The Opening Drive 8/29: Get Used to Kevin Stefanski's Bootleg Flood
Strange article title, but a very consistent concept in Cleveland.
We cracked open some fresh football last night, and outside of the Mahomes cosplay in the Cincinnati/Nebraska game, it was quite enjoyable. The Cornhuskers pulled off a rare one-score win under Matt Rhule, South Florida made us think it was 2007 all over again with a dominant performance against Boise State, and the middle class of the Big Ten let MAC schools hang around for four quarters. Honestly, it felt like home.
As for tonight, if you’re not heading out for Friday Night Lights, Auburn travels to Baylor for an intriguing matchup of fringe contenders. I want to highlight Cam Coleman in that game—an underrated 2027 wide receiver in what could be a historic class. He’s insanely talented but hidden behind some of the elite names in the group.
As a reminder for NFL General Managers: gather as many picks for the 2027 NFL Draft as you possibly can. These guys are freaks. It might be 2014 all over again. Alright, back to your regularly scheduled Cleveland Browns content — sorry guys, I can’t keep my mind off the opportunities coming in the next two drafts.
But let’s dig into some football scheme that you’ll see on Sundays at Huntington Bank Field. Below you’ll find the latest from the All-22 study and more in the BFB catalog for supporters to dig into. Click the link to become a supporter if you haven’t already, and enjoy all the latest from Browns Film Breakdown.
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Opening Drive 8/28: Browns Take Several Big Swings on the Practice Squad
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In the coming week or so I want to spend some time with you on the Browns offense staples to help you understand what they are running on Sundays. The first thing Stefanski loves to run is the “flood” variation. Now, this can be called different things across various styles of schematic design but flood is the most common name. Normally it sends three receivers to attack the same side of the field at different depths (deep, intermediate, and short) to "flood" that area with pass options, forcing defenders to overcommit or leave space.
This layered attack creates mismatches against both zone and man-to-man coverages, typically involving a deep vertical route, an intermediate "sail" or deep-out route, and a short "flat" or "arrow" route coming off a play-action look to spice it up.
Defeating zone coverage is all about putting defenders in conflict. “Do I play this route or that route?” Flood variations help create those conflicts.
The scheme puts plenty of pressure on the Rams Cover-3 as you’ll see the safety bite hard on the run look and leave that corner route wide open. The problem is the backside defensive tackle played it perfectly and sat on the run fake — we know the Rams’ defense is as used to seeing those fakes as anyone in the league. The scheme creates open routes and the quarterback has to deliver — even when pressure mounts.
You will see plenty of these flood variations from Stefanski and the offense this year and we will have film rooms to cover all of it.
If you’re not subscribed over there, rectify that—the Opening Drive remains free, but there’s so much quality Browns content available and more coming over the next few days. If you’re not with us in a supporter capacity, you’ll want to rectify that as well so you don’t miss any of the key content coming this week. Also, tell a Browns fan in your life about what is happening over here. We appreciate all of you.
Browns Film Breakdown will return later today with some fresh content.
