Defending RPO out of 4-3

A wise coach once told me, "when it comes to teaching and coaching there are hardly new things, just old things dressed up and called something different." I think that wisdom rings true when we look at RPO's. It's just triple option dressed up and called something different. When we want to defend RPO's we just need to go back to our old options rules and apply them to the spread.

When I was starting my coaching career we faced a district opponent that ran the flexbone. It's not rare but it's also not something you face every week or even every year. I was coaching the defensive line and when preparing for that week my DC at the time told me to run my drills without a ball. I thought it odd as a young coach but of course did what he told me to do. After that first inside drill it all made sense, defending the triple option is about making sure you can defend all three phases every play; dive, QB, and pitch. Playing with a ball wouldn't have allowed me to see that you need to account for all three every snap, and that's the same for our athletes.

RPO's still has all three phases, they just substituted the pitch for quick game, so those same option rules still apply. We must be able to account for the dive, QB, and the quick game throws every play. We typically base out an odd front when playing flexbone teams because it allows us to be balanced when the offense is balanced. So how do we stop the spread RPO's out of our 4-3?

The goal of this post is to apply option rules in our 4-3 look to account for all three phases of the RPO. We will look at one simple RPO out a 2x2 set and discuss how setting your front can change who is responsible for each phase. Our goal is to keep it simple. It's not about what we know as coaches but about what our kids know and can execute on the field consistently.

RPO:

This is a standard RPO out of 2x2; Inside Zone is the Dive, QB Keep is the QB, and the Bubble is the Pitch. The twins to the side of the RB is the "read side" and the twins away from the RB would be the "away side". Most teams that run RPO's are going to throw to the read side because the QB opens to that side when he meshes with the RB. Some really good teams can "flop" the read, meaning they can read the twins side away from the RB. This is obviously something you need to study when watching their film. The DE to the read side will be the first read and can give the QB a give or keep read. The OLB to the read side is usually the second read for the QB to either run the ball or throw the bubble. Teams that don't have a dual threat QB are just reading the second level defender to decide to either run or throw. In this post we will assume the QB is a threat to run.

In order to account for all three we need to look at several ways we would line up to 2x2. We would call the strength to the RB, and would set our front using two numbers (see previous post on setting the front 7 with a number system). For those that don't use numbers we will look at setting an over and an under front to the back. The MIKE will align in two spots; stacked in the open A Gap or in the B Gap to the shade side. The OLB's will either be a "cover down" (lineup up either inside or outside shade of the WR) or he will "apex" (split the difference between the WR and the OT). Let's look at how each front plus the LB's alignment changes our option rules.

Sometimes our game plan isn't to stop all three, but rather stop two and give the offense one option so we dictate were the ball will likely go each time. Another factor that goes into your game plan should be who do we want to carry the ball, who is the lesser of the three evils? Make them give the ball to the weakest athlete of the three.

OVER FRONT:

For this first example we will set an over front to the RB and play Cover 2 behind. We teach our DE's to play dive/spill technique, it keeps them playing fast if they are crashing dive every time. So the DE will punch the hip of the OT and crash hard down the line to take the dive. Punching the hip will help protect the MIKE when scraping to exchange gaps. With the MIKE in the open A Gap gap exchanging is difficult. SAM who is a full cover down will have to work from the QB to the Pitch. In this example we have a soft edge and we are dictating that the QB pull it. I don't like our leverage here so this is a front we would only use if the team was not a threat to run with the QB, so we are solid on the zone with the MIKE filling A Gap and with a full cover down on #2 we are good verse the bubble.

If the RB is who you want the ball to go to then you could have your DE's sit. This gives the QB a give read and with the MIKE stacked in the open A Gap your solid verse the zone. SAM in a full cover down your good verse the bubble. DE sitting would also give you better leverage on a QB than crashing the dive and MIKE scraping from the A Gap out, but that DE cannot lose leverage on the QB.

If a team can flop the read then this alignment puts the WILL in conflict. We can alleviate that by playing our DE's in what we call a "heavy" technique every time they have an open B Gap on their side. This technique tells them to play dive/spill on a down block but to come under on a base block. This would cancel out the B Gap and allow the WILL to hang a little in that slant lane before attacking the LOS.

UNDER FRONT:

Now lets look at an under front to the RB with the MIKE still stacked over the open A Gap. With the open B Gap and the MIKE to the weak side SAM would have to apex in case he needs to fold. We would take away that fold responsibility by crashing the dive with our DE's and cutting off that B Gap. Keeping the SAM as the contain player gives him a good leverage on the QB or the the zone on a bend back. MIKE can either plug the A Gap or scrape over the NOSE if the zone bends. This option is decent if you don't want the RB or the QB to be the ball carrier, as we are enticing the throw.

What if we moved the MIKE from always over the A Gap to now being on the shade side?

When we put the MIKE in the open B Gap we allow the SAM to move back to a full cover down. We can dive/spill the DE to help with the dive and the MIKE is now in a better position to gap exchange with the DE. This will give him better leverage on the QB keep as well. SAM still needs to work QB to Pitch but he is certainly in a better position to pursue the bubble inside out. In this front you are always going to be weak in the A Gap, and it's hard for the WILL to fold all the way back inside. Even though, IMO, this is the best alignment when facing an RPO team there are some stunts and coverage changes you can do to make this even more solid verse all three phases.

You can either crash the weak side DT and DE or you can run a twist. Both should give you better control over the A Gap and will bounce anything weak out to the WILL. If you want to be even stronger verse the zone you can slide your WILL inside and give a 4-2-5 look. This is a solid front unless you are facing a team that can flop the read.

If a team flops the read you can run Cover 3 and roll weak and rob the slant lanes to that side with your Weak Safety. Now your solid verse the dive with the DE crashing and the WILL is able to fill the A Gap. WS will rob the slant lane of #2 in case of a flop read. With the WILL inside the MIKE can "hip" a little more to the DE, giving him a great angle to gap exchange and play the QB. SAM can now hang and play the bubble. With Cover 3 your C will be a little later to set the edge and rolling weak would make the SS late to fill on the bubble. We can't cover everything so giving up a wide short throw with the SAM pursuing is the best to give up.

We see that there are several different ways to line up verse 2x2, all have different advantages for attacking an RPO team. Each alignment also effects how your athletes would play their option rules. If your athletes are able to understand that you have a great menu to defend RPO's out of a 4-3 front. Whats the most important thing when defending RPO's is the ability to take away options and force the offense to be more one dimensional.

Another bit of wisdom that I have learned from some great coaches is that x's and o's are great and important but they change when you put names with them. Always consider whats best for you schematically but also what puts your athletes in the best position to be successful.