The Opening Drive 8/10: Kevin Stefanski's Use of "Alert" Tags and Their Purpose
Give your quarterback as many answers as possible.
The preseason is rolling in full force, with only two games remaining today, and isn’t it just lovely to have four straight days of NFL football to watch? I’m not saying the NFL should monopolize more of our fall television programming, but… maybe they should. The split of games has allowed me to keep up with how the rest of the league is doing, and that’s nearly impossible when 80% of the league’s games happen on one day.
Preseason All-22 film is a little tougher to come by than regular season footage, so it took longer than normal, but late yesterday we solved it — and that means plenty of content coming your way. Before we get to today’s content topic, here’s a look at what you might have missed at BFB recently.
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I love the nuance of football schemes. You guys know this about me. I developed that passion while playing the sport, then writing about it, then discussing it on podcasts, and now, well… here we are at this site. I would imagine you enjoy it to an extent as well, or you wouldn’t be here reading this. So, let me “alert” you to a play early on Friday that caught my eye.
“Alert” calls come in a few different forms. Many offenses use an alert system where two plays are called in the huddle. The “alert” acts as a trigger to signal a switch from the first play to the second at the line of scrimmage if the defense presents a favorable look for the second play. You might hear the quarterback make an alert or sometimes a “can” call. There are different ways to do this.
However, some plays will be called in and then simply tagged with an “alert” at the end of the play. That is a trigger for the quarterback to throw a specified route—in today’s example, a backside slant—if the pre-snap look provides the opening.
The Browns’ second play from scrimmage was this precise example. Below, you will see how the concept is a swing screen to the left side to the “exit” motion running back, where the three-man side is blocking for the swing throw and the center is releasing for the screen as well.
But if Shedeur Sanders feels like the WILL linebacker is out of the window pre-snap and the backside safety does not roll down into the widow immediately, he can throw that slant against man-to-man coverage.
You will see Sanders eyes go to the safety immediately after the snap to identify his movement. Process the safety, rip the slant in the window. It’s open, he just left it high. Also, I really enjoy this screen design. The left side throw is also set up well.
The details are strong here. The center pull gets the attention of that WILL linebacker, and he is immediately out of the throwing window. Also, notice Luke Wypler (56) staying shallow to the line of scrimmage to ensure he is not flagged for “illegal man downfield.”
After last year’s whiff on accomplishing the little things, I care a great deal about the attention to detail happening here. Sanders spoke about constantly trying to perfect those details at his position during a big learning curve, and Stefanski echoed that sentiment in his time with the media yesterday. The Browns’ offense as a whole has to keep perfecting their attention to them all year. It will make a real difference for them.
There will be plenty of film-related coverage coming your way and I look forward to providing it. If you’re not with us in a subscriber capacity you’ll want to rectify that asap. Don’t miss it. Catch you guys soon. I appreciate you.
Browns Film Breakdown has the All-22 Film Rooms lined up, so stay ready!
Awesome stuff Jake, I am hyped for the all 22 breakdown...
Love the new graphics Jake! Great stuff