Playbooks
Quick Reference
Breakdown
Power out of the Wildcat Pro formation is a designed QB run built around gap blocking up front, with the QB taking the direct snap and following a lead blocker through the play side hole. The diagram shows a receiver motioning across the formation before the snap, settling into the backfield to serve as an extra lead blocker or lead runner option, while the QB's run path cuts downhill behind the double team at the point of attack. This is a pure run play with no pass option, designed to overload one side of the line with numbers for a physical, blocker heavy attack. The primary read is the play side double team and lead blocker, with the QB reading the first alley defender to decide whether to press the hole or bounce outside.
Defensive Reads
Check the box count pre-snap, if the defense stacks the line with an extra defender the Power blocking scheme loses the numbers advantage and gets stood up Watch linebacker depth at the snap, shallow linebackers who crash hard to the play side get out-leveraged by the double team and lead blocker Man coverage on the perimeter with no extra run support in the box is the ideal shell to attack, since Power does not rely on receivers winning routes Look for a safety rotating down into the box after the motion, this indicates the defense is keying the Wildcat run threat and will fill the alley quickly User controlled defenders flying downhill from depth are the biggest threat to this play, so the QB must read the alley defender fast and cut before pursuit arrives
Usage Tips
Use the pre-snap motion to identify if the defense shifts a linebacker or safety toward the play side, which tells you whether the alley is stacked or vacated
Call this on early downs or short yardage situations where you want to establish tempo and force the defense to respect the run out of Wildcat
Pair Power with Jet Sweep from this same set so defenders have to honor both an edge motion run and a downhill gap run, creating hesitation in run fits
Follow Power with Counter later in the series once the defense starts flowing hard to the play side, since Counter punishes overaggressive linebacker pursuit
Watch the box count before the snap, if the defense has six or more in the box you are outnumbered and should consider checking to Jet Sweep or Counter instead
