Yes, Some Flag Football Routes Are Decoys


By FirstDown PlayBook on Sep 10, 2025

Does your flag football quarterback look for all of his or her receivers on every pass play? If they do, that is a huge mistake. If your quarterback tries to see everyone they are going to get sacked. Coaches rarely give their quarterback more than three receivers to read on any one pass play. This means that on almost every pass play at least one receiver’s flag football route assignment is to get covered.

Most of the focus, as of late has been on the 5v5 flag football as the focus has turned to the 2028 Olympics. There are plenty of 7v7 flag football leagues out there as well, including the NAIA women who have been playing that version for five years now.

However; lets step back for a moment and think about all of the different versions of flag football that are now being played. There are 4v4 flag football leagues all the way up through 9v9 flag football games being played. Our friends over at USA Flag have become the go to source for flag football tournaments as they feature every version of flag football that can imagined.

Watch Below To Create Open Flag Football Receivers Using Decoys

That brings us to our point for today’s coaching tip. When you are playing in a 7v7 flag football game or an 8v8 flag football game that allows no blocking (some do & some don’t) you have even more receivers to account for than you do in 11v11 tackle. That can be a huge problem. The problem is created by quarterbacks who try to read every receiver on the flag football play.

Your Flag Football Route Might Be A Decoy Route. Run It Full Speed.

The biggest mistake you can make is to have your quarterback try to see all receivers on every play. Just like in any organized football league, some of your receivers need to be dead on some plays. That doesn’t mean that they can just stand around or jog through their routes. Quite the opposite. You need for these receivers to give maximum effort and draw the attention of the defense.

How To Draw Your Flag Football Zone Coverages

So, if you are an adult flag football player or you are coaching in an NFL Flag football league, take a look at this short video. It explains how we can help your adult flag or NFL Flag offense right now. This can help your flag football passing game a ton! You can also check out nine NFL concepts to use with your adult flag football team right here.

Watch To Let FirstDown PlayBook Make Your Life As A Flag Football Coach A Lot Easier