Stopping the Rocket Sweep

[madpolecat]

I like the jetsweep.com site...

Sometimes, when I am feeling nostalgic, I still go looking on bucksweep.com.

[Charles Farquar]

I dont like the new format for the discussion board, used to be a lot more going on there before they changed it.

[madpolecat]

Haven't looked at it for a while. I will have to check it out.

[Charles Farquar]

There is still some good information on there, I just think some of the guys that used to post have not been doing so since they changed the format. Wofford really runs the rocket well and they do have a cheap spring clinic. I kind of always wanted to go but never made it. I have some cut ups on film of them running the rocket series with belly off tackle.

[madpolecat]

Farquar:

Was kind of intrigued by the clip of the team running rocket out of the gun.

One of the things I like about the rocket is that it puts the DE/tight OLB in a bind because the back takes the pitch at about 5-6 yards off the LOS. Out of the gun, it looks like the pitch was coming at 7-8 yards of the LOS.

Do you think that the deeper pitch actually would give defenders who start out closer to the snap a better angle at making a play?

[Charles Farquar]

I didnt check the rocket out of the gun on jet sweep .com. Carnegie Mellon runs it so it looks like like a speed or load option. There is no pivot and pitch. The play is rocket sweep though, its blocked like the sweep.

[boogerred]

If a team was running the rocket with success (8-12 yards a pop), would you as a defensive coach make an adjustment to the rocket or just refuse to change and just take your medicine?

[madpolecat]

Would be interested in seeing that C-Mellon stuff.

10mike has said he had some of that stuff for me to look at; I just haven't had a chance to talk to him about it yet.

[Orange and Brown]

You would have to adjust. Moving the ball at that rate ,the game could get out of hand quick.

[boogerred]

What if a coach refused to adjust?

[madpolecat]

boogerred wrote:

just take your medicine?

[boogerred]

The way I see it is you have a couple of options:
1. Adjust and try to stop the sweep; if you fail, you are no worse off than if you didn't adjust
2. Just sit there and get whipped like a red-headed stepchild.

I would rather go down with a fight and would adjust!

[wing-t]

I don't think you can win running the sweep alone. The defense can adjust to stop that one play. But if a team uses and can execute the companion plays that go with the sweep plus passing the ball showing the sweep action, that makes it tough for most defensive units.. Like any offensive scheme balance is the key. Don't be a one trick pony,it only makes it easier to be stopped.

[trojan]

What screws us up on the rocket (or jet, for that matter) is an aggressive C or OLB. Now, I coach 7th grade, so our ability to pass is suspect at best. On the HS level, I would say that if a safety were screaming in to stop the rocket sweep, it would work, until I ran keep pass or waggle, putting a corner into conflict.

I don't think that a DE can stop this. As was mentioned, I would run FB belly with the WB in rocket motion, if that DE came screaming upfield.

A sell-out OLB with talent could stop us, I guess. I'd crack (or try to crack) that guy with my split end, however, and have the little corner make the tackle.

Lots of compliments to the rocket, like all other series in the Wing-T. Teams that stop it usually have better personnel, and having better players goes a long way.

[ironmen-secret-agent]

Stopping the rocket sweep or jet sweep can’t be pinned only on the DE. You have to remember that the main goal of the defensive end during one of these plays is to stretch the play out and wait for help. (Back up from either a linebacker, corner.) The DE will have to try his best to keep up with the running back and slip through any offensive player in his way to force the play out of bounds. The corner has to come up on the play and the safety has to cover for the corner too. A free linebacker can also help stop the play.

[boogerred]

What? Your end isn't supposed to be able to stop it single-handedly? Wow, I was told that a good pair of defensive ends and average talent elsewhere could shut that down easily.

[boogerred]

Wonder if you could run the criss-cross using rocket motion as a decoy?

[MTSWNGRVSG]

Who ever has the chalk last wins

Give it a try, you never know. Think about this some of the greatest plays in the game came about because someone went the wrong way.

[Charles Farquar]

Criss Cross action is better off of Jet series. Never ran it , but some teams run an actual intercepted pitch counter off the rocket action with the counter back coming under the pitch back. Pitch is just allowed to almost hover, real easy toss with the counter back taking the pitch out of the air. Looks like a risk to me but some teams run it and they call it the Lazer for some reason.

[boogerred]

I was talking about running criss-cross with a hand off to the wing underneath the rocket motion and then another hand-off coming back to the rocket motion side.