Playbooks

Escort Power Read Toss

Shotgun·Bunch TE·11
PowerTossMotionRun PlayPower Run
Play diagram for Escort Power Read Toss from Shotgun Bunch TE in Madden 27

Quick Reference

FormationShotgun

In 3 playbooks

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Breakdown

Escort Power Read Toss lines the QB up in Shotgun out of Bunch TE with the HB offset to the play side. At the snap the QB tosses the ball to the HB, who reads the blue lead blocker path in front of him while power blocking sets up a lane at the point of attack. This is a designed run play with an option read element, not a straight power scheme, since the HB path bends based on the flow of the lead blocker and the edge defender's leverage, making it a run scheme built to beat overaggressive fits and gap integrity blitzes. The primary read progression is the HB keying the edge defender off the toss action to decide whether to bend it wide or cut up inside the lead block.

Defensive Reads

Watch the play side linebacker depth before the snap, if he is stacked tight to the line he is likely blitzing the gap and the HB should bend the toss wider immediately. Identify whether the defense is in a run blitz or gap exchange scheme, since a hard crashing DE or OLB can be used against himself with the read bending back inside. Key the safety rotation post-snap, if the strong safety flies down fast to fill the alley this play gets shut down quickly and should be avoided on the next call. User controlled defenders flowing hard downhill from depth are the biggest threat to this concept, so avoid calling it when the opposing user is showing aggressive run support tendencies. Look for base 4-3 or 3-4 fronts without extra defensive backs, since those alignments have fewer athletes flowing to the edge and give the HB more room to operate.

Usage Tips

Use this against defenses that crash hard on the mesh point since the toss action buys the HB extra time to read the edge before committing to a lane.

Check the alignment of the play side EDGE and OLB pre-snap, if they are sitting outside the tackle box in a wide 9 technique the read favors cutting inside the lead blocker.

Pair this with Escort HB Split Zone in the same set to keep defenses guessing between inside zone action and outside toss action out of the same bunch look.

Run this on early downs, first and second and short to medium yardage, where defenses are more likely to sit in base fronts instead of nickel or dime packages built to stop the pass.

Motion pre-snap if available to identify man versus zone coverage, since a defender following the motion confirms man and tells you the backside is thinner for a cutback.

Other Plays in Bunch TE