Playbooks
Quick Reference
Breakdown
Fake Screen Wheel is a play-action screen concept out of Shotgun Slot Right that sells a hitch or bubble look before releasing the outside receiver vertically. The diagram shows the outside X receiver faking a screen catch point before turning upfield into a wheel route while the inside slot receiver runs a short in toward the formation to sell the screen action, and a lone receiver on the backside runs a straight vertical release. The primary read progression starts with the wheel route as the shot play if the fake freezes a corner or safety, then works back to the vertical if the wheel is capped, using the screen fake to hold linebackers and underneath defenders for an extra beat.
Defensive Reads
Key the flat defender and outside corner pre-snap, if they are sitting low and squatting on the screen fake the wheel will be wide open behind them Check for a single high safety shell, this play is built to attack man coverage and Cover 3 where the corner has to fight through the screen fake before recovering vertically Watch for user-controlled defenders lurking near the flat, a smart human defender can sit on the double move and undercut the wheel route for a pick Cover 2 and Cover 4 shells with deep safety help over the top can shut this down by rotating a safety to the wheel side before the ball is snapped Read linebacker depth after the snap, if they bite hard on the screen fake and flow toward the line of scrimmage it confirms the wheel window will be clean
Usage Tips
Call this on early downs or second and short when defenses are primed to jump screen action based on tendency
Watch pre-snap for a corner or safety cheating up expecting a bubble or hitch screen since that is exactly who the wheel is designed to freeze
Use the backside vertical as a hot route outlet if the defense shows two high safeties and takes away the wheel with a deep half rotation
Pair this play in a sequence with HB Slip Screen or RPO Alert Bubble earlier in a series to condition the defense into biting on screen action before hitting the wheel
Avoid calling this against aggressive zone blitz packages that bring extra defenders underneath since the screen fake blocking won't hold up against unblocked pressure off the edge
