The bootleg is a powerful tool in many respects. I like it because of its effective misdirection nature, it is another way to attack the coverage in a different way by getting the quarterback out of the pocket, and it takes advantage of an athletic quarterback by letting him run if the defense commits itself to the pass. On bootlegs he is a runner first. It is also a great way to throw the ball down by the goal line. The only note here is that we do not usually boot from trips, but it can be done using crossing routes to the single receiver side or some kind of route combination to the trips side. We just find that it is usually peripheral to what we do.

The basic principal of the bootleg is to have the quarterback fake the run action and then boot out to pass/run. The quarterback will fake the handoff and hide the ball, he must do this well. In shotgun the running back will run in front of him, as he does in most runs from the gun. The linemen will attack like a normal zone run play, except the guard on the backside will pull. The running back, after faking, will block the man over the guard. The QB will try to get the corner but because of the guard's block sometimes he must cut underneath. The pass combinations are meant to be simple, if they overpursue to the frontside there is the backside drag, and then there is the quarterback running. He should try to go wherever the yards are, but he should think cutback. The most popular route combo is the slot man to the flat, after faking a block. The other combo though is also effective, and often can result in a big play to the corner route.

Introduction to the OffensePass Protection3 Step Passing Game5 Step Passing Game
BootlegsPlay ActionPrinciples and InfoScreens
Run Game

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