Playbooks
QB Power out of Shotgun Heavy Panther (23 personnel) is a designed QB run that pulls a blocker across the formation to lead the quarterback through the point of attack, giving you a true gap scheme run with a heavy backfield. The fullback and pulling lineman kick out the edge defender while the quarterback reads the play side alley for a crease, following his lead blocker downhill instead of progressing through a route tree. This is not a play-action or RPO look, it is a pure power run built to steal yards on the ground and put stress on defenses that sell out to stop the pass.
Identify the play side defensive end and outside linebacker alignment before the snap, if they are crashing hard inside the puller will have a clean kick out lane. Watch for a stacked box with eight or more defenders, this is the look most likely to blow up QB Power at the mesh point. Post snap, key the play side linebacker's downhill trigger, a slow reading linebacker gets sealed by the puller while an aggressive user linebacker can shoot the gap and force the quarterback to bounce outside. User the play side safety or overhang defender manually if you are on defense, since this run lives or dies on whether an unblocked defender can fill the alley before the puller arrives. Cover 0 and man blitz packages that bring extra bodies into the box are the biggest threat to this play, while base 4-3 or 3-4 fronts without extra run support are the easiest to exploit.
Call this on early downs or short yardage (3rd and 2 or less, goal line) when the defense shows a nickel or dime sub package that lacks gap integrity against a heavy run set.
Check the box count pre-snap, if the defense has fewer than six defenders in the box, this is an automatic favorable run.
Use the QB Blast from the same set as a change of pace on 4th and short since both plays attack downhill but Blast is quicker to the line while Power lets the puller develop.
Mix in Mtn Inside Zone and Mtn HB Dive from Heavy Panther to keep linebackers guessing between zone flow and gap schemes, then hit Power when they start flowing too fast to the zone side.
Avoid calling this against heavy blitz looks with extra defenders crashing the play side edge, since the puller can get engaged before reaching the alley.