Don't Throw WR Screens Against This Look
A Lesson Learned from the 2023 FSU vs. LSU Game
I have a love-hate relationship with WR screens, and the two clips I’m going to show you today don’t do well to sway me in the love direction.
In particular, the screens of discussion today are not bubbles, but now screens by the number one WR. These WR screens are good against off cornerbacks and overhangs and safeties who can easily be blocked.
OR a top-dog WR that is an absolute beast with the ball in his hands and can make any DB miss. If either of those two things are not present or able to happen, abandon the now screen. Take the beating that might come in the run game, it isn’t worth it. We’ve made this mistake in our own screen game before and it hasn’t worked yet.
This is not ‘Nam, this is football. There are rules. And one of the biggest rules a QB cannot break is abandoning the WR now screen if there is a cloud corner. We have evidence with two examples below from the 2023 FSU vs. LSU game.
First Play
The Tigers present QB Jordan Travis with quite a bit of pre-snap movement and show pressure. Often, pressure can open up a WR screen if the defense is late to get to it. Not here. Travis must have been thinking he must deal with the pressure look by getting the ball out. Not a bad idea. However, the number one rule for now screens is we can’t throw them into cloud or press corners, under no circumstances.
LSU does a great job of messing up the numbers count for the QB. In an odd front, they bring two off the edge to the field but drop the boundary OLB. This is deceptive and gives the appearance that FSU will be running into a 7 man box which is what was probably another factor that influenced Travis’s decision.
It appears that he had an now screen up top to Johnny Wilson available to him, but without knowing what Travis was taught, who knows if that was available to him. That screen looks good though because the cornerback bails and played off. However, he bailed late-ish and Travis was probably in full panic mode trying to deal with the pressure. Result = interception.
Second Play
It is hard to say what/if there was a read on this play. The OL releases so it might’ve been a full on fake of the GT counter and a throw to Keon Coleman the entire time. However, the song remains the same: you can’t hope for success if you throw now screens into cloud or press corners.
There are multiple issues on this play — first, the free runner coming right at Travis’s face since the Noles are leaving the DE unblocked, as you normally do on GT counter. FSU runs GT counter at an inordinate amount, so teams put a lot of effort into stopping it. This screen is an answer for the Noles, but it doesn’t work because the number one rule is broken. It doesn’t help that there is a free runner and the WRs do not block well (another key to running screens, your WRs must block well).
Conclusion
There are certain laws that exist in the game of football and you are entering a world of pain if you find yourself forgetting these rules. Every play has them, and for hope in consistently moving the ball down the field, they are best followed strictly. The trick is figuring them out.
Am I wrong?
Until tomorrow,
Emory Wilhite
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