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Quick Reference
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Breakdown
QB Blast is a designed QB run out of Shotgun Trio HB Wk that sends the quarterback straight up the gut behind an interior surge from the offensive line. The three receivers stay uninvolved as decoys on vertical stems while the HB fakes into the mesh point, pulling the second level defenders and linebackers away from the point of attack. This is a pure gap run play, not a man or zone beater in the passing sense, and the primary read is simply following the block up front and picking the correct crease based on how the defensive line and second level flow to the play side.
Defensive Reads
Watch for a stacked box with linebackers creeping to the line pre-snap, since that signals the defense is selling out on the interior run and will clog the blast lane. Identify Cover 1 or Cover 3 shells with corners playing off the vertical releases, this tells you the defense is not selling extra bodies into the box and the middle should be softer. Post-snap, key the defensive tackles and any A gap blitzer, if they crash hard down inside the QB has a cutback lane to the play side edge. User controlled defenders spying the quarterback are the biggest threat, if you see a linebacker hanging in the backfield instead of flowing to run fits, expect them to trigger on the mesh point. Heavy blitz packages with extra rushers off the edge do not beat this play well since it attacks the interior, but a disciplined defensive line that holds gaps and does not overpursue can force the QB into a pile with no lane.
Usage Tips
Call this on short yardage and goal line situations, especially 3rd or 4th and 1, where the extra gap integrity of a QB run catches defenses sitting on HB dive or pass sets.
Check the box count pre-snap. If the defense has six or fewer in the box you have a numbers advantage up front for the QB to squeeze through.
Use the three vertical stems from the receivers to bait Cover 1 or Cover 3 corners into deep drops, clearing underneath space if the defense blitzes and you need to bail into a scramble.
Pair this with Inside Zone and Wide Zone from the same set so linebackers cannot sit on the QB keeper look, keeping run fits honest.
Mix in Speed Option and Buck Sweep Read Opt to keep second level defenders guessing between dive, option keep, and this designed QB blast, creating hesitation that opens bigger lanes.
