Labelle High School Football Training Manual Wide Receiver 1.

Position Attributes- the Wide Receiver should be an all-around athlete with decent speed as well as good hands for pass catching. This position requires good run blocking skills and good route running skills. Wide outs should be able to read defenses coverage and make adjustments on the run. Size does not matter. Wide receivers come in all shapes and sizes. The player must be under control and fluid when route running and pass catching. The player must be able to handle corners, safeties and linebackers in the veer blocking scheme. The player must know every offensive formation and be able to line up correctly as if it were second nature. He must be able to read and react to a certain defensive set. 2. Alignment and Stance - When in base alignment to the middle of the field the receiver to both the right and left will align at the bottom of the numbers on the field. Both the X and W receiver will have their inside toe on the line of scrimmage, always checking with referee to their side. They will have their inside foot up. Knees will be slightly bent with jersey numbers over toes, looking inside at the football. Hands can either be down in a relaxed position or up pointing at defender directly across. If the Base formation is to the left hash the wide receiver to the right will now split the difference with his alignment to between the numbers on the field and the next landmark which would be the hash mark. The wide receiver to the left will widen his alignment out to 2 yards from the sideline. Stances do not change. When on the right hash the receiver to the right will now be 2 yards from the sideline and the receiver to the left moves in to between the numbers and the hash mark. The wide receiver will be denoted either X or W with the W going to the call side on the line of scrimmage and the X going away from the call on the line.....example ( Base Right 14 Veer)....the X will go to the left and the W to the right. 3. Stalk Blocking- The wide out will have to stalk block in most occasions. The receiver should attack the near shoulder of the corner and as he gets within 4 yards of the defender begin to gear down and chop his feet rapidly. This allows the receiver to stay under control and take the defender out of the play. The receiver should never throw, or lunge at the defender as he may miss, potentially leaving a defensive back unblocked. The stalk block is not an aggressive block; it is used merely to tie-up a defender to allow the ball carrier to find running lanes in the perimeter of the defense. Upon gearing down and chopping the feet rapidly, the receiver should mirror the belt of the defender, and never losing leverage on him (positioning inside or outside). When contact is made the slot should shoot the hands into the breastplate of the defender, all the while continuing to chop the feet rapidly. The receiver should attempt to stay engaged with the defender the entire length of the play.

4. Cutoff Blocking- The cutoff technique will also occur on most plays. This will happen on the backside usually away from the play. The backside wide out must attempt to cutoff the backside defender from getting into a play that has been run away. This is simply and effort block which requires the wideout to outrun the defender and slow them down to the point of attack. The receiver will work to get in front of the defender and hinge their body into position to throw hands into the breastplate. The receiver will continue to drive the defender away from the play. The player may not always get great contact for both players are flowing in the same direction but just simply being in the way may be the difference between a decent

gain and a touchdown.

5. Cowboy/Indian Calls - The Cowboy scheme is a perimeter blocking scheme that simply tells the playside slot to stalk the near safety and the playside wideout to stalk block the corner. This is only run to MOFO coverage concepts, and usually indicates we are treating that side of the defense as a 3 count. When Indian is called, this simply means that the playside slot and playside wide receiver will switch their responsibilities. Now the slot will arc block the corner, and the wideout will crack block the safety. If we are running a playaction scheme the Indian call is added to mirror the Indian blocking scheme. An example would be Veer pass is based on either the slot seal blocking or Cowboy blocking as they look similar. However, if Veer pass Indian is called, the routes need to looks similar to the Indian blocking scheme, so the slot will run a wheel route (see Slot manual), and the wideout will run a post route.

COWBOY PERIMETER BLOCKING

INDIAN PERIMETER BLOCKING

6. The Crack Block - This is an opportunity to get the hit of the week on a defender, this may sometimes occur against a defenseless player. This block will come from the receiver on an Indian call from the outside in. The wide receiver will drop his inside foot and take a direct path to the identified defender. If that defender is not aware of him he will throw his block at chest level with his head in front of the defender and run through his path. If the defender is aware he must break down and use the stalk blocking technique not allowing that defender to cross his path to the outside. This block must be under control. If the defender gives his backplate and

numbers we simply break down and form a shield or basketball-like pick not allowing the defender to get to the outside.

7. Playbook- The veer offense is not a pass oriented offense. It is, at best, 8 to 10% pass. This makes each passing situation that much more important. Since we wont get many opportunities at the receiver position we must take advantage and make the best out of each. The passing game is a 3 digit play number where all the digits tell several players what to do. The receivers need to hear all 3 so they know what route to run, and how deep of a drop the QB is taking. The first number will tell the player what route to run from their respective position. The second numbers are the pass protection. Our 90 scheme is a 5 step drop by the QB, these are usually routes that will break deeper and on more steps than if a 91 or 92 is called. 91 and 92 are both 3-step drops by the QB, but the offensive line is using slide protection and will slide right if the last digit is even (ex. 92) or left if the last digit is odd. The B back always will block away on these calls. For example, if the call in the huddle is Base Right, 292 then the wide receivers and slots would run the 2 route combo, the offensive line would gap or slide protect to the right, and the B back would block to the left. If the call is Trips Right 090, the receivers and slots run the 0 route combination and the offensive line blocks big on big, while the B back always blocks to the right. On our playaction passing game the routes will be determined by the direction of the play call. This will occur with 13 and 14 veer pass and 37 and 38 waggle. Receivers may have a tagged route or a number combination, ex...814 veer pass tells the receivers to run the 8 route as determined by the route tree. Our sprint out passing game is the route, always followed by the numbers 88 or 99. 88 is sprint out to the right, and 99 is sprint out to the left. We can tag any routes we want to by calling the player name (ex. W) and the route. For instance we could go Trips Right, 888 W Comeback. Normally the W, on the 8 route, runs a takeoff/fade; however, in this case the call W Comeback trumps the 8 route call. This gives us extreme flexibility in our play calling in the passing game.

8. Wide Receiver Route Tree- Wide receivers must be able to run numerous pass routes at numerous depths. These routes will be determined by the play call. See above... A. Hitch- Vertical release pushing off of inside foot (no drop steps). Break down with numbers over toes at 5 to 6 yards. Plant on outside foot turning inside to face the QB in a football position. If ball is not there stay put, do not work back. B. Slant- Vertical release off on inside foot, make break at 45 degree angle on outside foot at third step. Pushing to third step should get 5 to 6 yards. Angle should take us beneath safeties and behind Linebackers. Look for ball immediately out of the break. Ball will be thrown into first open window...if not there keep working inside, do not stop. C. Takeoff or Fade- This route will be determined by our position on the field,

15 yard line and in Fade. Inside release off of inside foot, pressing the inside shoulder of the defender. Push to get onto defenders toes, once even fade to outside. If fade is run from the 15 and in look for ball as you get to defenders outside. If Takeoff is run out in the field look for ball at 18 to 20 yards downfield. Player must adjust to ball thrown over outside shoulder. D. Post- Push vertical at inside shoulder of defender off of inside foot. On 7th step make break on outside foot angle will be determined by coverage. If the middle of the field is open (MOFO) post will be skinny or less than 45 degrees. If middle of the field is closed we will "snap off the post" and bring it flat, almost parallel to LOS. E. Comeback- Vertical release off of inside foot to defenders outside shoulder. Player can "cheat alignment down to inside a yard or two to help with route and throw. Push to get onto defenders toes, selling the Fade or takeoff route. Once at 16 to 18 yards, break down with "numbers over toes" and plant on inside foot. Turn to outside coming back down a minus 45 degree stem toward LOS and sideline. Look for football out of break. Should be thrown to outside leading to sideline. F. Quick and Tunnel- Push off of inside foot and take one jab step to the LOS. Take two steps back and stay.ball should be there. Catch ball, get upfield. If Tunnel, same as above, however, do not stay work back towards QB parallel to LOS.

WR PASSING TREE