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Y Right, Double left, Hump Left, Queen Slant, Liar Queen Toss, Boot, Y Release, X drag, Z Skinny. Sounds complicated, right? You know what’s happening here? At first glance this might look and sound like hieroglyphics to an average football fan, but in reality, it is a simple offensive football play call. Trust me, it’s not as hard as it is made out to look and sound. In fact, these play call systems are put in place to help the players from having to memorize 75-150 base plays and the additional 20-30 opponent specific plays added for that week’s game plan by putting verbiage in each play to set each players general responsibility for that play. In this post I will break down the anatomy of an offensive play call, so that you can get a better understanding of what you might hear on a mic’d up segment of a game or practice, or even during a game by an analyst. So, let’s get started.
For the sake of this piece, we will use all the play calls assuming 21 personnel (2 RB, 1 TE, 2 WR). Just to be clear, I am using very rudimentary verbiage like "King" and "Queen" to represent weak and strong calls. At higher levels the terms become more nuanced, so they are not so obvious. One week during install, I remember our OC asked the players in the meeting who the hottest character was on 90210. When the majority of the room said Kelly, that became our word for a "hot" call that week. It can get stupid sometimes. Remember, the terminology or order of phrasing within the play call varies from OC to OC and can even change per week during game plan installs, but for our call we will use the basic order we used in college which was as follows:
- What side the TE lines up on to determine the strong side of the formation.
- How the WR line up. Here, it is Double Left which is twins (2 WR) to the left.
- How the RB line up. Here, Hump left means the FB is in an offset I to the left of the QB and the HB is at normal depth. This is also commonly called “I left”.
- How the initial blocking scheme for the OL will be. Here, it is slant blocking to the “Queen” (weak side) or left side of the formation.
- This represents the responsibility of the RB. Here, it is a “Liar” (Fake) toss to the “Queen” (weak side).
- This would represent any QB responsibilities such as boot, dive, sprint etc. Here, it is to boot.
- This represents the TE route responsibility by calling out the “Y”. Here, he is lined up opposite the WR. Whichever side the TE lines up on is the “King” or strong side. When calling out the receivers in a play it is also standard to call out the route, but remember the TE is also inline here, so usually unless the “Y” is mentioned back in the play call specifically, he is just blocking. Here, he is selling the fake with a down block and releasing into the flat. If the TE was to be flexed off the line and into the slot on the strong side for a certain play that call would start as “Y Right Flex”.
- As mentioned in #6 on pass plays, the X, Z or F (slot) will have their routes called out. The OC will determine and coach up the depth he wants on each route. Here the X is running a drag and the Z is running a skinny post.
Also of note is that usually the first receiver called out X,Y,F,Z or RB is the first read on the play and the QB progression follows the play call. So here, the TE is the first read in the flat with the drag next and the skinny last. This is a common “Low to High” progression as the QB should be reading his shallowest route through to his deepest. The HB’s are always taught as matter of fact to carry out the fake and then get to the flat or between the hashes as a safety valve. That is typically coached as a cardinal rule and would not need to be included in the call progression.
The FB helps to carry out the blocking on the edge, but if the OC wanted, he could also be in the route. The OC would need to come with verbiage for the FB. We always used “Thumper” to call him out in a play. So, if we were to give him an angle route out of the backfield, his role in the play would be “Thumper Angle”. Depending on where the OC wanted him in the progression would be where he is mentioned in the play so it would sound something like this: Y Right, Double left, Hump Left, Queen Slant, Liar Queen Toss, Boot, Y Release, X Drag, Z Skinny, Thumper Angle.
Of course, and this is important, JUST BECAUSE A CERTAIN ROUTE OR BLOCKING SCHEME IS CALLED IN THE PLAY, DOESN’T MEAN THAT IS WHAT WILL BE RUN. Routes and blocks can vary depending on the defensive look. Let’s say for instance the CB on the Z was lined up in off man coverage, with inside leverage, 10 yards off the ball. Running a skinny post would be playing right into his coverage. In this case the automatic change might be the Z runs a Deep Over route or a 10 yard dig or whatever the OC coaches it to be. Did you ever see a QB and WR break the huddle and look at each other and tap their helmets or facemask? That could be the signal to run the alternate route once they saw the coverage. What if it is zone and not man? Again, the routes can change and even the entire play could be audibled in that scenario. Some teams even call 2 plays in the huddle and make a “kill” call at the line to immediately change to the second play which could be a run or a different pass play. This is why sometimes you see a QB throw right to a defensive player with no WR in sight. The WR read the defense one way and the QB another way. Some of the pass calls are “choice” routes where the WR is called out to run one route but has the “choice” to run 2 or 3 routes depending on the coverage. As an example, this could be called as, “Z Slant Choice”. This is where the WR and QB need to have tons of reps and film study together to be able to read the field the same way and be on the same page with the route that will be run. The blocking could change depending on defensive alignment at the LOS, but this could be an audible call by the C or QB to slide a protection or change responsibilities before the snap.
If this were a running play the first parts of the call would be used and maybe a specific block for a WR but there would be no mention of any routes. The call would sound something like this in 21 personnel: Y Right, Double left, Hump Left, Queen Slant, Queen Toss, Boot, Z crack. Here the formation is staying the same, but the RB is receiving the toss to the weak side and the Z is cracking back on the DE/OLB, whoever is the widest on the line. The QB is performing the boot action after the toss to give the play look continuity from the pass play look. The X blocks the DB in front of him and the TE slant blocks with the rest of the line.
So, based on all the information so far, do you know what the first play call is and what everyone is doing? Have an idea what it would look like drawn up? Well, here it is:
“Y Right, Double left, Hump Left, Queen Slant, Liar Queen Toss, Boot, Y Release, X drag, Z Skinny
See, it is really a simple concept, it just sounds complicated. The verbiage and order makes it so that each position besides the QB, only has to know what their responsibility is on each play, but by wording them out the QB knows what everyone is doing from the call also. Imagine this was just a numbered play like 44? Then every player would need to individually memorize their responsibility on 75-125 base plays or maybe more BEFORE the new install plays. That’s crazy.
Now that we have the concept settling in, let’s try another call, again out of 21 personnel and see if you can get it.
Y Right, Standard, I, Queen Down, King 34 Counter.
What do you think this is? If you said this was a standard counter play to the right run between the Guard and Tackle you are correct.
Y Right= TE Lines up on the Right
Standard= Standard formation with 1 WR on each side (X on the Weak side and Z on Strong)
I= I formation
Queen Down= The OL is down blocking to the weak side
King 34 Counter= Strongside run where the HB (3 means he is the 3rd deepest back in the backfield) is running a counter to the 4 hole on the right side. The FB is the lead blocker to that hole.
That play should look like this on paper:
You could have a power counter where the LG pulls, but we just kept it basic here for the sake of illustration.
Now you may be asking “Isn’t there an easier way to call these plays?” Of course there is, but that all depends on the OC. One way in which we used to shorten the calls was to not repeat the formation side and just use a letter for the Strong and Weak side of the formation and just called the routes for the WR by alphabetical order (X and then Z). Also, the coaches dropped the QB responsibility once we were familiar with the play and practiced it a bunch of times. So, once you memorized the order of the calls the coaches shortened it to something like this:
Y Right, Double Hump Left, Q Slant Liar Toss, Y Release, Drag, Skinny.
Here, we kept everything that was happening with the weak and left calls only said once.
You might also ask, why not just use words like strong, fake or weak, right or left directly in the play call? There are a few reasons. First, each week during install when coaches are creating calls for the hurry up offense, you don't want to be yelling vital information at the line. For that install, usually the coaches might boil the play down from one to three words, so our original play call could be shortened to "Q Hump Liar". This is why it is so important that the starters get as many reps as possible and the backups MUST study the weekly game plan hard, in case they are called to play. Second, is for audibles. Lets say our original pass play and the run play off it (Y Right, Double left, Hump Left, Queen Slant, Queen Toss, Boot, Z crack) were called in the huddle and the QB had to choose one play or another at the line. He can't say "Fake", but if he yelled "Liar" we know that means we are running the fake pitch play. However, the defense could think this means the play is to the left cause it starts with a L, or that they are using a dummy snap call or anything else. Lastly, sometimes in the chaos, a player might forget the play or his responsibility. Say the HB forgets which way the play is supposed to go and asks after they break the huddle and yells for the QB to repeat it. He can't yell, "weak" or "left" alerting the entire defense which way the play is supposed to go, but a "Queen" call means virtually nothing to the defense.
Believe me, when you hear these plays called tens to hundreds of times and read them in the playbook and weekly game plans repeatedly, it becomes second nature.
Now, I am not saying that this is 100% the way every coach or team calls their plays, or even the order in which each team uses, but this is a way of gaining a basic understanding of why the play calls sound the way they do. And of course, with each level of football the calls and responsibilities become more complex and can vary wildly between systems and coaches, but at it's core the concept of play calling remains the same. To give every player an idea of what they are supposed to do on each play.
I hope you enjoyed this little tutorial. Feel free to hit me up with any questions you have or let me know if there is anything I missed. Thanks.
Erick thanks so much for taking the time to write this. Sweet tutorial.
Remind us, what level of football did you play again, and for how long?
I was surprised to read that the QB's responsibility would be incorporated into the play call, but then further down in the post you explained how this can also be excised.
I would describe myself as someone who has an above average understanding of Xs&Os for a fan, but a pathetic knowledge for anyone who's played the game. One area I'd love to learn more about is OL play. I've seen JT O'Sullivan break down certain plays on his QB School YouTube Channel and he'll draw up the defender he thinks each OL is responsible for, and how that might change if, for example, a DB blitzes, or the protection slides. If you had time to prepare some OL tutorials, I'd be very grateful! I feel like passing concepts are pretty easy to understand when they're drawn up. But how "Queen Slant" means something to 5 humans is less intuitive, and I'd love to understand more about that (with some visual aids).
Alister,
Glad you enjoyed the piece. I played in HS and then played 2.5 years in college, before an injury took me out. I was a WR my first season, but since I wasn't overly big, (5'10) or lightning fast, I was like 6 on the depth chart. Not bad for a freshman, but I wasn't getting in the games. I hairline fractured a bone in my back in practice and I redshirted that year. In practice and during the installs I was always good at reading the keys on defense and knowing the audibles we went over and was able to mostly yell out the right calls. After my freshman year the coaches asked me if I would like to move to FS, because they were short on players there, I liked to hit, and I seemed to have a grasp on the calls. I switched and actually got into games my junior year and a few games in I compound fractured my shoulder blade while on the bottom of a pile after making a tackle, and that was it. While I was injured, I still went to all the practices and meetings and became an assistant to the DC. At first, I did boring stuff like chart plays in the booth during games but then I started asking questions and hung out in the coaches office before and after practices. This is where the good behind the scenes stuff was, especially watching tape. All the practices were taped so there was a ton of scouting being done on our own team, as well as watching opponent film for game plans. This is where I started helping create the weekly game plans. I was the gopher that went to the printer and stapled the copies and put the slides together and stuff so I just soaked it all in. I stayed on after the season and helped put plans and put stuff together for Spring practices and continued to learn about plays and schemes and strategy and stuff. I was a student assistant the next season, because I was thinking of getting into coaching or scouting, but just about every coach we had was on their 3rd or 4th stop trying to advance their careers living a nomad existence moving their families all over the country to look for the next, better gig. That did not seem appealing to me, so I never pursued it. Looking back, I wish I stayed on the personnel side because I absolutely love the scouting and team building aspects of the franchises.
OL is fascinating because it seems relatively easy right? Block one of the guys in front of you. At the end of the day, that is really what happens, but there is so much communication that needs to happen on the calls from the C and QB (and even the coach from the sideline) to make sure they heard any audibles to the play, and that everyone is blocked and moving in the same direction so that there are no unblocked defenders. I vividly remember the OL coach screaming in meetings watching film and on the practice field "God damnit I don't give a shit if you don't know exactly who you are blocking, but your ass better be hitting somebody!!" It can get quite complicated, especially at the pro level. I was never in the OL meetings, but in the team meetings for offense during install there were always a few calls added for some blocking schemes. I can see if I can find my old playbooks and game plans and see what I can dig up to put something together. Thanks.
Thx EV!! Really good stuff!!
@buck-melanoma Thanks Buck. With training camp getting closer my juices are starting to flow. Hopefully, I can get the inspiration for a few more articles before kickoff!!
Eric this is fantastic insight! Love to have a former player like yourself involved on the site. I'm a defensive coach/ex-player and our play calls are far simpler (thankfully) with most of it being able to be communicated witha few hand signals so I'm not sure how I would have fared with that length of call haha. I always tell people there's a reason defenses dominate for the first few weeks of camp and offenses start to find their way in about week 4 and that is because the install, checks and languages are vastly more complex but it's incredible to realise exactly how far apart they are especially in offenses like Sean Payton's which have a reputation for being more wordy as Chase Daniel proved in his viral video on the subject.
I'll be looking out for more of your posts man! Thanks again for being part of the community.
@ryanwatkins Thanks Ryan. I like to contribute when I can. I played back in the mid 90's so I am sure there are a ton of new procedures and methods in play calling and coaching methods that I am unaware about. But at the end of the day, the object of the game is still the same, even if there is a different way of getting there. I agree that the defensive play calls are way easier, but IMO, they take more studying, because with less verbiage you really have to remember your responsibility, but also the checks are WAY more important, because those actually fine tune the defense before the snap. The "QB" of the defense needs to be able to read the formations quickly and adjust the checks on the fly before the snap. That was my biggest responsibility moving to FS, understanding the checks based off the offensive formation and calling out the coverages every play. Of course, if I wasn't 100% sure I could always call out the standard base cover 3 and ensure the play stayed in front of us, but the coaches were not happy if that kept being the call if there were more correct options. But, that is the part people who don't play or coach cannot understand. The absolute seconds you have to asses the personnel and formation and then have the responsibility to tell the back 7 what coverage they had to play all before the snap, is controlled chaos. IMO, that's what makes the game special.
@evolz3737 100% those micro seconds to react to the different types of motion is so hard to understand from the stands; to know how it changes the run strength, your gap, the pass strength, your zone/man and the blitz call, all on top of knowing every one else's assignments and then having to make a run/pass read through the mess of RPOs and play action...all before actually doing the physical part of the job is an incredible load. So to add pattern match principles to that where you have to make 3 or 4 reads post snap is just asking a lot and slows down everything.
@ryanwatkins Agreed, which is why I think the pat match principle does not work. When you are teaching it on a white board, anything seems feasible. But once you are on the field and the bullets are flying, any pre snap movement or motion by the offense can completely change a call or responsibility in a flash, which is why IMO, defenses that are less complicated and rely on the strength of their players skill sets are more successful. The more moving parts you have, the easier it is for a mistake to be made. Now, of course you can't have defense that has no flexibility at the line, but limiting that flexibility to simpler adjustments and letting your players play fast without thinking of every move would be how I would coach and how I would want to play.
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