THE MAIN COMPONENT of our offense is the “Buck” package. Regardless of how we set the offense, we attack three defensive areas on each play.

1.    The fullback runs a trap.
2.    The backside back or wing runs the sweep.
3.    The quarterback runs either waggle (boot) or flood.
Since the majority of our offense utilizes the Buck package, most of our play-action passing is done from this series.

Waggle Play-Action Pass
The heart and soul of the wing-T play-action game is the waggle pass. To help our players remember what we’re trying to accomplish, we use the term “waggle” to identify a play in which the QB usually passes, but may run if the receivers are covered. A play that uses the term “boot” is always a running play.

The waggle play is run away from the sweep action of the wing or halfback and can feature three or four receivers.

DIAGRAM 1: Buck-Package Waggle Pass.

The front-side receiver runs a route that gets him to the deep third of the field. The inside receiver on the backside runs a drag route, while the outside receiver runs a post or dig route.
The QB reads high to low with a progression of  1, 2, then run. We never look to the deep, middle receiver unless there is a “backside” call.

DIAGRAM 2: Waggle-Pass Switch Adjustment.

To vary this look, we use a “switch” adjustment in which the two front-side receivers switch assignments. Again, the QB reads a progression of 1, 2, then run.

DIAGRAM 3: Waggle “Fullback” Adjustment.


Our final adjustment is to bring the fullback into the play as another receiver and is simply called waggle “fullback.” Notice that the two backside receiver’s routes have been changed to a post and a streak.

DIAGRAM 4: Horizontal-Stretch Adjustment.


We’ve gone so far in some seasons as to alter the QB’s steps on this play to enable him to get more of a drop-back posture behind the line of scrimmage with a good horizontal stretch downfield.

Buck-Package Flood Play
While we experienced great success with the waggle, teams started to defend this play in key situations. Consequently, we were forced to come up with another play-action look off the buck package.

The play we developed was the “Flood.” It uses all the same backfield movements, but now has the QB follow the sweep action of the wing or HB.

DIAGRAM 5:  Buck-Package Flood Play.


We also had the receivers change their routes so as to “mirror” the waggle routes.

DIAGRAM 6:  Flood Switch, Backside Adjustments.

As we did with the waggle plays, we also incorporated the “switch” and “backside” adjustments. The backside guard now pulls as he normally would on the buck sweep. This makes the play look more like a run and forces the defenders who are “pass-first people” to make hasty decisions.

    Since the FB is now a backside blocker, we have only three pass receivers to deal with.