Outside zone stretch

Setup

1. Contact level: thud. Full helmet and shoulder pads for everyone, and a coach watches every rep.
2. Offence: five linemen, a tight end on the right, and the QB in the pistol with the RB 4 yards behind.
3. Scout defence in a 4-3 front with hand shields. The end outside the TE is the read; tell them to vary their play each rep.
4. Put a cone 1 yard outside the TE's alignment as the RB's aiming point.
5. The play goes right. Linemen hear the snap count; anyone who moves early does a false-start reset.

How it runs

1. Walk it through twice, then run it at thud.
2. Every blocker takes a lateral bucket step to the play side and tries to reach the playside shoulder of the defender in front of them.
3. Here: TE reaches the end. RG reaches the 3-technique with help from the RT, who then climbs to the Sam. C climbs to the Mike, LG scoops the 1-technique and LT climbs to the Will.
4. The backside end is not blocked; the QB carries out a bootleg fake to hold them.
5. The RB takes the handoff flat, aims at the cone and reads the end. End reached: keep going outside. End runs wide with the TE: plant and cut up inside the TE.
6. Whistle at thud or at 5 yards. Run 6–8 reps, then flip the play to the left. Count the period in the weekly full-contact limit.

Coaching points

• First step gains ground sideways; stay square and never cross the feet.
• If the defender runs wide and the reach is lost, keep running them wide. The RB will cut up behind.
• Cut-off and scoop blocks stay above the waist, with hands inside. No cut blocks and no blocks from behind.
• RB: stay on the track until the end declares, then one hard cut and go north. No dancing.
• Ball in the outside arm on the stretch, high and tight.

Common mistakes

• RB drifting to the sideline instead of staying on the track, so the defence pursues for free.
• Linemen taking a step forward instead of sideways and being beaten to the edge.
• Two cuts in the backfield; the hole closes while the RB decides.
• Grabbing outside the frame when the reach is lost; in a game that is holding.