Playbooks
QB Blast is a designed QB run out of Shotgun Wide 5wr that sends the quarterback straight up the middle behind the interior offensive line surge. The blocking scheme relies on the center and guards to seal gaps and create a lane, with the QB reading the initial blitz fit before deciding to hit the hole or bounce outside if the front collapses. This is not a man beater or zone beater in the passing sense since it is a pure downhill run play designed to punish light boxes and attack aggressive pass rush upfield momentum.
Pre-snap, count the box defenders and check safety depth since a single high safety or two deep shells often means fewer run defenders inside Watch for linebacker depth and alignment, if the mikes are sitting shallow and square to the line they are likely reading run fits quickly This play struggles against interior nano blitzes where user-controlled defenders shoot the A or B gaps immediately at the snap Cover 0 and all-out blitz calls with a spy or extra rusher up the middle can blow this play up before the QB reaches the line of scrimmage Look for defensive linemen crashing hard upfield off the edge, since that widens the interior lanes this play is designed to hit If the defense stays disciplined with linebackers reading mesh point and staying square, this play has no room to develop
Call this on early downs against light boxes with six or fewer defenders in the box to exploit numbers advantage
Use pre-snap motion or a hard count to bait linebackers into showing blitz, then snap it if the box stays light
Pair this with RPO Bubble QB Draw and QB Draw from the same set so the defense cannot key on run action out of this formation
Best in short yardage or goal line situations where the defense expects a pass from the wide 5wr personnel
If the defense shows Cover 0 or man pressure with no extra run support, QB Blast punishes the empty middle before the blitz arrives
Avoid calling this into stacked boxes with 8 or more defenders since the interior blocking cannot sustain against numbers