Playbooks
Franchise Playsheet
Substation Spread
PlaysheetOffenseOverview
Substation Spread is a 33 play situational playsheet built around a two formation core: Shotgun with 18 plays across two sets (55%) and Singleback with 15 plays from a single set (45%). That is a tight menu by franchise standards, but it is still larger than 63% of the game's 42 offensive franchise playsheets, which means you get real depth inside a very small number of looks. The concept list tells you the intent: Y Cross, Levels, Crosser, Out, Corner, Post and a dedicated Cover 2 Beater sit next to Draw, Screen Pass, RPO and base Run Play calls. This is a route concept book first and a run book second, with the run game existing mostly to keep linebackers honest.
The formation concentration is the whole story here. Two sets of Shotgun carry the majority of the snaps, so you are living in 11 personnel (1 RB, 1 TE, 3 WR) with three receiver spacing, high low reads and horizontal stretches like Dash Flood and Bench. Singleback's lone set adds a second base look with the quarterback under center, which changes your run action timing and gives your Draw and Screen Pass calls a different visual. The 21 personnel (2 RB, 1 TE, 2 WR) grouping gives you a heavier option when you want a lead blocker or a second back in protection without leaving the formation families you already know.
Choosing Substation Spread over a wider book means trading formation variety for repetition. Because every play comes out of three sets, you can memorize the full route tree, know exactly which receiver is on the backside of every crosser and build one audible package that covers first, second and third down. Opponents get fewer new pictures to solve, but you get faster pre snap adjustments and cleaner post snap reads than a player flipping between eight formations. If you want a compact playsheet you can actually master in a franchise season, this is the profile.
Scheme Fit
Substation Spread wants a quarterback who can process intermediate crossing reads quickly and has enough mobility to execute RPO decisions, plus at least three receivers who can separate on Out, Corner and Post routes since 11 personnel carries most of the snaps. A receiving back with good catching and route running matters more than a pure power runner, because the ground game is built on Draw and Screen Pass timing rather than gap blocking, and your Singleback set is the only place you get true under center run action. Pick this playbook if you prefer mastering a small, repeatable menu and making your money with pre snap reads and hot routes rather than overwhelming opponents with formation variety.
Playsheet bonuses
- IUnlocks the playsheet
- II+3Pass BlockOL
- III+3CatchingHB & TE
- IV+5Short Accuracy, Deep AccuracyQB
Every play in this playsheet (33 plays)
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Strengths
- Two Shotgun sets covering 18 plays let you build a single audible package where Y Cross, Levels, Crosser and the Cover 2 Beater all come from identical alignments, so the defense cannot tell a deep crosser from a quick Out until the snap.
- Dedicated zone beaters and man beaters in the same formation family mean you can diagnose coverage pre snap and audible into the correct concept without changing personnel, which keeps your formation subs locked in all game.
- The Singleback set at 15 plays gives you an under center counterpunch to your Shotgun looks: Draw and Run Play calls sell downhill action while Screen Pass and Post calls punish defenders who crash the box.
- RPO tags inside a spread base let you attach a read to run action, so an unblocked edge defender or a crashing user controlled linebacker becomes a free decision rather than a lost play.
- Access to both 11 personnel (1 RB, 1 TE, 3 WR) and 21 personnel (2 RB, 1 TE, 2 WR) inside just three sets means you can swap between spread spacing and a two back protection look using the same motions, shifts and hot route habits.
Weaknesses
- Only 2 formations and 3 sets total, so an opponent who studies you for two quarters has seen essentially every alignment you own and can start pre snap shading your concepts.
- No tight formation families listed beyond Singleback and Shotgun, which leaves you without a true heavy goal line or short yardage identity when you need one yard on fourth down.
- The run menu is limited to Run Play and Draw concepts, meaning your ground game is finesse oriented and struggles to grind clock against a defense that commits to the box.
- Heavy reliance on crossing concepts (Y Cross, Crosser, Levels) makes you vulnerable to physical man coverage, robber users and any defender sitting in the intermediate middle of the field.
- With 55% of plays in Shotgun, opponents can default to pass heavy defensive calls and blitz packages knowing you rarely threaten them from under center outside your single Singleback set.
Usage Tips
Build your primary audible package entirely out of the two Shotgun sets so you can flip between Y Cross, Levels and the Cover 2 Beater on any down without burning a timeout or telegraphing a personnel change.
On second and medium, lean on the Singleback set: Draw and Run Play calls read identically to your Post and Screen Pass looks from the same alignment, which is where this book creates its best guesses for the defense.
Save Dash Flood and Bench style horizontal concepts for third down between six and twelve yards, and hot route the backside receiver to a quick Out when you see a single high shell rolling late.
Against man heavy opponents, motion a receiver across the formation from Shotgun before the snap to confirm coverage, then take the Crosser or Corner concept into the vacated side of the field.
Use the 21 personnel (2 RB, 1 TE, 2 WR) grouping in obvious blitz windows so you have a second back available for protection, and check to a Screen Pass when the defense shows an overloaded front.
Formations in this playbook
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