OVER THE COURSE of the past few seasons, we ran into teams that were more talented than we were at almost every position. Since we had QBs who didn’t have exceptionally strong throwing arms, we needed to counter balance an aggressive pass rush and punish the aggressive nature of most defenses. Simple to teach and easy to install, the Rocket Screen to our wide receiver was the solution.

The Rocket Screen can be thrown from any formation that uses a split end. Ideally, it’s better to use a formation that uses two or more wideouts. Our base set is a 4-receiver set called “double twins.”

Offensive Line Duties

The best part about this play is the simplicity of blocking for the five interior linemen. Upon the snap, the linemen will drop step with their outside foot for a count of 1 second and invite the defensive linemen upfield. After the 1 count, the linemen release and attack the linebacker on their side of the ball.

DIAGRAM 1: After breaking the huddle the lineman should get a pre-snap read on the total number of LBs within the tackle box. If there are two, the OG and OT on that side double-team the LB. If the number is two for the center, he drop steps and releases to the free safety.


DIAGRAM 2: If the number is three, the center locks the middle LB and the OG and OT double-team the outside LBs to their respective sides.


By inviting the rush upfield and sealing the LBs with the offensive linemen, a path is created for the split end to follow on his route.

Receiver Duties
On the side away from the screen (in this case, the right side), the two wide receivers seal their men to the inside causing their men to fight outside. This also sets up the flare pass.

On the other side of the slot, the receiver will release on what looks like a flat route and block the man over the left split end. The left split end will veer back toward a point approximately 1 foot behind the line of scrimmage.

The point of reception should occur 1 yard outside the left tackle’s outside foot. The split end should then turn and find the path created by the rush of the opposing defensive linemen and the block of his linemen.

QuarterBack Responsibilities
Upon the snap of the ball, the QB must retreat 3 to 5 steps and fake a pass to the flaring tailback. The QB then snaps his head around to find the rushing defensive end to the screen side. If the end is sitting in his original alignment, instruct your QB to throw the ball away.

If the end is rushing, the QB will retreat another step or two and throw the ball to the streaking split end.
The best thing about this throw is the short distance the ball is in the air. Any QB, regardless of arm strength and ability, can throw the pass.

Tailback Duties
The tailback must open with a drop step to the outside and run an arc path carrying him through the footsteps of the original alignment of the right split end. As the back runs, he should turn his numbers toward the QB to make the fake look more real.

DIAGRAM 3: This shows the play being run from a trips formation. Running this play out of trips is effective because defenses will over-rotate to the trips side, leaving the backside vulnerable to the Rocket Screen.


Notice the receivers to the trips side will block the man directly over the offensive man to their outside. This provides a great pick move that’s legal because the ball is thrown behind the LOS.

Flare Pass

DIAGRAM 4: A companion play is the flare pass to the TB. To the defense, this play looks identical to the Rocket Screen. You can run this play several times to set up the Rocket Screen.


Coaching Note: Always have the
QB fade back a few steps after the ball is thrown to insure that the officials don’t mistake the pass for a backward lateral.