With season 14 just around the corner – and rookie teams currently being planned – I was hoping we (as a community) could come with a rookie spam guide for new owners. I want to break this down by formation.
I’d like to be 100% clear: I don’t have all of the answers. Sometimes I don’t know a way to stop something. Sometimes I don’t know the best way to stop something. I would ask that you feel free to contribute your thoughts and I will add them to the OP (and credit you) if I’m able.
Everything here is my opinion based on my experience. Especially on defense - I'm quite confident I'm missing some obvious "best plays".
This guide is intended to be one that says: Start here and you'll crush plenty of teams who aren't paying attention -- and you'll at least put up a fight on the defensive side of the ball and avoid getting exploited by the people who know the game better.
Rookie is tough. Be prepared for some ugly, ugly play.
The HB run game starts REALLY tough. You will not be able to break tackles. You’ll fall over when touched by a fingertip. Your O Line won’t get many pancakes. The running game really requires that one of your offensive players gets a 2 for 1 in some way (blocker pancakes one and blocks another; HB requires two players to get him to the ground, etc).
The QB run game is actually most viable (for non runners) during early rookie. You do not need a QB with skill points in the running skills to gain yards….or even totally dominate.
In rookie – play calling is king. Builds don’t really even matter in many, many cases. I’d say rookie is 90% playcalling and 10% player builds. Keep that in mind.
So how do I break down rookie by formation? Here is what I’ve done – 26 games into the season.
OFFENSE
2 Tight End:
Passing:
Big I
TE Crosses is king of the jungle
1st 13 games of the season: run 320 times. 47.2% completion, 10.7 yards per catch. If a team can run this every down…they will put at least some points on the board.
2nd 13 games: run 410 times. 53.9% completion, 10.6 yards per catch
Running:
In rookie, inside running is not going to bring many home runs from any formation, as mentioned above. But rookie can exploit some outside running plays as you’ll see. One of those is the Big I counter – defenses don’t have enough points to break blocks or spend on blitz awareness – so the offense has an advantage here (sometimes).
In all of rookie:
Big I HB Counter Sweep Left: averaged 5.57 yards per carry on 664 attempts.
QB Rollout Left: averaged 6.39 on 378 attempts
QB Rollout Right: 6 ypc on 444 attempts
HB Sweep Right: 6.18 on 1191 attempts
HB Sweep Left: 5.29 on 1076 attempts
In general – I see no reason to run anything other than those plays. Passing teams should all have BI TE Crosses as a 5 star spam play. The only running plays you should use are those 5 outside runs – and they should only be used situationally, but can still be highly effective – even with minimal run blocking skills.
2WR – Same. Inside running can be consistent for small gains. Outside runs have potential for bigger – sweeps (strong) and QB rollouts.
Passing
1st 13 games – everything is lower completion rate but decent yards per catch
I Weak Flag Post – 37.8% completion / 15 yards per catch / only 4.1% sacked
I FL Hitch – 35.9% / 10.9 ypc / 0% sack rate
2nd 13 games –
I Weak Flag Deep Post – 47.8% completion / 14 ypcatch / 4.3%
I FL Hitch – 41.3% / 11.5 ypc / 1.1%
Go to running plays : HB sweeps strong / weak I counter sweep weak (situationally)
3WR –
Passing:
1st 13 games –
SB TE Post – 41.1% / 9.8 ypc / 2.6% sack
SB TE Drive – 42.6% / 15.9 ypc / 3.9% sack
2nd 13 games –
SB TE Post – 56% completion / 8.6 ypc / 2.7%
SB TE Drive – became less effective for me – gave up more sacks and lowered completion rate
Running:
Here you have something exploitable. People like to run Zero Edge Blitz against 3WR sets – it gets pressure really quickly. If they do this though – they open themselves up to Trips HB Pitch and Trips QB Rollout. Even if you don’t have QB running skills --- QB can still run here.
QB Rollout Rush strong (trips) vs:
Nickel 335 Over Will Mike Blitz 1: 18.79 yards per carry on 100 attempts
Nickel 335 Man Base: 13 ypc on 94 attempts
Zero Edge Blitz (4-4): 20 yards per carry on 77 attempts
Nickel Man DE Flats: 16 yards per carry on 39 attempts
Looking at the QB Rollout Rush Strong in its entirety – in rookie this year on 1060 attempts, it has run for 12.68 yards per carry. Tough to stop. You should be running this play.
Trips Pitch Strong (to HB) – is not as consistent:
Vs Zero Edge Blitz 1.56 on 153 attempts
Vs 335 Man Base 6.31 on 142
Vs 335 Over Will Mike Blitz 1 8.42 on 122
4WR:
4WR passing in rookie is mostly sack bait. Sure – you can customize some 4WR hooks in the playbook if you know your opponent won’t bring a big blitz – but otherwise it is just not worth it.
Likewise with running: Since you won’t be passing – your opponent can generally load up the middle of the field with a 5-2 blitz or something and crush inside runs. This can open some opportunity for an occasional 4 wr outside run – which can work even without having blocking WR’s.
5WR:
Likewise – sack bait. Just ignore this formation or you’ll eat sacks.
So on offense – this leaves us the following playbook as a base:
Inside Running:
2WR / 3WR / 4WR occasionally – your choice based on what you expect to see. At best you can hope for 3-4 yards against decent defensive playbooks.
Outside Running something like:
Trips QB Rollout
Proset HB Sweep
Big I Counter Left
Big I QB Rollout Right
Big I QB Rollout Left
Spread Pitch
Passing Medium (that’s mostly all I use and works as a base):
Big I TE Crosses: priority 5
I Weak Flag Post: lower priority
I FL Hitch: lower priority
SB TE Post: mid priority
SB TE Drive: one priority (could sub some other play in here – there are probably better ones).
That’s all. You’re done.
Other offensive tips:
- Don’t try to pass on 3rd and 11+ (sometimes even 10 against a good blitzing team) – you will eat the sack a VERY high amount of time – and convert at a really low rate. Your best chance at a 1st down (and to conserve moral and field position) is to try an outside run. Way better chance and way better for your team.
- Fix your depth charts – on special teams as well
- I’ve said it a bunch – but run your QB even if he isn’t a runner – especially early in rookie.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DEFENSE
I expect some of my info is suspect / not great here - hoping others with proven defensive knowledge will correct / contribute here.
Blitzing is KING in rookie. This is kind of ironic because as you reach the other higher tiers….blitzing can become pretty ineffective. As a result – you don’t want to gimp your players for the future – but you do want to rack up hundreds of sacks. To blitz in rookie:
- Your blitzing LB’s need speed and conditioning. Don’t worry about anything else for at least the first three quarters of rookie.
- Your DE’s need to be on power rush tactic so they don’t get in your blitzers way
2 Tight End Sets:
You’re going to be facing Big I TE Crosses – and you’re going to be facing outside QB and HB running. You have to account for both.
The best thing I’ve found here is to run zone plays against 2 TE sets. It manages the outside runs reasonably well, and also does well against the pass. Since you likely won’t be spending a ton of points on man awareness yet – it just doesn’t matter.
4-4 Cover 2 Sink with a low priority something else to get this run most of the time. That’s what I often do – but I do think there is probably something better available.
2 WR Sets:
You’re going to be dealing with a few passes occasional outside sweeps / QB runs. Also people will pick at you with some inside runs – but I say just give them those.
Zero Edge Blitz can be a staple here – it does well against the inside run (smothers it) – it can often pick off the outside runs – and it can hurry the QB into early throws.
Other options against a sweep heavy offense could be 4-3 Cover 1 CB Fire.
There are lots of other options as well – I regularly use OWMB1 and strong shift – doesn’t get as much QB pressure as ZEB – but it shuts down the outside runs and does a decent job vs the pass.
3WR Sets:
My biggest struggle right now. ZEB is great if they aren’t going to run outside….but if they are sprinkling in QB rollouts and pitches – they can hammer you with some home run balls. I don’t like giving up home run balls – so I will generally go with OWMB1 or Strong Shift here. My thinking is that if they’re going to beat me – I’ll make them beat me with the pass since then I have drops and deflections and bad throws on my team.
4WR Sets:
Not a lot to worry about. Can’t run ZEB as it will get crushed up the middle. Pick something else – but you can pretty much focus on stopping inside runs and be aware of an occasional outside run – though I’ve rarely seen 4WR outside pitch spam – it is risky and hard to spam since there aren’t too many plays.
5WR:
Drop in ZEB or something and if someone makes the mistake of passing here – they are dead meat.
I’d like to be 100% clear: I don’t have all of the answers. Sometimes I don’t know a way to stop something. Sometimes I don’t know the best way to stop something. I would ask that you feel free to contribute your thoughts and I will add them to the OP (and credit you) if I’m able.
Everything here is my opinion based on my experience. Especially on defense - I'm quite confident I'm missing some obvious "best plays".
This guide is intended to be one that says: Start here and you'll crush plenty of teams who aren't paying attention -- and you'll at least put up a fight on the defensive side of the ball and avoid getting exploited by the people who know the game better.
Rookie is tough. Be prepared for some ugly, ugly play.
The HB run game starts REALLY tough. You will not be able to break tackles. You’ll fall over when touched by a fingertip. Your O Line won’t get many pancakes. The running game really requires that one of your offensive players gets a 2 for 1 in some way (blocker pancakes one and blocks another; HB requires two players to get him to the ground, etc).
The QB run game is actually most viable (for non runners) during early rookie. You do not need a QB with skill points in the running skills to gain yards….or even totally dominate.
In rookie – play calling is king. Builds don’t really even matter in many, many cases. I’d say rookie is 90% playcalling and 10% player builds. Keep that in mind.
So how do I break down rookie by formation? Here is what I’ve done – 26 games into the season.
OFFENSE
2 Tight End:
Passing:
Big I
TE Crosses is king of the jungle
1st 13 games of the season: run 320 times. 47.2% completion, 10.7 yards per catch. If a team can run this every down…they will put at least some points on the board.
2nd 13 games: run 410 times. 53.9% completion, 10.6 yards per catch
Running:
In rookie, inside running is not going to bring many home runs from any formation, as mentioned above. But rookie can exploit some outside running plays as you’ll see. One of those is the Big I counter – defenses don’t have enough points to break blocks or spend on blitz awareness – so the offense has an advantage here (sometimes).
In all of rookie:
Big I HB Counter Sweep Left: averaged 5.57 yards per carry on 664 attempts.
QB Rollout Left: averaged 6.39 on 378 attempts
QB Rollout Right: 6 ypc on 444 attempts
HB Sweep Right: 6.18 on 1191 attempts
HB Sweep Left: 5.29 on 1076 attempts
In general – I see no reason to run anything other than those plays. Passing teams should all have BI TE Crosses as a 5 star spam play. The only running plays you should use are those 5 outside runs – and they should only be used situationally, but can still be highly effective – even with minimal run blocking skills.
2WR – Same. Inside running can be consistent for small gains. Outside runs have potential for bigger – sweeps (strong) and QB rollouts.
Passing
1st 13 games – everything is lower completion rate but decent yards per catch
I Weak Flag Post – 37.8% completion / 15 yards per catch / only 4.1% sacked
I FL Hitch – 35.9% / 10.9 ypc / 0% sack rate
2nd 13 games –
I Weak Flag Deep Post – 47.8% completion / 14 ypcatch / 4.3%
I FL Hitch – 41.3% / 11.5 ypc / 1.1%
Go to running plays : HB sweeps strong / weak I counter sweep weak (situationally)
3WR –
Passing:
1st 13 games –
SB TE Post – 41.1% / 9.8 ypc / 2.6% sack
SB TE Drive – 42.6% / 15.9 ypc / 3.9% sack
2nd 13 games –
SB TE Post – 56% completion / 8.6 ypc / 2.7%
SB TE Drive – became less effective for me – gave up more sacks and lowered completion rate
Running:
Here you have something exploitable. People like to run Zero Edge Blitz against 3WR sets – it gets pressure really quickly. If they do this though – they open themselves up to Trips HB Pitch and Trips QB Rollout. Even if you don’t have QB running skills --- QB can still run here.
QB Rollout Rush strong (trips) vs:
Nickel 335 Over Will Mike Blitz 1: 18.79 yards per carry on 100 attempts
Nickel 335 Man Base: 13 ypc on 94 attempts
Zero Edge Blitz (4-4): 20 yards per carry on 77 attempts
Nickel Man DE Flats: 16 yards per carry on 39 attempts
Looking at the QB Rollout Rush Strong in its entirety – in rookie this year on 1060 attempts, it has run for 12.68 yards per carry. Tough to stop. You should be running this play.
Trips Pitch Strong (to HB) – is not as consistent:
Vs Zero Edge Blitz 1.56 on 153 attempts
Vs 335 Man Base 6.31 on 142
Vs 335 Over Will Mike Blitz 1 8.42 on 122
4WR:
4WR passing in rookie is mostly sack bait. Sure – you can customize some 4WR hooks in the playbook if you know your opponent won’t bring a big blitz – but otherwise it is just not worth it.
Likewise with running: Since you won’t be passing – your opponent can generally load up the middle of the field with a 5-2 blitz or something and crush inside runs. This can open some opportunity for an occasional 4 wr outside run – which can work even without having blocking WR’s.
5WR:
Likewise – sack bait. Just ignore this formation or you’ll eat sacks.
So on offense – this leaves us the following playbook as a base:
Inside Running:
2WR / 3WR / 4WR occasionally – your choice based on what you expect to see. At best you can hope for 3-4 yards against decent defensive playbooks.
Outside Running something like:
Trips QB Rollout
Proset HB Sweep
Big I Counter Left
Big I QB Rollout Right
Big I QB Rollout Left
Spread Pitch
Passing Medium (that’s mostly all I use and works as a base):
Big I TE Crosses: priority 5
I Weak Flag Post: lower priority
I FL Hitch: lower priority
SB TE Post: mid priority
SB TE Drive: one priority (could sub some other play in here – there are probably better ones).
That’s all. You’re done.
Other offensive tips:
- Don’t try to pass on 3rd and 11+ (sometimes even 10 against a good blitzing team) – you will eat the sack a VERY high amount of time – and convert at a really low rate. Your best chance at a 1st down (and to conserve moral and field position) is to try an outside run. Way better chance and way better for your team.
- Fix your depth charts – on special teams as well
- I’ve said it a bunch – but run your QB even if he isn’t a runner – especially early in rookie.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DEFENSE
I expect some of my info is suspect / not great here - hoping others with proven defensive knowledge will correct / contribute here.
Blitzing is KING in rookie. This is kind of ironic because as you reach the other higher tiers….blitzing can become pretty ineffective. As a result – you don’t want to gimp your players for the future – but you do want to rack up hundreds of sacks. To blitz in rookie:
- Your blitzing LB’s need speed and conditioning. Don’t worry about anything else for at least the first three quarters of rookie.
- Your DE’s need to be on power rush tactic so they don’t get in your blitzers way
2 Tight End Sets:
You’re going to be facing Big I TE Crosses – and you’re going to be facing outside QB and HB running. You have to account for both.
The best thing I’ve found here is to run zone plays against 2 TE sets. It manages the outside runs reasonably well, and also does well against the pass. Since you likely won’t be spending a ton of points on man awareness yet – it just doesn’t matter.
4-4 Cover 2 Sink with a low priority something else to get this run most of the time. That’s what I often do – but I do think there is probably something better available.
2 WR Sets:
You’re going to be dealing with a few passes occasional outside sweeps / QB runs. Also people will pick at you with some inside runs – but I say just give them those.
Zero Edge Blitz can be a staple here – it does well against the inside run (smothers it) – it can often pick off the outside runs – and it can hurry the QB into early throws.
Other options against a sweep heavy offense could be 4-3 Cover 1 CB Fire.
There are lots of other options as well – I regularly use OWMB1 and strong shift – doesn’t get as much QB pressure as ZEB – but it shuts down the outside runs and does a decent job vs the pass.
3WR Sets:
My biggest struggle right now. ZEB is great if they aren’t going to run outside….but if they are sprinkling in QB rollouts and pitches – they can hammer you with some home run balls. I don’t like giving up home run balls – so I will generally go with OWMB1 or Strong Shift here. My thinking is that if they’re going to beat me – I’ll make them beat me with the pass since then I have drops and deflections and bad throws on my team.
4WR Sets:
Not a lot to worry about. Can’t run ZEB as it will get crushed up the middle. Pick something else – but you can pretty much focus on stopping inside runs and be aware of an occasional outside run – though I’ve rarely seen 4WR outside pitch spam – it is risky and hard to spam since there aren’t too many plays.
5WR:
Drop in ZEB or something and if someone makes the mistake of passing here – they are dead meat.
