Breakdown Sports

Purdue is a “concept” team; by this I mean they have a few dozen concepts (give or take) and they build an entire offense off of this. In many ways, this is a very effective way to build a simplified offense that can be executed at a high level; you combine individual concepts and your playbook can grow into the hundreds, but your players only need to learn their few dozen concepts (which includes run concepts). You’ve simplified the game for everyone: OL and QB, and maybe most importantly, for your QBs and WRs. Because what they learn is limited, they can learn it in more detail, meaning they understand the nuances and adjustments that can be made on the fly. The QBs and WRs get more reps running only a handful of plays, and they understand each other’s reads and in-play modifications. One of the concepts I want to take a closer look at is the Weakside Flood.

The next combination we'll look at - along with its derivatives - is the Mesh Concept. The Mesh concept is an Air Raid staple that is so successful that it's found its way into almost every offense. It includes the threat of the two drag routes in combination with a natural rub in the center of the field. This makes it very difficult to defend in man coverage, as the defender (often a LB) has to cover the width of the field and run with a receiver in space while not only avoiding the natural wash of other defenders, but the "rub" that comes from the receiver running a drag route from the opposite side of the field. Likewise, it's difficult for zone defenses to cover it as well. Once the receivers pass the mesh point, they can sit down in any open void of the defense. This not only essentially overloads an area generally close to the QB (allowing him to make quick, accurate throws, so the windows can be generally smaller), but forces the zone defender to quickly id...