5 Must-have Plays for Every Youth Football Offensive Playbook

Here is a look at our 5 must-have plays for every youth football offensive playbook. These plays are all very easy to install and they work on all age levels of youth football. I will recommend that your playbook features a system of plays rather than just plays out of ten different formations. It’s all about speed and deception in youth football! These plays below are all fast and very deceptive.

5 Must-have Plays for every Youth Football Offensive Playbook

Jet Sweep

The Jet Sweep in my opinion is the best play in youth football. It is a play that is beginning to gain popularity on all levels of football. It’s a play that gets your athletes the ball in space very quickly. It puts a ton of pressure on the defense and forces them to defend the entire width of the field. Once the defense widens to defend the sweep, that’s when you hit them with a counter or pass play off of jet motion. The Jet Sweep can be executed out of almost any formation. It’s easy to install and can be execute on ANY age level of youth football.

(See Also)  Shotgun Wing T Playbook 

Related Content: Incorporating Jet Sweep into your Offense

Post-Wheel

The play-action Post-Wheel play is probably the best pass play in youth football. We run Post-Wheel off of our jet sweep and it kills defenses. This play sends the split-end on a post and the wingback or inside receiver on a wheel route. The wheel route is usually always open, especially against man to man coverage. If defenses aren’t playing with a safety, then the post pattern should be open.  After you beat the defense with the wheel, the post pattern will usually be open because that safety will fly over the top of the wheel.  This is a very simple route concept that works the best off of play-action. With all that said, I will say that it is a long throw and you need a kid that can catch the football.  Regardless,  it is a play that we will run every single season.

Post-Wheel off of jet sweep is lights out!  I promise you it is! 

Related Content: Post-Wheel Passing Concept

Wedge Play

The wedge play is a very powerful play that attacks the interior of the defense. We chose to go with wedge for our interior run, rather than trap. We feel wedge is easier to block and it offers the same big play potential as trap. Running wedge is an excellent way to pound the football down the defense’s throat. We love using having our QB run the wedge because he will be able to fit into the wedge much easier and much quicker. However, you can run the wedge to a fullback as well.  The wedge is an excellent play to run off of jet or rocket sweep. The motion will mess with the eye discipline of the defenders.

I love the trap play as well. However, we can run wedge regardless of the defensive front. Whereas with trap, sometimes these gap control defense make it difficult to trap. For that reason, we tend to favor wedge over trap.

Related Content: The Wedge Play in Youth Football 

Counter Play

Every offense needs a counter play off of their best play. For example, our best play is jet sweep, so we will run Wedge or a play we call Jet Power off of our jet sweep action.  There are several different counter plays that work very well in youth football. The split-back counter play is one of my favorite counter plays because of its simplicity and deceptiveness. The counter play will take advantage of overaggressive defenses. In youth football, defenses blitz a ton! By having a nice counter play off of your base running plays will keep the defense honest and it will slow down their rush.  Speed and DECEPTION is the name of the game when it comes to youth football.

I also love the counter play out of the Wishbone formation. The Wishbone is a great formation for youth football. It’s a balanced attack that really allows you to pound the rock. It also has a lights out play-action passing attack.

Related Content: QB Counter Trey 

Power Play

Last but not least, we have the power play!  Power is a play that most teams already have in their playbook. If you don’t have power in your playbook, then you are missing out. The power is a concept that works very well in youth football. The power play can be executed out of pretty much any formation in football.  The power is great because it utilizes a double team and a kick-out block at the point of attack.  It’s also a downhill play that really allows your physical running backs and linemen to impose their will. There are several different ways you can run the power play. Below is a video of our jet power play which we have our wing kick-out the DE and have our fullback lead through the hole.

We have several different videos on our YouTube channel regarding the Power Play- Click Here 

(See Also) Power I Formation Play Series