The Scramble Drill
The scramble drill is one of the best plays in football. Ironically, it is a play that we rarely practice, never have on our call sheets, and never run in summer 7 on 7 tournaments. Yet, it remains one of the best ways to generate huge chunk yardage and absolutely kills defensive coordinators.
There are three main reasons that the scramble drill is so effective. First, you are asking the defense to cover receivers for 6-8 seconds. That is virtually impossible for high school defensive backs. Even slower receivers can break open given that amount of time. Second, when your QB breaks the pocket, he forces linebackers to make a decision. They either have to vacate their zones or sit back and allow him to run. That opens up passing lanes. Third, and I want to emphasize this point, it allows your players to be creative. In a lot of ways, this is simple backyard football. It’s what you did when you were a kid…just run around and get open. When you allow your players to be creative, they will often surprise you.
The key to perfecting the scramble drill (actually ‘perfecting’ is not the right word…it’s really controlled chaos) is to have a general set of rules for your receivers. There are two simple concepts that you can teach. First rule. Go where you aren’t. If you are shallow go deep, If you are deep come back, If you are left come back to the right, etc. If seen coaches get even more specific, like the outside guy always goes deep, the inside guy always comes back, etc. But, like most stuff on this site, I like to keep it simple. The second rule is a sub rule of the first, get into the QB’s field of vision. It doesn’t do any good to be wide open on the far left numbers if the QB is sprinting to the right. That said, if he breaks the pocket and has time to set up and he can see you, maybe you will be open going deep left. That’s what I mean by controlled chaos. Start with those general rules and let your kids improvise a little.
Finally, and this is where most of us fail (myself included). Take time to practice it. I recommend just throwing it into 7 on 7. Have a coach right behind the QB. And, every once in a while yell, “Scramble Left.” Don’t tell him it’s coming, don’t tell the receivers it’s coming. Make them react just like they have to react on Friday night.
