NFL Flag Football QB Dash Dropback
Some of the best offensive football plays come from using the defense’s aggressiveness against themselves. Normally you don’t think about such things when designing flag football plays, but this NFL Flag play is an exception. Dash protection has been around tackle football for awhile and is hard for many to appreciate, but we think it would work well with this NFL Flag play. It is a chance to move the target for the defensive pass rusher.
One of the underappreciated things about flag football is just how little time the quarterback has to throw the ball. There are a lot of different rules out there but regardless of if you allow one rusher to the quarterback or call it a blitz, the defense is going to figure out that you have to make the flag football quarterback throw quickly.
You can bet that the defender rushing the quarterback is going to be fast, agile and of course aggressive. This is why good flag football coaches are going to understand the value of moving their quarterback around. You hear it described in the NFL as “moving the target” for the defenders trying to sack the quarterback.
This Diagram Shows How Dash Protection Is Used With Tackle Football.
This can be accomplished several ways. You can sprint out with your quarterback and that is a good idea for a young flag football quarterback with a developing arm. The problem with that when it comes to NFL Flag rules is that the quarterback cannot run the ball. That minimizes the threat of your quarterback if they break the pocket immediately.
This is why we like this Dash drop so much for a NFL Flag quarterback. Initially it looks like a normal dropback and it, in fact, baits the rusher to the sack point. However, after coming to a momentary complete stop the quarterback then breaks the pocket avoiding the over aggressive rusher.
The great thing about flag football is that you can let the quarterback spin out on their own or you can have a protection back who allows the rusher to win inside. Once the rusher goes inside, the protection back can shuffle their feet to shield the rusher from the quarterback after they re-set their feet.
A Dash Drop Is Especially Effective Vs An Aggressive Pass Rusher
The re-set part is important because it allows your flag football quarterback to throw off of their back foot. This is just enough to get the ball downfield for an explosive flag football plays. We will leave you with this final point. The older the rusher to the quarterback the more aggressive they tend to be. We are looking at you USA Flag Adult players.
Many of you know FirstDown PlayBook is drawing up all of the USA Flag football plays. We might have to add one or two of these in there as we do it. Watch this short video to learn how to give your quarterback more time with a Dash dropback. We use your new Whiteboard tool to explain.
