Playbooks
Quick Reference
In 2 playbooks
Breakdown
PA HB Wheel from the Pistol Full House set shows a play-action fake to the backfield with the fullback releasing on a wheel route up the left sideline as the primary vertical shot. The QB carries out a hard play-action drop that holds linebackers before working to a two-man route combo on the right, a corner-breaking out route with a deep third read stemming off it. Underneath, a receiver runs a drag/crosser working from the right side of the formation back across the field to give a shorter checkdown against zone drops. This is a play-action man beater built to attack single high safety looks, with the wheel route as the first read and the crosser as the outlet if the wheel is capped.
Defensive Reads
Pre-snap, identify single high safety looks since this play is designed to isolate the wheel route against a linebacker or nickel defender in man coverage. Watch the flat defender at the snap, if he sits and reads the fullback instead of biting on run action, the wheel route gets undercut and the throw window disappears. Zone coverage with two deep safeties takes away the wheel's explosive potential, the deep half defender can rotate over to help on the sideline. Man coverage with an inside linebacker matched on the fullback is the weakest matchup for the defense, a speed mismatch on the wheel wins most reps. Watch for a user-controlled defender lurking near the crosser route, if the defense spy that lane, the checkdown option gets taken away and the QB has to hold the ball longer against the pass rush.
Usage Tips
Sell the run fake by letting the animation play out fully before looking downfield, this holds linebackers and freezes the second level defenders on the wheel route lane.
Use this on early downs or in run-heavy personnel counts when defenses are keying on HB Off Tackle or Counter Lead from this same set, the play-action fake plays off those exact run threats.
Check the flat and curl defenders pre-snap, if you see a linebacker widening to the fullback's release before the snap, hot route the crosser to a deeper option since the wheel window will get jumped.
Against man coverage look immediately to the wheel route for a big play down the sideline, against zone shells with a deep half safety rotate your eyes to the corner route on the right and use the crosser as your checkdown.
Pair this play in a sequence with HB Off Tackle and Counter Lead to establish the run threat first, then call PA HB Wheel to punish linebackers biting on the fake.
