Playbooks
Quick Reference
Breakdown
Orbit PA HB Wheel starts with an orbit motion from the backfield before the play-action fake, sending that back on a wheel route up the sideline out of the boundary once the fake sells the run action. Off the play fake, the diagram shows a deep post from the outside receiver, a corner route breaking outside from the middle trips receiver, a deep in from the slot crossing underneath, and a shallow drag from the tight end side crossing the field to the flat away from the trips. The design stresses defenders horizontally and vertically at once, making it a strong man beater since the wheel route isolates a linebacker or nickel defender who has to carry the motion man out of the backfield. Primary read progression starts with the wheel route against man coverage, then works to the deep in and corner combo working the intermediate to deep zones if the wheel is capped.
Defensive Reads
Watch the linebacker or nickel defender responsible for the motion man before the snap, if he stays attached to the backfield in man technique the wheel route will win over the top almost every time. Identify two high safety shells since that usually means zone coverage underneath, which allows defenders to sink and wall off the wheel route while the deep in and corner routes become the better attack points. Key the flat defender on the tight end drag side, if he sits and squats in the flat he can undercut the shallow crosser but that opens grass behind him for the deep in route. Look for a user controlled defender lurking in the middle of the field, since the deep in and drag routes cross paths and a rover style user defender can jump either route if he reads the quarterback's eyes. Recognize blitz packages that bring extra rushers off the edge, since the play-action fake needs time to develop and a quick pressure package can force the quarterback off his primary wheel read before it opens.
Usage Tips
Check pre-snap for man coverage indicators like a linebacker shading over the backfield since the wheel route out of orbit motion is designed to exploit exactly that matchup.
If the defense shows zone shell with safeties rotating away from the trips side, look immediately to the deep in and corner combo since the wheel route gets taken away by underneath zone defenders sitting on flat routes.
Use the orbit motion pre-snap to diagnose man versus zone by watching if a defender follows the motion across the formation, this confirms man coverage and greenlights the wheel as your first read.
This play works best on second and long or third and medium situations where you need explosive plays down the field, since the wheel and corner routes both threaten for chunk yardage.
Pair this with Orbit RPO Zone Alert or Orbit Cross Screen earlier in a series so the defense respects the same orbit motion action, then hit them with the wheel route when they start jumping the short stuff.
