Playbooks
At a Glance
Overview
The Jumbo set in Strong I is the heaviest look in the formation. It runs 23 personnel: two backs and three tight ends, with no wide receivers on the field. The fullback offsets to the strength side ahead of the halfback, and the tight ends stack the line to create extra gaps and an eight man front on your side of the ball. Other Strong I sets keep at least one or two receivers split out. Jumbo removes all perimeter width, which forces the defense to match with goal line or heavy base personnel or risk getting physically outmatched at the point of attack.
The set is built for downhill running. HB Dive, FB Dive, Inside Zone Wk and Power O give you a complete interior run menu: quick hitters, a zone scheme with a weak side cutback lane, and a gap scheme with a pulling guard. Three tight ends on the line mean edge defenders have to fight through an extra blocker, and the offset fullback gives you a lead blocker who can kick out or isolate a linebacker on Power O.
The Gadget tag comes from the play action. PA Spot, PA Spot (1) and PA Sprint HB Flat all use the heavy run look to pull linebackers and safeties downhill, then leak tight ends and backs into open grass. Because defenses substitute heavy to stop the run, the players covering your play action targets are often slow linebackers and run stopping safeties. That creates mismatches for athletic tight ends on spot and flat concepts, especially in short yardage and red zone situations.
Strengths
- Three tight ends plus a fullback give you numbers at the point of attack, so Power O and Inside Zone Wk can outman a defense in goal line and short yardage fronts
- Forces defenders to substitute into heavy personnel, which puts slow linebackers and box safeties in coverage on your play action concepts
- PA Spot and PA Spot (1) flood the flat and curl zones with tight ends off a convincing run fake, which beats Cover 3 and Cover 2 when the flat and hook defenders bite on the dive action
- PA Sprint HB Flat moves the launch point away from interior pressure and gives you a quick HB flat outlet that punishes man coverage when the linebacker assigned to the back steps into the run fit
- FB Dive and HB Dive hit fast enough to beat run commits and nano blitzes aimed at the edges, which makes them reliable on 3rd and 1 and 4th and 1
Weaknesses
- With no wide receivers there is no vertical threat, so defenses can walk both safeties into the box and play Cover 0 or Cover 1 without fear of getting beat deep
- A user controlled linebacker or safety sitting in the A or B gap can blow up HB Dive and FB Dive, and the small playbook gives you few ways to punish that user
- Overloaded edge blitzes and run commits to the strong side can shut down Power O before the pulling guard gets to the hole
- The play action menu is thin and predictable, so opponents who spot your tendency can sit in man with a spy or bracket the tight end on the spot route
- Tight end and running back route running is limited, so tight man coverage with press can smother quick concepts and force coverage sacks on PA looks
Usage Tips
Use Jumbo on 3rd and short, 4th and short and inside the 5 yard line when the defense shows a goal line or heavy front and you need a physical, downhill play
Read the box count before the snap: if the defense has more defenders than you have blockers on the strong side, audible to Inside Zone Wk to hit the weak side cutback lane
After two or three successful runs, call PA Spot or PA Spot (1) when the safeties creep down, and hot route the inline tight end to a streak or corner to punish a single high safety that bites
Against edge pressure or run commits to the strong side, go to PA Sprint HB Flat to move the pocket away and hit the HB flat before the blitz arrives
Use Power O when the defense aligns with a linebacker stacked over the strong side B gap, because the fullback and pulling guard can kick out the edge and isolate that linebacker for a clean running lane
