#RUN N GUN GAME FOOTBALL PROFESSIONAL#

It’s not that a Run and Shoot offense won’t run the football at all… In the trenches, the offensive linemen will need to have strong pass-blocking skills. The receivers also need to be able to separate from defenders after they catch the ball to gain yards after the catch.Ī running back who can run routes and catch the ball out of the backfield is important, too. To run the Run and Shoot successfully, your offense will also need at least four wide receivers who are good route runners, have good hands and also can make adjustments while running their routes. In this case, it helps to have a mobile quarterback who has some speed but is also able to throw on the run. Some more modern versions of the Run and Shoot will incorporate what’s known as sprint plays, where the quarterback will take the snap, then sprint to his left or his right and either hand the ball off to a running back, throw the ball to a wide receiver or even run the ball himself if he sees a hole.

The quarterback must be able to read defenses properly and make adjustments at the line of scrimmage based on what he sees before the snap of the ball.

The quarterback in this offense doesn’t have to have the strongest arm in the world, but he does have to be able to make strong throws with a lot of accuracy. The key to a Run and Shoot offense is an accurate quarterback. Instead, the offense will take advantage of mismatches it creates with four wide receiver-sets and a quarterback out of the shotgun, which spreads the defense out and forces them to cover a large part of the field. The best Run and Shoot offenses will throw the ball a lot, for sure, but they won’t just chuck it downfield and look for huge gains on every play. The Run and Shoot often gets thought of as a score-quick offense, but that’s just not true. The idea is to take advantages of mismatches on the field, cut down on turnovers and slowly but methodically move the ball downfield, a few yards at a time. Today, though, the Run and Shoot offense can still have its place in football circles.Īt its core, the Run and Shoot is a ball-control offense that moves the ball down the field using high percentage pass plays.

#RUN N GUN GAME FOOTBALL PROFESSIONAL#

The offense gained popularity in both the college game and then the NFL in the 1980s and early 1990s, most famously by head coach June Jones and the Atlanta Falcons, and by quarterback Warren Moon and the Houston Oilers.Īs players on the defensive side of the ball began getting so athletic and fast as they are today, though, the offense fell out of favor at the professional level. Instead of having multiple plays that could be run, the offense instead created variations off those plays to take advantage of the specific situation and the specific defense that the opposing team was running on a play. His version of the offense was very simplified, in that it contained only three running plays and five passing plays. The Run and Shoot offense was first made popular in the 1970s with Darrel “Mouse” Davis and his Portland State football teams.

Run n gun game football