Playbooks
Landingzone Safety Return Right is a designed kickoff return that sets up a wedge and alley blocking scheme to funnel the return man toward the right hash and sideline. Blockers align to seal the first wave of coverage defenders inside while the return man reads a lead blocker escorting him through the right alley before turning up field. This is a special teams return play, not a man or zone beater in the traditional sense, and the primary read progression is the return man keying his personal escort blocker off the front wedge, then transitioning to the open grass created on the right side once the initial coverage is engaged.
Identify the gunners releasing off the line first since they are the fastest defenders in coverage and dictate how quickly you need to commit to the right alley. Watch for a hard contain defender crashing down the sideline early, which signals an aggressive coverage scheme designed to force the return back inside. Key the wedge defenders in the middle of the field, if they widen out to the right the coverage team is anticipating this exact return direction and you should consider setting up a cutback. Look for a safety or extra defensive back inserted into the return lane late, which usually means the coverage unit disguised its intentions and adjusted after seeing your formation strength. If the coverage team consistently overloads the right side after seeing this look, switch to Landingzone Safety Return Left or Middle to keep them honest and prevent a big special teams stop.
Call this return when the coverage team shows a lane bias toward the left hash, since Safety Return Right exploits vacated space on the right side.
Watch the kicker approach angle pre-snap because a deep kick to the right corner sets up the blocking scheme better than a squib or a kick that forces the return man to redirect.
Use the right joystick or user control on your lead blocker to manually seal the most dangerous outside contain defender rather than trusting the CPU block every time.
Mix this with Landingzone Safety Return Left and Landingzone Safety Return Middle across a game so the coverage unit cannot key on a consistent return lane based on formation alone.
On short kicks or low hang time situations, consider Landingzone Heavy Safety Return Right instead since the extra blocker helps against faster coverage teams closing quickly.