Screen Passes

Screen Passes

A screen pass is a pass placed into one of two categories, a linemen pulling screen and a no linemen pulling screen. According to Dan Gonzalez, a no linemen screen is, “No linemen pulling: bubble, crack screen, hitch screen” (Gonzalez 34). Usually these screens are ran with the running back. Otherwise, the linemen screens consist of wide receiver screens, running back screens, dual screens, dump screens, and a backside screen (Gonzalez 34). All of these are mostly used with a running back with the exception of the wide receiver screen. The offensive coordinator has two options for whichever screen he decides to run. He can either run it to the weak side or to the strong side. The weak side is the side of the field which has the least amount of players, which means you will have less people blocking for your receiver but will have less defenders that can make a play on the ball. Moreover, on the strong side you have more players blocking for you as there are also more defenders that can make a play on the ball. As a result, the offensive coordinator must decide wisely when to run it to the weak side or to the strong side to give his offense the best chance at having an efficient play call.

(R: Receiver, T: Tackle, G: Guard, C: Center, TE: Tight End, RB: Running Back, QB: Quarterback) Here the screen is ran with the running back and we have the offensive line pulling to help block for the running back on the weak side.

Which way do you think a screen pass would be more efficient to, the weak side or the strong side? Why?

Gonzalez, Dan. Concept Passing: Teaching the Modern Passing Game. Monterrey, California: Coaches Choice, 2009. Print.