It’s summer, and just about every team enters at least one 7-on-7 competition. As explained in an earlier article, opportunities at 7-on-7s can be maximized in several ways. Whether you are doing it on your own or as part of a competition, the field space most worked in is the red zone and pre-red zone.

In this area, vertical space begins to disappear as you move closer to the end zone. Stressing a defense with horizontal spacing is at a premium. Defenses will use a mix of man and zone coverage. A favorite way to stretch the field and clean up the box for easy identification of blitzes is through 3-by-2 empty formations.

At Baldwin Wallace, we like to include three plays from the empty package in this area. The first attacks from the 25- to the 17-yard-line. Within our passing game structure, we can pair concepts so that we run half of one concept on one side and half on the other. This creates both a horizontal and vertical stretch with part of our four vertical package on one side and what we call our cruise package on the other. The cruise package allows us to get into a smash route to the boundary. Most defenses will play two safeties against empty in this area. There is too much vertical space to get into man coverage. The main objective is to put the safeties in a bind. The play is diagrammed below.

The play can be seen in 7-on-7s, at practice, an during early season scrimmages and games. Unfortunately, you will see that the opportunities we had in the game go off the receiver’s face mask and are dropped.

The secondary is stressed to the breaking point with the concept. We tell the quarterback to expect the outside receiver running up the field hash to come open. We confirm our reads post-snap, working our eyes from the corner into the boundary across the concept. This is a read that Dan Gonzalez calls a scan. The idea is to work the quarterback’s eyes across the field seeing out in front of the receivers.  

 

 

The next concept we use is our spacing concept on one side paired with our cruise concept to the boundary. We like this against man and zone coverages from the 16-yard line and in.

In this area, the end line becomes an advantage to the defense ,and man coverage is more viable. However, we have routes breaking away to the corners – or post if available – and running away from defenders on shallow crossers or flats. Defenses like to play lanes coverage with a defender playing within a vertical space. This route also stresses that type of coverage as it will put a receiver in front and behind the defender playing in the outside lanes.

 

 

In the video you see us working this in spring 7-on-7s, at camp and in games. 

Our third concept in this area is our stick/slant play. We like this play anywhere in the red zone.

To the field, we run a stick concept and to the boundary we run the slant. We use a read that Dan Gonzalez prefers called a ram read (read away from mike). The idea is for the quarterback to key the middle linebacker and throw opposite of his drop. Our slant receivers understand that they must get inside the next linebacker to the open window.

We give the quarterback the ability to adjust this package by changing the routes from the boundary. You will see in the first game clip that the quarterback changes the routes to fade and flat, though the slant would have been a good choice to beat the blitz.

The second clip shows the quarterback changing to stick draw vs. a 3-2 box. This is a good choice as we expand defenders with the stick concept and he is able to keep it on the draw for the touchdown. The stick draw still uses a ram read with the decision being between the stick and the keep on the draw.

 

 

This is a great package to use in 7-on-7 scrimmages and as part of your red zone package. Regardless of what you use in this area, find ways to optimize the time and reps you have this summer.