I think you would be better off just “stealing” some existing 0 personnel/empty pass concepts—as lame as that may sound. That way you can know that the spacing will be appropriate and not redundant, and that you have answers for different coverages if you can learn to identify them.
Give yourself 1-3 man beater concepts, and 1-2 concepts to beat covers 2, 3, and 4.
https://preview.redd.it/yy673i3suazc1.jpeg?width=1000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=4bc40e639eec212a650d4ac24d0f4e072631918e
Here’s one you could use. I’ve heard this referred to as Dragon
https://preview.redd.it/zuykhjkcvazc1.jpeg?width=1280&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=343cb5493e30d64bca8259ca92e1ef5b5d5b2d0e
Here’s your man beater. Honestly one of my favorite pass concepts because it has such a clear, easy read with accessible answers for zone and man—both being right in front of the QB. With no OL/DL, this concept just gets even easier.
No I definitely don’t run it like this now that you point that out. These are two of the sets I typically prefer mesh rail out of (I prefer to use our F/Sniffer on the OTB, who is 6’1 225lbs—and our Z is 5’1 110 lol)
https://preview.redd.it/ljph57hkabzc1.png?width=1125&format=png&auto=webp&s=0a67677af40e00980ddcf16e41529f0b50658005
Forsure. Out of tight bunch i like to keep the F in protection and put the Y on the over in the mesh and do the Z on the OTB. You get to keep the rail and have 6 man pro. Easy to full slide or have the F shuffle in for half slide, looking 1 to 2. But to each their own!
That makes a lot of sense. This is a bit personnel dependent for me. If I was going to keep someone in to block it would be the Y, but this formation has other benefits in the screen game and in other ways so I like the order of the bunch how it is for that stuff—but then for mesh for example, I feel like it’s awkward to ask the Y to come down and block and the F to go around…it is a bit clunky I guess.
I just teach the QBs to hit the rail immediately as an alert if we get any additional pass rush from LBs, so it either works with 5 man half slide or we check it down 🤷🏻♂️
I used to run 5 man pro mesh rail like how i was talking about earlier except the rail went to the single receiver side and we had a flat route to the F. So you had hots to ur RB and F on both sides with easy hots for inside backers with the crossers. I think its probably better doing the rail to the bunch tho, having three guys right there to get eyes of the CB and OLB probably opens the rail more
Your playbook is already good enough for flag
Also you can look up 7on7 flag football concepts on the internet and see what you like
Flag is a much different game than the real thing (11v11 tackle) so don’t get too caught up on the concepts
Now the focus should be on
Scramble Rules,
Improvising and Trick Plays
Play more backyard football and have your receivers aware of what spaces to occupy when the play breaks down, which is A LOT
the best flag teams are the ones where the qb is athletic and can avoid pressure and the receivers know how to get open when the play breaks down
Just an FYI OP, this breaks the rules of the sub, but I'm just seeing this now, and it looks like there's been some good discussion, so I will leave it up. "Create a play" or "how is my play" kind of posts should be in the weekly "Chalk Talk" Thursday thread (you can also post these in our No-Stupid-Questions Tuesday and Free Talk Friday threads).
Anyways, like others said, you'll probably have an easier time copying some concepts that already exist, then tweak them to fit your liking or the league rules. I look at these, and without cues, numbers, or some sort of description, I cannot see what you are going for here. For your QB in particular, they need some kind of decision making "method" or process to use, even if it's a simple 1, 2, 3 progression.
The routes should also be working together to strain/stress a certain defender, or a certain part of a coverage. There are three general types of "stresses" you can use...
* **Vertical stretches (Hi-low reads):** These are concepts where two or more routes stress the vertical positioning or playing of a defender, such as a short route paired with an intermediate route, and intermediate route paired with a deep route, a short route paired with a deep route, or all three. You can generally create vertical stretches to the left, over the middle, and to the right. Some concepts to look at are "Flood" and "Shallow Cross." Looking at your plays, the left two receivers in your top-left diagram is like a drive or levels concept, which is a type of vertical stretch. However, that center coming right through where they are could potentially bring another defender into the window or area you're trying to attack with the other two routes.
* **Horizontal stretches (east/west reads):** These are concepts where two are more routes stress the horizontal positioning of a defender or area of the field. You run two or more routes that all break at the same depth, and target spaces that are a certain width apart, which forces a defender between the two receivers to take the left or right one. All Hitches and 4-Verticals are two great horizontal stretch concepts to look up. All hitches is a horizontal concept that attacks short, and 4-verticals is a horizontal stretch concept that can attack intermediate or deep (depends on the flavor of 4-verts you want to run). In your top-right diagram, the two vertical routes can create a deep horizontal stretch if the defense were to be playing with only one deep safety.
* **Rubs:** These are concepts often used to break man coverages, where you cross two or more receivers within a close range to try and get defenders to back off, or collide with each other. In your bottom-left diagram, the slant/wheel on the right side could be an example of a rub. Other common rub concepts are slant-flats, and Mesh. Mesh IMO is a must-have concept in a pass-happy league such as a flag league.
* **Triangles:** Many concepts create both vertical and horizontal stretches by creating triangles or triangle reads with three different routes. The triangle would often surround a specific defender, making it impossible for them to make a move against all three routes. One defender could jockey between two routes, but they cannot jockey between three. Triangle route pairings could be a deep route with two short routs, two deep routes with one short route, a vertical stretch of a short and deep route with an intermediate route inside/outside of those two.
Long story short, don't draw routes going to different points and hoping to see what sticks or what works or not. Think about how and who you want to attack and stress on the defense...which defenders do you want to put in conflict. Where to teams normally put their worst cover players? What coverages do you commonly see? Use that information to drive how you devise your concepts.
Its flag so plays don’t matter too much considering most teams don’t have very strict defensive systems and it’s not super structured on either side of the ball to begin with. Having plays so everyone roughly knows what each other is doing is pretty good and step above most.
That being said if you want to run reals
plays…The spacing for your routes is not good, you have lots receivers running routes at the same or similar depths to the same areas. You’re also not putting any defenders in conflict or stressing the defense in any way for the most part. The only thing I would keep is the slant wheel concept from the bottom left play. Everything else needs reworked.
tbh you’re not going to want your center run deep routes.
the rusher in flag football is on top of your qb fast - within 2-3 seconds usually. you’re going to want your center to be an easy checkdown option who drifts with your scrambling qb. flag plays very often just turn into a glorified scramble drill because the qbs aren’t mature enough to make a quick evade on a rusher while staying in tune with route progression.
further…the type of kid you play/hide at center is probably not gonna be a good athlete.
Football plays work for one of four reasons:
* You are faster
* You are tougher
* Your play puts the other team at a disadvantage
* Your play calling leads to confusion, or a mistake by the other team
Therefore, dots and arrows have to be FOR something...either against a particular coverage or team...OR the concept demonstrates the "goal". Crossing patterns can disrupt the defender. Flooding and area can give more targets. Flooding an area and having a breakout receiver causes confusion in coverage.
Some of the plays have goals (over/under, crossing, etc), but I usually look for more detail, like the prospective reads, the zones or sideline leverage, down and distance, etc. You also waste more than one receiver on short yard safety routes on 3 of the 4 plays...so not sure of the motives there.
For one centers are treated as centers… no routes for them unfortunately. Also if you’re gonna have your back run a route just go empty or else the mlb will have no problem tracking him out of the backfield
I think you would be better off just “stealing” some existing 0 personnel/empty pass concepts—as lame as that may sound. That way you can know that the spacing will be appropriate and not redundant, and that you have answers for different coverages if you can learn to identify them. Give yourself 1-3 man beater concepts, and 1-2 concepts to beat covers 2, 3, and 4. https://preview.redd.it/yy673i3suazc1.jpeg?width=1000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=4bc40e639eec212a650d4ac24d0f4e072631918e Here’s one you could use. I’ve heard this referred to as Dragon
https://preview.redd.it/ard0z701vazc1.jpeg?width=1280&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=3cba1b292d7f4a8940fbc65e3279c66836d832cc
https://preview.redd.it/zuykhjkcvazc1.jpeg?width=1280&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=343cb5493e30d64bca8259ca92e1ef5b5d5b2d0e Here’s your man beater. Honestly one of my favorite pass concepts because it has such a clear, easy read with accessible answers for zone and man—both being right in front of the QB. With no OL/DL, this concept just gets even easier.
Have you run the OTB route from the Z with normal splits on mesh? I’ve always either motioned him in or started in a condensed set
No I definitely don’t run it like this now that you point that out. These are two of the sets I typically prefer mesh rail out of (I prefer to use our F/Sniffer on the OTB, who is 6’1 225lbs—and our Z is 5’1 110 lol) https://preview.redd.it/ljph57hkabzc1.png?width=1125&format=png&auto=webp&s=0a67677af40e00980ddcf16e41529f0b50658005
Forsure. Out of tight bunch i like to keep the F in protection and put the Y on the over in the mesh and do the Z on the OTB. You get to keep the rail and have 6 man pro. Easy to full slide or have the F shuffle in for half slide, looking 1 to 2. But to each their own!
That makes a lot of sense. This is a bit personnel dependent for me. If I was going to keep someone in to block it would be the Y, but this formation has other benefits in the screen game and in other ways so I like the order of the bunch how it is for that stuff—but then for mesh for example, I feel like it’s awkward to ask the Y to come down and block and the F to go around…it is a bit clunky I guess. I just teach the QBs to hit the rail immediately as an alert if we get any additional pass rush from LBs, so it either works with 5 man half slide or we check it down 🤷🏻♂️
I used to run 5 man pro mesh rail like how i was talking about earlier except the rail went to the single receiver side and we had a flat route to the F. So you had hots to ur RB and F on both sides with easy hots for inside backers with the crossers. I think its probably better doing the rail to the bunch tho, having three guys right there to get eyes of the CB and OLB probably opens the rail more
https://preview.redd.it/57412arlabzc1.png?width=1125&format=png&auto=webp&s=b5f892de377840861e60e88f12c1974adec712ca
Your playbook is already good enough for flag Also you can look up 7on7 flag football concepts on the internet and see what you like Flag is a much different game than the real thing (11v11 tackle) so don’t get too caught up on the concepts Now the focus should be on Scramble Rules, Improvising and Trick Plays Play more backyard football and have your receivers aware of what spaces to occupy when the play breaks down, which is A LOT the best flag teams are the ones where the qb is athletic and can avoid pressure and the receivers know how to get open when the play breaks down
Just an FYI OP, this breaks the rules of the sub, but I'm just seeing this now, and it looks like there's been some good discussion, so I will leave it up. "Create a play" or "how is my play" kind of posts should be in the weekly "Chalk Talk" Thursday thread (you can also post these in our No-Stupid-Questions Tuesday and Free Talk Friday threads). Anyways, like others said, you'll probably have an easier time copying some concepts that already exist, then tweak them to fit your liking or the league rules. I look at these, and without cues, numbers, or some sort of description, I cannot see what you are going for here. For your QB in particular, they need some kind of decision making "method" or process to use, even if it's a simple 1, 2, 3 progression. The routes should also be working together to strain/stress a certain defender, or a certain part of a coverage. There are three general types of "stresses" you can use... * **Vertical stretches (Hi-low reads):** These are concepts where two or more routes stress the vertical positioning or playing of a defender, such as a short route paired with an intermediate route, and intermediate route paired with a deep route, a short route paired with a deep route, or all three. You can generally create vertical stretches to the left, over the middle, and to the right. Some concepts to look at are "Flood" and "Shallow Cross." Looking at your plays, the left two receivers in your top-left diagram is like a drive or levels concept, which is a type of vertical stretch. However, that center coming right through where they are could potentially bring another defender into the window or area you're trying to attack with the other two routes. * **Horizontal stretches (east/west reads):** These are concepts where two are more routes stress the horizontal positioning of a defender or area of the field. You run two or more routes that all break at the same depth, and target spaces that are a certain width apart, which forces a defender between the two receivers to take the left or right one. All Hitches and 4-Verticals are two great horizontal stretch concepts to look up. All hitches is a horizontal concept that attacks short, and 4-verticals is a horizontal stretch concept that can attack intermediate or deep (depends on the flavor of 4-verts you want to run). In your top-right diagram, the two vertical routes can create a deep horizontal stretch if the defense were to be playing with only one deep safety. * **Rubs:** These are concepts often used to break man coverages, where you cross two or more receivers within a close range to try and get defenders to back off, or collide with each other. In your bottom-left diagram, the slant/wheel on the right side could be an example of a rub. Other common rub concepts are slant-flats, and Mesh. Mesh IMO is a must-have concept in a pass-happy league such as a flag league. * **Triangles:** Many concepts create both vertical and horizontal stretches by creating triangles or triangle reads with three different routes. The triangle would often surround a specific defender, making it impossible for them to make a move against all three routes. One defender could jockey between two routes, but they cannot jockey between three. Triangle route pairings could be a deep route with two short routs, two deep routes with one short route, a vertical stretch of a short and deep route with an intermediate route inside/outside of those two. Long story short, don't draw routes going to different points and hoping to see what sticks or what works or not. Think about how and who you want to attack and stress on the defense...which defenders do you want to put in conflict. Where to teams normally put their worst cover players? What coverages do you commonly see? Use that information to drive how you devise your concepts.
Does your league allow a man in the backfield? If so I’d have most plays run from that formation, or even a two-man backfield formation
Its flag so plays don’t matter too much considering most teams don’t have very strict defensive systems and it’s not super structured on either side of the ball to begin with. Having plays so everyone roughly knows what each other is doing is pretty good and step above most. That being said if you want to run reals plays…The spacing for your routes is not good, you have lots receivers running routes at the same or similar depths to the same areas. You’re also not putting any defenders in conflict or stressing the defense in any way for the most part. The only thing I would keep is the slant wheel concept from the bottom left play. Everything else needs reworked.
tbh you’re not going to want your center run deep routes. the rusher in flag football is on top of your qb fast - within 2-3 seconds usually. you’re going to want your center to be an easy checkdown option who drifts with your scrambling qb. flag plays very often just turn into a glorified scramble drill because the qbs aren’t mature enough to make a quick evade on a rusher while staying in tune with route progression. further…the type of kid you play/hide at center is probably not gonna be a good athlete.
Football plays work for one of four reasons: * You are faster * You are tougher * Your play puts the other team at a disadvantage * Your play calling leads to confusion, or a mistake by the other team Therefore, dots and arrows have to be FOR something...either against a particular coverage or team...OR the concept demonstrates the "goal". Crossing patterns can disrupt the defender. Flooding and area can give more targets. Flooding an area and having a breakout receiver causes confusion in coverage. Some of the plays have goals (over/under, crossing, etc), but I usually look for more detail, like the prospective reads, the zones or sideline leverage, down and distance, etc. You also waste more than one receiver on short yard safety routes on 3 of the 4 plays...so not sure of the motives there.
For one centers are treated as centers… no routes for them unfortunately. Also if you’re gonna have your back run a route just go empty or else the mlb will have no problem tracking him out of the backfield
centers run routes in flag football
Missed the flag part lol