Power I Formation

The power I is the basis of smash mouth downhill football. The major difference between this formation is that the quarterback is "under center" rather than five yards behind him. One of the most common formations in football along with the shotgun is the power I. There are various alignments with two backs in the backfield, one or two tight ends, and one or two wideouts. From this formation, the majority of plays are run plays with an assortment of play action passes. Its great when you want to pound the defense.

The Shotgun Package

The Shotgun package is one of the most well known formations in all of football. It is quickly becoming one of the premiere systems in all of levels of play due to it's ability to diversify in the wide variety of what you can do from it. The shotgun, also known as the spread, consists of a quarterback approximately 5 yards behind the center and a variety of different personnel spread out to his left and right. There can also be anywhere from zero backs (known as empty) to three backs (known as a full house) in the backfield with the quarterback. Primarily a passing formation teams are beginning to utilize more option style play calling as quarterbacks are becoming more and more athletic. The most well known option from this formation is the simple, yet effective, read option. This is where the quarterback and one running back stand side by side and the quarterback reads the outermost man on the line of scrimmage. If he goes down the line to tackle the running back, the quarterback will keep it and run it to the outside. If the man sits and stays on the end of the line, then he will give the ball to the running back who makes whatever cut he sees to the opposite side of where he began. As I said before, the main reason for the shotgun is for passing downs, it gives the quarterback a better view of the defense than if he were under center. There are numerous routes and passing plays that can be drawn up from shotgun. Due to the threat of the pass, the defense is left vulnerable because of the amount of men in coverage to draw plays ,where the back will wait a second and then take a hand off, as well as screens, where blockers will slip out with a running back or receiver to the side of a formation and catch a delayed pass and go. The Shotgun  is the first formation that I will put into the playbook.

The Offensive Football Playbook

This is an independent project in which I will create my own offensive playbook based on many methods of offense in football. I will look into a wide variety of plays and explain what types of plays work with different types of personnel as well as the schemes that each different play fits into. I will explore how plays work, how well they look in reality, and the keys to each play that really make it successful. This blog is to show and simplify the blocking schemes, passing routes, and intricate jobs of each player on the field. I will do my best to create a playbook that includes every system of offense. This is not intended to show NFL level plays, but to pertain mostly to high school offenses. If you are interested in learning more about offense in football and the plays that create a well run high powered offense, then stay updated by this blog over the next few months. I will do my best to make this guide reader friendly at all levels, whether you're a high school coach now or just someone who doesn't quite understand football yet.

Over the next few months, this blog will contain my trials and errors of making a playbook. I will share with you the thought process behind each play I enter into my playbook, and explain what are key features if the play is to be successful. My name is Jake Barnhorst, and this is the playbook.