Football Route Concepts
On this week’s Off The Charts Football Podcast, the whole crew dove into Bryce Rossler’s route concepts research. While individual route definitions are straightforward, grouping them into concepts usually gets messy—coaches often use different names for identical combinations, and the sheer number of variations creates sample sizes too small to analyze effectively.
To try and solve this, Bryce shifted the focus from route names and individual combinations to defensive stress mechanisms, organizing hundreds of combinations into a handful of core concept families.
What do we mean by this? For example, take the Smash and Fade-out route concepts. While the progressions may differ, both plays stress out the opposing defense in a similar manner.
In Smash, 1 is on a hitch and 2 is running a corner; fade-out is self explanatory with 1 on a vertical and 2 on a quick out.
As Matt describes it, the two receivers “are running to different places, but they’re really running to the same places, with one receiver going deep and one receiver running short, and they’re both trying to stress the Cover 2 corner.”
For more details, please listen to the full episode!
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On Off the Charts, members of the R&D team, and special guests dig into statistical insights, tactical analysis, and personal opinions, aimed at providing listeners with a comprehensive understanding of the week's key matchups and the intricacies of the sport. On The SIS Baseball Podcast, we interview current players and coaches about defensive excellence and review the latest baseball news.
The Fielding Bible Website
The FieldingBible.com website is a great resource for your defensive stat needs. It features player and team stats, Defensive Runs Saved leaderboards, and more.
