Playbooks
Wb Dive is a Flexbone triple option staple that hands the ball to the wingback on a quick interior dive path, using the down blocks from the offensive line combined with a kick out or seal block at the point of attack to create a direct downhill crease. This is a run play, not a man or zone beater in the passing sense, but its design attacks fast flowing linebackers and gap integrity rather than coverage shells. The primary read progression is a pre-determined dive since the wingback gets the ball almost immediately, so the real read belongs to the offensive line: get movement on the playside double team and seal the backside pursuit so the wingback can hit the crease before linebackers scrape over the top.
Pre-snap, check the linebacker depth and box count: a stacked box with linebackers within four yards of the line signals the defense is sitting on the dive and you should consider a different play from the set. Look at the defensive line alignment; if the defense is running an odd front with a nose shaded to the play side gap, the dive lane gets clogged and this play struggles. Post-snap, key the backside linebacker's pursuit angle: if he flows hard and fast to the dive without respecting the option fake, that defender is either scheme disciplined or a user spy, and you should set up a counter with Midline Triple or Inside Veer Triple Opt to punish that overcommitment. Identify user-controlled defenders creeping down into the box before the snap, since a user spy on the dive can blow this play up if the offensive line does not get immediate movement. This play is shut down hard by gap-sound run defenses and heavy blitz packages that crash extra bodies inside, but it beats light boxes, two-high shells that are pass-focused, and defenses that are playing off to respect the option pitch and keep.
Run this out of a tight formation look to keep defenders honest before you start branching into Inside Veer Triple Opt and Midline Triple from the same set, since all three share the same initial dive action and force defenders to respect the interior run first.
Use Wb Dive on early downs, especially first and second and short to medium, to establish the run and bait linebackers into crashing down on the wingback path.
Watch pre-snap linebacker depth: if the mike and will are sitting shallow near the line of scrimmage, this play gets stopped for minimal gain, so consider checking to FB Zone Dive or PA FB Dive instead.
If the defense shows a light box with only six or seven defenders due to two high safeties, hammer Wb Dive repeatedly since there is a numbers advantage up front.
Sequence this play with PA Wb Post later in the drive once the defense starts keying the dive hard, since the play action off the same look can hit the post over the top of an overaggressive safety.