Playbooks
Quick Reference
Breakdown
Crack Toss is a run play out of Shotgun Bunch Str Nasty with 11 personnel, designed to attack the edge with a toss to the HB. The bunch alignment allows the receiver closest to the line to crack down on the first defender inside, while the offensive line pulls and seals for the toss man to bounce outside. This is a pure run play, not a man or zone beater in the passing sense, and the primary read is the crack block leading to the edge, forcing the ball carrier to decide whether to bounce outside or cut up inside off the alley defender.
Defensive Reads
Watch for the strong side defensive end or outside linebacker crashing down before the snap, since Crack Toss depends on that crack block to remove the first threat to the alley. If the defense is in a run stopping front with an extra linebacker or safety in the box, the crack block can get beat and blow up the play before it develops. User-controlled players who stay disciplined on the edge and refuse to bite on the toss action can string the play out and force a cutback into traffic. Look for the corner or slot defender aligned over the bunch receivers, if they are sitting inside they are vulnerable to the crack and cannot help in run support. Teams in nickel or dime packages with lighter boxes struggle to defend Crack Toss, while heavy fronts with an extra linebacker shut it down by beating the crack block at the point of attack.
Usage Tips
Run this out of Bunch Str Nasty on early downs when the defense shows a lighter box, since the crack block only wins if the edge defender is not already stacked with extra run support.
Check the alignment of the strong side linebacker and slot corner before the snap, if they are sitting outside the bunch it signals a crack read that can be exploited with the pulling linemen.
Pair this with Corndog Toss and Pin Pull Toss from the same set so the defense has to respect multiple toss concepts and cannot key on this specific crack action.
Use Crack Toss on second and short or first and ten to keep the defense honest, then mix in RPO Zone Peek or RPO Read Bubble from the same personnel to punish overaggressive run fits.
If the user controls the strong side linebacker and flows hard outside, take the natural cutback lane created by the crack block instead of forcing the bounce.
