Welcome back to this series where we build out our Pony Package. In the first post, we dug into the Lead Flare series, and found some really fun core plays and constraint plays to build around it. If you haven’t checked that out already, I would encourage you to do so.
Today, we’re looking at another two series in our Pony Package. For the moment, I’m referring to them as Orbit and Vertical. Let’s get it.
Orbit Series
Orbit plays out roughly the same as the Lead Flare series, with one back crossing the face of the QB and veering to the middle of the line. Only, instead of the other back trailing him under the line, this series finds the other back crossing behind the QB and releasing out the opposite side.
Much like the Lead Flare series, we’ve got a couple core plays here, then a handful to build in to keep defenses honest.
Inside Give
Pretty simple. Give the ball to the RB running across the face of the QB and release the other RB to the opposite side to create a little more space inside.
In the clip below, the Seahawks pull the guard and tackle to the run side to add a little more heft at the point of attack, and have the TE to the run side blocking down the field. Keep that in mind because it sets up a really fun variation.
Outside Pitch
This seems like the most effective version of this series. Or, at least, the most consistently effective. Set up to look like the Inside Give/RB Lead play, but have the “lead” RB cross underneath the QB and get a pitch once he clears the line. You can use a little misdirect with an initial hesitation step by that running back then set up some nice blocking to the pitch side.
QB Keeper
This is a really fun variation if you’ve got a QB that can move a little. The lead RB crosses the face of the QB and heads to the middle of the line, while the trail RB orbits behind the QB and releases the other direction. The big distinction here is that the trail RB becomes a lead blocker for a QB Keeper. If the defense starts jumping out to defend the pitch, this is a really good way to counter that.
Pop Pass
Remember that Inside Give constraint play for the Seahawks I teased earlier? Here it is. They keep the backside tackle in place to give the QB time, but they pull the left guard and fake the handoff to the RB behind him. The playside TE feigns a block, then releases to the second level. The defense is completely fooled by the playfake and the TE finds himself wide open. A beautiful bit of sequencing.
I also did a short YouTube video where I walk through this sequence, if that kind of thing floats your boat.
WR Orbit Series
If you want to throw some more resources to your backfield, you can add a WR Orbit component to split-gun Pony, although it’s a bit more limited of a package in terms of what you can run, so this should make up a much smaller piece of the overall Pony Package.
You can throw the WR swing pass to widen the defense (first clip in the video) or you can hit them up the middle with an Inside Give (last two clips in the video).
If you’re feeling froggy, you can build in a version where the QB keeps it off the Inside Give fake. Off of that, you could have the option for the RB in the flat to work as a lead blocker or widen out to give a short pass option on the boundary.
Criss-Cross Series
We’ll end with a couple smaller series. I didn’t see much usage with this package - at least, not much usage that actually did anything good - but I did want to touch on it. The RB action is basically what we’ve seen with the WR Orbit Series, only without the WR Orbit. That is to say, the RBs criss-cross across the face of the QB. The two interesting plays in this series are a frontside boot to a Sail concept (first clip), and an inside give off action that looks like frontside boot (second clip).
Vertical Release Series
Last but not least, we come to the Vertical release series. I’m not the biggest fan of making this a big part of the overall package, because running your passing game through the running backs is usually a recipe for a limited passing game. But mixing these in can be a good way to make sure you’re attacking out of the split-gun look with something other than a horizontal attack from the backfield.
The first clip in the video is Mesh, with both running backs running a Rail route from the backfield. Beautiful stuff, man.
The second clip is in the Curl/Dig family, with the RB running a curl route from the backfield to pin down a linebacker, and the TE wrapping a dig route over the top.
Thanks to everyone for checking this out. It took way more work than I had originally thought, but I had a blast and I learned a ton.