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Breakdown
HB Toss out of Singleback Doubles North is a pure outside run play designed to get the HB to the edge before the defense can flow to the ball. The diagram shows the offensive line firing out to reach block down the line while the two receivers on the strongside (top of the formation) stalk block their assigned corners, with the backside WR held in as a solo blocker as well. The HB takes the toss and immediately presses toward the sideline (the red arrow shows the lateral path), reading the edge defender and pulling blockers to decide whether to bounce outside or cut upfield once the alley opens.
Defensive Reads
Watch for aggressive edge defenders who are crashing hard inside on run reads, since that opens a cutback lane behind the toss action. Identify if the defense is in a run blitz or has walked a linebacker into the box pre-snap, which can beat the toss to the edge before the stalk blocks set up. Key the strongside cornerback's leverage. If he is playing tight outside leverage with safety help over the top, the perimeter blocks will struggle to seal him and the toss gets strung out. Look for user-controlled defenders flying downhill from depth, since a good user linebacker or safety can close the alley faster than the blocking scheme can react. Against zone coverages with soft corners, the stalk blocks are easier to win, but versus press-man or Cover 2 with hard outside leverage, this run play is more likely to get bottled up at the line.
Usage Tips
Run this from run-heavy personnel packages when the defense shows a light box or the safeties are rotated away from the toss side, since the play lives on winning the numbers game on the edge.
Check the strongside cornerback and safety depth before the snap. If they are playing off coverage or bailing into deep zones, the stalk blocks on the perimeter will spring the toss for a big gain.
Use jet sweep motion or a similar pre-snap shift from this same set (Jet Sweep or PA Jet Sweep) earlier in the sequence so the defense starts overplaying outside runs, then hit them with HB Toss or counter with HB Dive to keep the linebackers honest.
User your HB manually as soon as he catches the toss so you can make your own cutback read instead of relying on the CPU logic, especially against fast-flowing linebackers.
Avoid calling this into stacked fronts with extra defenders already aligned outside the tackle box, since the numbers on the edge will not favor the offense.
