Playbooks

Roll King

Nickel·2-4·Nickel 2-4-5

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Quick Reference

FormationNickel

Set2-4

Personnel

Nickel 2-4-52 EDGESAM2 MIKEWILL3 CBFSSS

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Breakdown

Roll King is a play-action rollout concept out of Nickel 2-4-5 personnel that pulls the quarterback out of the pocket to the strong side while the offensive line shows down block action to sell the run fake. The route combo typically features a deep comeback or corner route from the outside receiver paired with a flat or drag underneath from the slot and tight end, giving the QB a high low read on the rolled side. This is a man beater at heart since the rollout shrinks the field and lets the QB throw on the run away from backside pressure, with the primary read progression starting on the flat defender to determine if the underneath route is open before working up to the comeback or corner behind it.

Defensive Reads

Read the flat defender first, if he widens with the tight end or slot release the comeback or corner route behind him is live. Watch for Cover 3 Cloud or Cover 3 Sky rotations, since a hard cloud corner sitting on the flat can jump the underneath route and bait a bad throw. Check strong safety depth before the snap, a safety cheating down into the box signals man coverage or a blitz look, which favors the deep comeback beating a trailing corner. Man coverage with no flat help is the easiest kill shot for this play, look for the corner staying on the boundary receiver with no underneath defender sinking into the throwing lane. Zone teams that roll a linebacker to spy the QB scramble lane can shut this down quickly, so recognize a hanging user linebacker mirroring the rollout and be ready to reset with the checkdown or throw it away.

Usage Tips

Call this on early downs or manageable third downs when you have already established inside zone or gap runs from Nickel 2-4-5 so the play fake actually holds linebackers for a beat.

Check the flat defender immediately after the roll, if he sinks with the underneath route the window opens up top for the comeback or corner throw.

Use the rollout to escape user controlled interior pressure or a delayed A gap blitz, since moving the pocket buys the QB extra time against nano blitz packages.

Pair Roll King with Roll Cover 3 Cloud or Roll Cover 2 Invert as defensive calls in the same set so your opponent cannot key on formation tendencies when you run this on offense.

Hot route the backside receiver into a quick out or drag if you diagnose zone pre-snap, since the boundary side is often left uncovered by the roll motion.