sutz":6on08tmh said:
Almost seems simple. If the FS goes toward Baldwin, throw to Jimmy and vice versa. The play is designed to make the safety decide, the QB should play off that.
Yep. It's a really good breakdown.
Also worth saying that this is really typical of most passing concepts in the NFL these days, which really simplify things for QBs. People talk about the rules restrictions on defenses to explain the passing explosion in the NFL, but it's this same basic force concept that has taken the NFL by storm which has more to do with it, IMO.
Basically, on almost all modern passing concepts, rather than going through progressions a QB has two jobs on every pass play:
1) Correctly diagnose defensive coverage pre-snap.
2) Read the force defender (in this case, the FS) and then throw the ball to the place he isn't after he declares.
It's why I think the "can't get through his progressions" talk gets thrown around way, way, way too much, as most passing concepts have been dumbed down to not even really have progressions: you're just watching one defender and throwing the ball to where he isn't.
Progressions only come into it if 1) you've misread the defense pre-snap, 2) you get moved off your spot due to quick pressure, or 3) the defender totally beats his man in your 1 on 1 matchup you were creating space for.