Playbooks
At a Glance
Overview
H Tight Close is the heaviest, most compressed look in Strong I. You are in 22 personnel with two backs stacked behind the quarterback and both tight ends tucked in tight to the tackles, with the H aligned close rather than flexed or split wide. Compared to the base Strong I sets that push a receiver out to create a numbers count on the perimeter, H Tight Close voluntarily gives up width to buy leverage at the point of attack. Every defender the opponent wants in the box has to be in the box, which means your run game is attacking a defined front instead of guessing at rotated safeties and walked out nickel help.
Strengths
- Counter Weak and Power O out of a compressed two back look give you two different pullers hitting two different gaps from an identical pre-snap picture, which forces users to guess wrong on the initial read.
- Stutter Go's is a legitimate play action shot from a run heavy shell, and with both tight ends tucked in you often get single high coverage with a linebacker responsible for a seam that he cannot carry.
- Y Trail works as a clean man beater from tight alignment because the drag and the trailing route cross defenders in traffic, and the compressed splits create natural rub situations without motioning anyone.
- PA Slide and PA Power O sell the same downhill run action, so aggressive users biting on the mesh point leave the flat and the intermediate crosser uncovered.
- HB Misdirection and HB Blunt Dive punish over commitment to the strong side, and the Gadget tag gives you a change of pace look that heavy nickel and dime users are not prepared to fit.
Weaknesses
- Tight splits mean your outside releases are slow to develop, so edge pressure and A gap nano blitzes get home before Stutter Go's or the deeper Y Trail concepts finish.
- There is no true field stretching receiver aligned wide, so a single high user can play centerfield without fear and squeeze every intermediate window.
- Opponents who recognize 22 personnel simply stay in base or a heavy front, load the box, and dare you to throw, which shrinks your effective playbook to a handful of concepts.
- Both tight ends and both backs mean your pass protection is fine but your route distribution is short and condensed, making it easy for a user linebacker to sit in the middle and rob the crossers.
- Second and long or third and long from this set is a bad spot, since your only real answers are play action shots that require the defense to still respect the run.
Usage Tips
Establish Power O and Counter Weak early so the play action package has teeth, then go to PA Power O and Stutter Go's once the opponent starts flowing hard to the pull side.
Check the safety depth and box count pre snap: two high with six in the box is a run call, single high with seven or more is a play action or Y Trail call.
Hot route a tight end to a corner or streak when you see a linebacker aligned over him, since that is the matchup this set is designed to create and users rarely have help outside the numbers.
Use HB Misdirection and HB Blunt Dive on second and short or in four minute offense to bleed clock while keeping the same downhill presentation as your base run game.
Motion the H across the formation to identify man versus zone, then audible to Counter Weak if the defense declares man and the box stays light.
