numbered point of attack on the offensive line, named inside the play call itself.
The middle of a zone coverage: the low hole underneath and the high hole deep.
also: hole numbers · the 4 hole · low hole · high hole
A route broken off short so the ball can come out before an unblocked rusher arrives.
The receiver designated to be that answer, who may or may not change what he runs.
also: hot · sight adjust
Show pass, pull or outside action to move a defender before the real block arrives somewhere else.
also: influence · influence trap
The line steps playside in unison and combos to linebackers; the back presses the center and cuts downhill, outside, or back across the flow.
foundational interior zone run with bang, bounce, or bend cutback reads
also: IZ · tight zone
The line takes everybody but one linebacker, and a lead back is sent to block that man alone.
also: isolation · lead · lead draw (different play)
The blocker steps wide around an unblocked edge defender and turns upfield in the shape of a 'J' to seal a second-level defender.
also: J block · J-path block · J-step block
A hybrid edge defender in 3-4 and multiple fronts who rushes the passer, sets the perimeter against the run, and drops into underneath pass coverage.
also: Jack · Jack backer
A receiver or wing sprinting flat across the formation, timed to cross the backfield near full speed at the snap.
The play in which the player in jet motion actually takes the handoff and runs wide.
also: jet motion · jet sweep · fly motion · fly sweep
full-speed handoff to a man already in motion, blocked gap scheme like the rest of the offense
Wing-T
A playbook-specific defender who moves between edge-rushing and linebacker jobs.
also: joker linebacker · defensive Joker
A tight end or running back moved around to attack linebackers and defensive backs inside.
also: offensive Joker · Joker player · Joker tight end
The puller arrives from the inside and drives the end man on the line away from the formation, opening a lane inside the block.
also: kick · kick out block
Inside or outside alignment that denies one path and funnels the opponent toward defensive help.
Winning pad level and base stability: uncoiling the hips under the opponent's pads with hands inside the frame.
A 15-yard penalty for jumping on or pushing off another player to gain height when attempting to block a kick.
also: inside leverage · outside leverage · body leverage
Marry heavy pulling gap runs like GT Counter with Air Raid spacing, sniffer H-back alignments, and post-snap Glance RPOs.
also: Power Spread offense · Riley Power Spread · Oklahoma Offense
The puller turns the edge defender in toward the formation and the ball goes around him, outside the block.
also: log · logging him
Extra rushers with man coverage behind them, so no defender is sitting in the space the blitzer vacated.
also: man pressure
Quarters where each deep defender picks up a receiver once the routes have started, rather than dropping to a landmark.
also: matched quarters · pattern-match quarters
two shallow crossers passing within a yard of each other, with an out and a flat underneath
Air Raid
Two receivers running shallow crossers in opposite directions within a yard of each other to create rub traffic or sit in zone grass.
also: mesh route · shallow cross mesh · Air Raid mesh · mesh play
Where the quarterback and running back meet in the backfield to exchange the ball, execute a called handoff, or ride and read an unblocked defender.
also: the mesh · ride and decide · option mesh · mesh read · the exchange
The quarterback reads an interior defender, usually a tackle over or near the guard, and the dive goes right up the middle.
also: midline option
The strongside inside defender responsible for interior A-gap and B-gap run fits, underneath hook/hole pass drops, and front communication.
also: Mike · middle linebacker · inside linebacker · MLB
Three interior linemen play 4i-0-4i while a single walked-up edge linebacker sets a hard perimeter, allowing the nickel defense to keep a six-man box and defend spread sets with five defensive backs.
also: Mint · Mint package
One player moving continuously before the snap, who may still be in motion when the ball is snapped.
Players move from one set position to another and must be set again before the snap.
also: motion · shift · in motion · shifting
Linebackers walk up into interior gaps on the line of scrimmage to stress pass protection counts before either blitzing or dropping into coverage.
also: mugged linebackers · mug front · sugar the A-gap · sugaring · A-gap mug
A passing-down defensive personnel package that puts four fast defensive ends on the field together to maximize speed and pass-rush closing burst.
An ultra-fast no-huddle pace where the offense sprints to the ball and snaps without looking to the sideline, catching defenses tired or misaligned.
also: NASCAR package · NASCAR tempo · turbo tempo · lightning package · warp speed
A substitution: a fifth defensive back comes on for a linebacker, usually against a passing look.
The player himself, who is often a distinct position with his own techniques rather than a spare safety.
also: nickel package · nickelback · nickel defense
The widest alignment on the line, outside the tight end or outside the last man.
A player archetype: the speed rusher who plays there.
also: 9 technique · 9-tech · wide nine
A side of the formation with a tight end and nobody split outside him at all.
also: nub side · nasty side · solo side
The nose tackle anchors the center while leaving both guards uncovered by down linemen, creating open interior gaps for linebackers and post-snap line stunts.
also: Odd · odd spacing
The quarterback reads an unblocked defender after the snap and decides whether to hand off, keep, pitch, or throw based on that defender's reaction.
also: option · option offense · option game
A back takes a curved path behind the quarterback, arriving in the backfield rather than at the line.
also: orbit · loop motion
The offensive line flows laterally with reach steps to stretch the front; the running back presses the perimeter landmark and cuts outside, downhill in the seam, or back across the flow.
also: wide zone · stretch · OZ
The defensive tackle to the strong side aligns on the guard's outside shoulder, with the other tackle shaded away from the call.
also: Over
The defender aligned outside the box toward a slot, close enough to fit the run and wide enough to carry a receiver.
also: overhang defender · apex player · flat player
Three interior linemen and two edge linebackers present a five-man front, leaving a single inside linebacker stacked behind them to overlap open interior gaps.
also: Penny · Penny package
Two digits: running backs, then tight ends. 11 is one back and one tight end, so three receivers.
also: 10 personnel · 11 personnel · 12 personnel · 20 personnel · 21 personnel · 22 personnel · 10p · 11p · 12p · 21p · personnel package
Blocking a defender down and holding him there so the ball can get outside of him.
also: pin block · pinning
Whether a lineman pins or pulls is decided by alignment: a lineman with an inside defender blocks down (pins) to seal the interior, while an uncovered lineman pulls around to lead into space.
also: pin-pull · pin and pull sweep · gun buck sweep
Quarterback a few yards back with the running back lined up directly behind him rather than beside him.
also: pistol formation · pistol backfield
Keep the ball and turn upfield unless this defender commits to tackling the quarterback, then pitch it outside.
also: pitch read · No. 2 key · pitch man · second read
Secure the down defender first so the combination has a surface the other blocker can drive.
also: post blocker · post
off-tackle run behind a kickout block and a lead blocker through the lane
Beast, Single Wing
The quarterback reads the unblocked playside edge defender, giving to the back on a sweep if the edge squeezes inside or keeping downhill behind a pulling guard if the edge widens.
also: inverted veer
Quarters with the corners pressing the outside receivers, which frees the safeties to play downhill.
also: press quarters coverage · quarters with press corners
A lineman opens, leaves his alignment and runs to block a defender somewhere other than in front of him.
A flat pull to kick out an edge defender and a deeper pull to lead through the hole are taught separately.
also: pulling · puller
pre-snap box constraint throw out to the perimeter when defenses overload the box
Air Raid
The extra defender in the low middle who can take a crosser from a teammate playing man.
also: rat in the hole · hole player · Rat help
The lineman takes a 45-degree lateral bucket step to overcome the defender's outside leverage, aiming to hook his outside shoulder or wash him to the sideline.
also: reach · hook block
The defender whose post-snap reaction dictates the quarterback's live give, keep, or throw decision.
also: read key · read man · key defender
A player motions in one direction, then reverses and comes back toward where he started.
also: return · re-motion · back motion
A safety or another coverage defender reads an inside route and drives underneath it.
also: rob · robber technique · Cover 1 Robber
The quarterback reads an unblocked or conflicted defender after the snap, choosing to run the ball or throw it based on that defender's reaction.
also: run-pass option · run pass option
The defensive assignment of every defender to a gap, an edge or a space once the blocks declare.
On offense, the body position at the point of contact: pad level, hands, hips and feet.
also: run fits · fitting the run · fit
Two backside linemen work together to get across a defender who is aligned playside of both of them.
also: scoop · backside scoop
A linebacker flowing sideways behind and over the top of his down linemen rather than through them.
A defensive end and a linebacker deliberately swap jobs so the read the quarterback is making gives him the wrong answer.
also: scrape exchange · scraping · scrape over the top
Any pass where the point is the blocking in front of the receiver after he catches it.
The original version: linemen release, the rush is let through, and a back catches it behind them.
also: screen pass · screen game
A defensive lineman aligned on a blocker's shoulder rather than head up on him.
Used alone, it usually means the nose tackle on a shoulder of the center.
To shade is to move a defender off a man toward a gap, side of the field or receiver.
also: shading · shade the center · a shade
Foundational Air Raid passing concept creating an underneath high-low stretch with a shallow drag and intermediate dig
Lincoln Riley
The number and alignment of the defense's deepest players, before every coverage rule is known.
also: coverage shell · one-high shell · two-high shell
A direct-snap offense built to put extra blockers at the point of attack and make several runs begin with the same backfield picture.
also: Single Wing
The whole line steps one direction and each lineman protects the gap beside him rather than a named defender.
Part of the line slides and the rest plays man, which is the compromise most offenses actually use.
also: slide · half slide · full slide · zone protection
A hitch or quick route under a corner route, putting one defender in a two-level bind.
also: smash concept · hi-lo corner
An off-ball alignment roughly one yard behind the offensive line, directly behind the guard or tackle.
also: sniffer alignment · sniffer position
No handoff phase at all: the quarterback goes straight to the edge and reads one man to keep or pitch.
perimeter option with no dive phase: the quarterback attacks the edge and keeps or pitches
Frontline defenders spill the ball carrier outside so scraping linebackers and secondary safeties can overlap over the top and finish the tackle in space.
also: spill and overlap · scrape and spill · spill and scrape
The horizontal distance between a receiver and the next player inside him, which is a coached instruction rather than a habit.
A receiver aligned unusually close to the formation, often just outside the tackle, to compress the defender covering him.
also: split · nasty split · receiver split · nasty
The receiver who lines up ON the line of scrimmage, usually the X, which is why he cannot go in motion freely.
The receiver split wide but OFF the line, usually the Z, which is what lets him motion and gives him a free release.
Any receiver aligned inside another one rather than out at the sideline, which changes his leverage and who covers him.
also: split end · flanker · slot · X · Z · the three-receiver names
Packaged run-pass option pairing inside zone and a backside sniffer sift block with a perimeter bubble screen
Lincoln Riley
Inside zone with an H-back or tight end coming back across the formation to seal the backside end.
The crossing block itself: a non-lineman traveling against the flow to take an edge defender.
also: split zone · sift · sift block · split flow
Dividing the field down the middle and giving each half its own coverage rule based on the receivers it faces.
also: split field · half-field coverage · quarter-quarter-half
Receivers split wide across the field rather than gathered near the ball, which forces the defense to cover width.
A family of offenses built on that alignment, many of which are run-first despite the reputation.
Often used simply to mean a current-era offense, in contrast to a tight formation, with no scheme content at all.
also: spread offense · spread formation · spread to run
Spread the defense out, read one unblocked defender and send the ball where he is not.
Red-zone and seam passing constraint where the inside receiver fakes a stick out before bursting vertically up the seam
Lincoln Riley
The first-down markers.
A coverage that aligns the secondary at the line to gain rather than at a fixed depth.
A route where an inside receiver pushes vertically and settles back inside at about six yards.
also: the sticks · sticks coverage · stick route
The defense identifies the offense's strong side, giving its front and coverage a common reference.
also: setting the strength
perimeter zone run stretching the defense with 45-degree reach blocks
Air Raid
outside run with blockers leading the ball to the perimeter
Beast, Single Wing
Cover 2 with the middle linebacker running to the deep middle to take away the seam between the safeties.
A modern tag meaning simply that somebody carries the deep middle, often a safety or a nickel out of two-high.
also: Tampa two
The tackle-to-tackle area near the line of scrimmage where defenders can fit interior runs immediately.
also: box · box count · light box · loaded box · run box
An alignment on the outside shoulder of the guard, already in a gap at the snap.
A player archetype: the quick, disruptive interior lineman who plays there.
also: 3 technique · 3-tech
A zero-technique nose and two 4i defensive linemen threaten both B gaps while leaving the guards uncovered.
also: Tite · 404 front · 4i-0-4i front
Tagged wide receivers align inward from their standard wide splits, creating outside space for perimeter routes and closer angles for crack blocks.
also: Tite · Tite formation · tight tag · condensed tag
A pre-decided backward throw to a back running wide, made immediately at the snap.
The same physical action arrived at by decision, at the end of an option, and usually while running.
also: toss · pitch · toss sweep · option pitch
The tight end relocates to the other side of the formation, flipping which side is strong.
also: tight end trade · trading the tight end
inside run, backside guard pulls to trap the first man past the hole
Wing-T
A pulling lineman executes an angle block on a defensive lineman who was deliberately left unblocked at the snap.
also: short trap · long trap · counter trap · mousetrap block
A coverage where a defender sits on a short outside route and drives on the throw while a safety covers deep.
also: corner trap · cloud trap · trap flat · 2-read trap
Three eligible receivers aligned to one side of the formation with one to the other, usually written 3x1.
also: trips formation · 3x1 · trey (program-specific)
An outside receiver works back inside behind blockers who have released in front of him, and runs up the resulting lane.
perimeter receiver screen where pulling offensive linemen form an escorted alley downfield
also: tunnel · middle screen to a receiver
More offensive linemen aligned to one side of the center than the other, which moves where the actual edge is.
Moving linemen changes who is on the line and therefore who is eligible, which is where the penalties come from.
also: unbalanced line · tackle over · tackle-over
The defensive tackle away from the call aligns on the guard's outside shoulder, reversing the Over front's interior.
also: Under
A triple option in which the quarterback reads a defensive lineman for the dive and then an edge player for the pitch.
A whole family of option offenses named after the play, run as an identity.
A lineman releasing past a down defender to the second level, which has nothing to do with running the option play.
also: veer option · inside veer · outside veer
A lineman ignores the defender in front of him and releases inside or outside him to block a linebacker.
also: veer · veer block · skip release
boot pass away from run action, both guards pulling to protect
Wing-T
Getting between a defender and the play, with no requirement to drive him anywhere.
On a second-level block you are setting a pick to separate the defender from your back, not trying to deliver a hit.
also: seal · wall · cut off
straight-ahead run behind a tight wall of blockers driving one interior lane
Beast
An interior defender is intentionally left alone by the line, then blocked from the side by a back or tight end crossing the formation.
also: wham · wham trap
An agile off-ball linebacker aligned away from tight end strength who is protected from direct blocks to chase ball carriers and cover the flat.
also: Will · weakside linebacker · weak linebacker · WLB · Will backer
A run-first offense built on down blocks, pulling guards and misdirection, with plays grouped into series that share one snap picture.
A T backfield with one back moved up beside the tight end as a wing, which puts a tight end and a wing on the same side and declares a strong side before the snap.
X is often the split end, Z the flanker and Y the tight end. H and F change more from one playbook to another.
also: position letters · receiver letters · skill letters
Extra rushers from one area, with an unexpected defender dropping into the space they left and zone coverage behind it.
also: zone pressure
One defender is left unblocked on purpose; the quarterback reads him and either gives or keeps.
zone run with one defender left unblocked for the quarterback to read after the snap
also: read option · the read
inside Zone Read with a Bubble Screen attached to punish an overhang who joins the run fit
Spread Option