Playbooks
Pats Drag Wheel is a trips-based man beater built around a wheel route out of the backfield paired with a shallow drag crossing underneath from the trips side. The RB releases to the flat and wheels vertically up the sideline to attack any linebacker or safety who tries to carry him in man coverage, while the drag occupies the shallow zone and pulls underneath defenders horizontally to open space behind them. The primary read starts with the drag route to see if the shallow defender leaves a window, then progresses to the wheel route as the number two blocking priority against man match-ups, with a backside dig or curl serving as the checkdown against soft zone drops.
Pre-snap, identify if the defense is showing a single high safety look such as Cover 1 or Cover 3, both shells put a linebacker or slot defender in man or short zone responsibility on the RB which is exactly what the wheel route wants to exploit Watch for a nickel defender or linebacker walked up tight over the RB pre-snap, that alignment often signals man coverage or a blitz package, and if he blitzes the wheel route becomes an even bigger explosive play threat since no one is left to carry the RB vertically Post-snap, track whether the underneath defender assigned to the RB sinks into a zone drop or turns and runs with the RB stride for stride, a zone drop opens the drag route immediately while a man turn opens the wheel for a big gain Beware of Cover 2 or Cover 4 shells with two deep safeties, the wheel route can get squeezed by a deep half safety rotating over, so lean on the drag route and backside comeback in those situations Watch for a user-controlled safety flying down to rob the wheel route, if you see a defender abandon deep responsibility to sit on the sideline that is a lurk read, so come off the wheel and find the drag or backside route instead
Check the leverage of the linebacker or nickel defender aligned over the RB before the snap, if he is playing tight to the line the wheel route has a strong chance to win against man coverage on the vertical break
Use motion or a hard count to bait the defense into revealing man versus zone, if the defender assigned to the RB shuffles with him at the snap instead of sinking into a zone drop that confirms man coverage and you should go directly to the wheel
Hot route the backside receiver into a deeper comeback or dig against zone shells like Cover 3 or Cover 4 so you have an answer if the underneath defenders sit on the drag and wheel combo
This play works best on second and medium to third and long because the drag route provides an easy underneath completion while the wheel stresses the defense vertically for a home run shot
Pair this call with Pats Cross or Y Off Trips Close earlier in a series so the defense starts keying on drag concepts, then hit them with the wheel route for the big play once linebackers start jumping underneath routes