Playbooks
Quick Reference
Breakdown
HB Dive out of Singleback Wing Pair is a straight downhill run play designed to hit the A gap as fast as possible. The offensive line blocks a standard down block scheme with the fullback/wing sealing the edge, while the HB takes a quick handoff and reads the interior gap for a crease. This is not a man or zone beater in the passing sense since it is a pure run play, and the primary read progression for the ball carrier is A gap first, then bounce to either B gap if the middle is clogged.
Defensive Reads
Pre-snap, count the box defenders and check linebacker depth, if both linebackers are within 3 yards of the line of scrimmage they are likely sold out to stop this dive. Watch for a Mike linebacker showing blitz or walking into the A gap pre-snap, this is the biggest indicator the play will get blown up immediately. Post-snap, key the defensive tackles, if they are two-gapping and holding their ground rather than shooting gaps, the dive has almost no room to work. This play struggles badly against user-controlled defenders spying the A gap or any Cover 0 blitz package that sends extra bodies downhill. It hits well against zone coverage shells like Cover 3 or Cover 4 where linebackers are dropping into their zones instead of reading the run fit at the snap.
Usage Tips
Use this play when the defense shows a light box with 6 or fewer defenders before the snap, since HB Dive thrives against nickel and dime personnel that are not stacked to stop the run.
Pair this play with 0 1 Trap and Power O in your play-calling sequence to keep linebackers guessing between quick hitters and misdirection runs.
Snap the ball fast on obvious passing downs like 2nd and short to catch defenses in coverage-heavy shells with soft run fits.
Avoid calling this against defensive alignments with a stacked box of 7 or more, especially against Cover 0 or heavy blitz fronts where the A gap gets crashed immediately.
Mix in RPO Alert Dive Smoke and RPO Dive Alert Smoke from the same set to punish linebackers who bite hard on the initial dive action.
