Playbooks
Will Go Fire 3 is a Cover 3 zone blitz out of the Under 4-2-5 Big Nickel personnel that sends the Will linebacker off the edge while dropping into a three deep, four under shell behind him. The Sam and remaining underneath defenders rob the shallow to intermediate zones while the deep thirds stay true to eliminate big plays over the top. This is a zone blitz designed to disguise pressure while still playing sound coverage behind it, so the primary read for the defense is confirming the Will's rush lane get home before the quarterback can climb the pocket, with the underneath zone defenders reading the QB's eyes for check downs and crossers once the rush is picked up.
Watch the running back's alignment pre-snap, if he is set to the Will's side he can chip or pick up the blitz and neutralize the pressure entirely Check for max protect or six plus blockers, which usually means the Will Go Fire 3 rush gets swallowed and you are relying purely on the three deep, four under zone to hold up This look is vulnerable to quick hitting slants and stick concepts to the flat opposite the blitz, since the vacated underneath zone on the pressure side can be exploited before the rush arrives It beats man beater route combos that need extra time to develop, like deep crossers or double moves, because the added rush disrupts timing based passing concepts Watch out for hot route adjustments from the offense that flood the zone vacated by the blitzing Will linebacker, since that is the built in answer to this pressure
Call this on early downs against teams that lean on quick game or shotgun spread sets where the offense is prone to slide protection that leaves the Will's rush lane unaccounted for
Pre-snap, identify if the offense is in max protect or has extra blockers on the play side, since that tells you if the Will Go Fire 3 blitz will actually get an unblocked runner
Use user control on the Will linebacker to time the snap count and get a jump on the rush, then spy the quarterback's first read if he is a scrambler
Pair this with Cover 3 Match and Sam Blitz 2 in the same set to keep the offense guessing between a standard zone drop, a Will pressure look, and a Sam pressure look from a nearly identical pre-snap picture
Best used on second and medium or third and long where the offense is likely to run a dropback pass and give your rush lane time to develop