Playbooks
Kickoff Deep Left is a special teams kickoff play from the Nfl Kickoff set that sends the kick toward the left hash for the return unit to field. This is not a route concept or blocking scheme in the traditional offensive sense, it is a directional kickoff aimed at forcing the return man to field the ball on the left side of the field. The primary read progression for the kicking team is coverage lane discipline, with gunners on the left flowing hard to contain while the kicker aims for hang time or distance depending on game situation.
Watch the return man's pre-snap depth and alignment, if he is shaded right the deep left kick forces him to adjust his angle and lose rhythm Key the return team's wall blocking scheme, a heavy right side wall means the ball going left disrupts their blocking numbers Track your gunners' release lanes off the snap, the left side gunner needs a clean path since the ball is funneling returns to that side Identify if the return team is using a middle return scheme versus a sideline return, deep left kicks counter middle return designs by forcing lateral movement Watch for a modified return look with extra blockers stacked left, this signals the return team expects the deep left kick and has adjusted its wall to match
Use Kickoff Deep Left when you want to pin the return man toward the left sideline and shrink his running lanes on that side of the field
Check pre-snap whether the return team has stacked blockers to the right, which signals you should kick away from that strength by going left
Adjust kick power based on down and distance context, a full power deep left kick favors touchback situations when you have a lead late in the game
Pair this with Kickoff Deep Right and Kickoff Deep Middle in the same drive to keep the return man guessing on directional tendencies
On short field situations after a big defensive stop, consider a lower power deep left kick to pin deep and rely on your coverage unit lanes rather than always kicking for touchback