Playbooks
Quick Reference
Breakdown
Falcon Wheel out of Shotgun Tight Flex 11 personnel sends the outside receiver on a deep vertical wheel route up the sideline while the two inside receivers run crossing patterns underneath, one sitting on a shallow drag away from the wheel side and the other clearing out on a corner breaking route. The back releases out of the backfield on a flat route to the opposite side, giving the quarterback a built-in checkdown against pressure. This is a man beater designed to isolate the wheel route against a linebacker or slower defender in coverage, with the primary read progression starting on the wheel, working to the deep crossing route, then down to the flat route as the checkdown.
Defensive Reads
Pre-snap, identify whether a linebacker or slower defender is aligned over the wheel route runner, this is the key indicator the play is designed to exploit Watch for a single high safety shell, if the safety cheats to the wheel side before the snap the offense should expect the play to be covered top down Post-snap, look for a user controlled defender flashing into a deep third or lurking in the intermediate zone, this can jump both the wheel and the crossing route if not accounted for Cover 3 and Cover 4 shells with disciplined deep defenders shut this play down since they have numbers and depth to cover the wheel route without leaving the crossing routes wide open Blitz packages that bring six or more defenders can beat this if the offensive line does not pick up extra rushers, so check protection and be ready to check into the flat route as an immediate answer
Usage Tips
Attack man coverage by reading the pre-snap alignment of the defender over your slot or TE running the wheel, since linebackers and safeties in man cannot stay in stride on the vertical break
Use motion or a quick glance to confirm man versus zone before the snap, if the defense rotates a safety over the top late, be ready to work the crossing route instead of forcing the wheel
Hot route the flat route back to a flat or drag if you expect a blitz, this gives you a faster outlet against nano blitzes and five man pressure looks
Best called on second or third and medium when defenses are more likely to sit in man beater friendly coverages like Cover 1 or Cover 0
Pair this with Falcon Cross or Mtn Y Cross from the same set to keep defenders guessing, since the crossing route action looks identical presnap but attacks different levels of the field
