SEC StatCat's 98 favorite plays 98 days ahead of the 2026 season

We have a saying in football. Perhaps you’ve heard it: “It’s the Jimmies and Joes, not the X’s and O’s.”

And, there’s a reason that phrase has survived for decades.

But every now and then, it’s worth giving the wizards of the whiteboard some love, too. Once you get the talent, you have to maximize it. After all, football is the thinking man’s game. Chess not checkers with big, strong, fast human beings.

From modern motion usage, creative deployment of personnel, reimagining classic plays, and just running things that just flat-out work, here are my 98 favorite plays — in terms of design, not necessarily about results — 98 days away from the 2026 season.

98: Jet Gun Sprint: Alabama

This shotgun sprint-out has popped up a few times the last couple of SEC seasons, usually in crunch time in short-yardage situations. Playing off typical designs from the pistol or undercenter, this play action bootleg features unique backfield footwork to help sell the design.

97. Fast Max Dash Swirls: South Carolina

Dash – or delayed rollout – patterns have exploded within the SEC the last half-decade. Usage since 2022 has tripled and over 100 were seen in the conference in 2025. This pattern plays off the Wheelie Switch (wheel + inbreaker) combo with a switch curls idea (Swirl in StatCat lingo).

96. Bluff (Split Zone) “Keeper Counter”: Ole Miss

“Keeper Counter” — or a RB bendback lead after faking a handoff for a QB run — has been a clever design sprinkled across a number of schemes. Typically, they are called towards a formation’s strength to help the OL reach their desired landmarks. But, this split zone rendition allows the offense to call it toward the weakside and add an additional lead blocker from an off-ball TE, which helps create more traditional counter run block roles.

95. Y Shock Slap: Arkansas

Pairing Stick Variations with Slant combos has been idea around for decades. An Air Raid staple, many schemes love it on early downs in an attempt to stay ahead of the chains. While the Stick side of the pattern is geared more towards beating 2-deep coverages, slants remain quite effective against single-high looks.

94: Spot Shovel Bend: Vanderbilt

A number of spread schemes have found success blending a Spot rollout with a RB or TE slide coming from the backside. But this wrinkle allows the shovel outlet to start frontside and bend back towards the rest of the pattern after completing a dummy play fake.

93: Divide Y Shallow: Tennessee

A Vertical pattern with a Y shallow that helps put extra pressure on defenders towards the middle of the field. Across the conference pure vertical + shallow pairings were only seen 12x but needed 122 yards.

92: Fast Max Boot Swapped Cross: Alabama

This design uses fast motion to a receiver drive off the coverage and create a void for our weakside flood to come open attacking the left side of the formation into the boundary. Excluding waggle and sprint-out designs, true play action bootlegs produced 843 yards on 113 attempts (7.5 Y/A) within the conference in 2025.

91: Dagger Shallow (Slot Cross): Alabama

Of all the forms of Dagger, this pattern has seen the most shine across college football the last several seasons. Adding onto the classic Dagger + Shallow combo, a slot cross overtop the weakside route provides more stress against a number of coverages, especially when off play action like this rep.

90: Return Z Bash Tackle Counter Read: Oklahoma

WR runs remain to be the best ways to create explosives on the ground. When getting away from old school Jet Sweeps, End Arounds, and Reverses, featuring wideouts with Bash (“back away”) designs have been the preferred method for many. This return motion setup certainly aims to keep opponents fuzzy.

89: Direct Snap Stretch Fake Reverse: LSU

The SEC called 55 direct snap plays in 2025. Most were of the duo variety. But, this Outside Zone example, along with Counter, Pin/Pull Base, Crack Sweep, and F Lead, provided the conference more variety. And unlike many reps, this was called outside of a short-yardage situation.

88: Hoss Y Juke: Vanderbilt

Hoss Juke is a classic pattern designed to matchup a playmaker against a slower-footed linebacker. But it also has elements great at working zone coverage or leverage a deep slot fade attempt. In both the RPO and dropback game, Hoss Juke plays combined for a 6.9 Y/A and 13 reps that gained least 15 yards.

87: Outside Zone Stab RPO Orbit “Slap”: Miss State

Stab Outside Zone runs – or utilizing a backside off-ball TE to snake frontside as a lead blocker – saw their highest usage in the SEC in 2025. Over 100 were seen across the conference. Miss State had the most with 52 tries across a couple of different forms. This design calls for WR orbit motion to blend with a slant to create a “Slap” combo as an RPO outlet.

86: Zoom Kelly Mesh Post: Vanderbilt

On the surface, this is a pretty standard Kelly/Rail Mesh pattern. But with help of at-snap zoom motion and swapping some routes around, this design has teeth to keep opponents on their collective heels.

85: Fast Dash Cross Comeback: Kentucky

Like many Dash plays, this design features a match route opposite the main pattern. But unlike some other forms, that route is set up via fast motion. The conference as a whole called 14 Dash Cross designs and averaged just under 10.0 Y/A.

84: Shoot Split Zone: Vanderbilt

Using shoot – or escort – motion is a massive trend the last half-decade for offenses to utilize blockers in space or add more numbers to the point of attack. Though fairly popular in split zone read options, it also can be seen on straight tries.

83: Falcon Double Spot: Ole Miss

To further stress the underneath portions of zone coverages, offenses have started to lean more heavily into 4-strong patterns — or looks where 4 eligible pass catchers align to the same side of the formation. Double Spot is one of the most popular and tends to use RB flair motion. On the backside, the solo WR has the opportunity to run a bevy of vertical-stem routes like slants, outs, fades, comebacks, or skinny poststo compliment the pattern at large.

82: PA Double Insert Yankee: Ole Miss

Most Yankee Shots – a family of deep pass concepts rooted in a deep over – tend to come from heavy sets with multiple tight ends and use play action. While this pattern accomplishes that, the nature of the run action was one of the more unique examples within the SEC this year.

81: Divide Smash: Georgia

A little bit of a pre-snap setup to create a dangerous vertical pattern meant to test safeties. This pairing can also be known as “Paydirt” due to its prevalence for delivering splash completions and scores.

80: Fast PA Mesh Flat: Kentucky

A lot of teams like to call mesh in short-yardage situations, since two intersecting drag routes can cause chaos and confusion for coveragemen. Here, the deception is cranked up a bit using at-snap motion to leverage a quick flat route off play action.

79: Direct Snap Bash Counter Reverse: Tennessee

This direct snap initially window dresses like a Bash (“back away”) Counter look. But our pullers soon act as personal protectors for a WR reverse around the right side. Of the 19 true reverse runs in the SEC last year, only one netted more yards than this design.

78: Outside Zone Stab: Tennessee

Outside Zone Off-Tackles are nothing new and remain vitial cogs in many schemes across all levels of football. So, the onus is on play callers to keep opponent’s off their scent. The pistol form of OZ Stab could be the answer. All in all, RB carries on this concept averaged 5.0 Y/A.

77: PA Cross Swap Sluggo: Ole Miss

Lane Kiffin’s offenses tend to have high affinity for floods and slants. This pattern helps counterpunch secondaries expecting those looks. First, the routes on the Cross combo are swapped (so the outside man runs the main route towards the middle of the field), hopefully anchoring deep help. Then, some double-moves are featured on the other side that strike to create an explosive completion.

76: Return Drive Mesh Flat: Miss State

This is another interesting Mesh pattern that utilizes eye candy and at-snap motion for a potential quick hitter in the flank. For what it’s worth, no matter the form of Mesh, the conference-wide Y/A was 6.3 when featuring at-snap motion compared to a paltry 4.3 clip without.

75: Double Wheelie Trey: Vanderbilt

As defenses start to prefer more 2-deep coverage shells, offenses need to have aggressive patterns like this one in their back pocket. Even if this rep wasn’t successful, dual Wheelie Switch (wheel + inbreaker) combos with a slot seam certainly is capable of making secondaries sweat.

74: PA Toss Follow Escort: LSU

SEC playcallers developed a crush featuring a Follow (inside drag + outside dig) combo off play action last season. 2025 saw 39 such tries on a stout 10.1 Y/A. There were only 9 total the year prior. With help of an escort swing screen, this full-field pattern is especially juicy for testing a number of coverages’ abilities to cap routes sideline-to-sideline.

73: PA Insert Y Pop: Ole Miss

Basically a modern way to run the old school I Formation Iso play, Y-Insert has been a popular gap scheme within the conference the last half-decade. This wrinkle helps embarrass overanxious 2nd-level defenders with a bullet pop pass working through the formation. This pattern is especially popular near or in the red zone.

72: Return PA Counter Convoy: Texas

Steve Sarkisian has plenty of fun screens. This idea plays of the recent trend of teams using shoot/escort motion with their tight ends to set up a perimeter screen. And to take it one step further, the TE returns back to the box in a counter action roll on a play fake. Pure eye candy. Otherwise, Texas runs a typical convoy screen featured by numerous college offenses. Still, the use of shoot return motion is magical.

71: Dash Poster Cross: Oklahoma

This popular Dash Cross pattern banks on a set of posts influencing defenses towards the middle of the field. A running back slide creates a natural high-low for the QB working outside the pocket.

70: Slot Drive Wheelie: Arkansas

I generally like passing from empty. Even with the potential risks of exposing your QB to hits, it optimizes the pass game and can illuminate the field for passers. Inherently, pairing Drive + Wheelie is an aggressive downfield pattern. But our additional downfield threat helps create extra room for our core concepts to come open. Cut-throat pattern.

69: Zip Dagger Shallow: Alabama

From a tight formation, quick at-snap “cheat”/”zip” motion helps leverage a deep dig completion in a Dagger pattern. No matter the form, the concept produced a 8.1 Y/A across the SEC on 298 dropbacks.

68: PA Counter Slide Screen: Ole Miss

Also known as a “cowboy screen”, a number of SEC offenses have dabbled with this play as a way to get touches to their athletic tight ends in space and compliment their Counter run usage. Across the conference, these plays averaged a 9.1 Y/A.

67: PA Double Post Thru Sail: Arkansas

I misspoke in the video. Arkansas was 4/4 on this play on this year. Not 3/3. Boy, is my face red. All four completions went to Rohan Jones, netting 156 yards. No other SEC offense featured this play since 2023 (UK). This unique play sneaks a FB thru the line of scrimmage on his downfield corner route. And with aid of twin posts, the outbreaker likes to find itself in a large open space.

66: Empty Tackle Eligible All Verts: Alabama

This play is a classic spread offense wrinkle to manufacture an open downfield seam to a “tackle”. Go empty. Put your left tackle line up in the slot. Have your tight end take his place on the blindside. Ask the big boy do some shenanigans. Send your tight end to attack the middle of the field. Good times for the offense.

65: Fast Dash Z Sail Y Stick: Oklahoma

This super-aggressive Dash pattern unleashed five potential outlets for the passer. And perhaps because of that, this design “failed” in its only rep last year. Moreover, no other SEC offense dared call a delayed rollout design with only five blockers. Still, the play is pretty interesting marrying the classic Air Raid 4-strong idea of slot Stick with a Wheelie combo in this context.

64: Jet Direct Counter Veer Toss: Ole Miss

This “Counter Veer Toss” action has been sparingly visible within the conference the last few seasons. Normally reserved for QB red zone carries, Ole Miss and some other squads incorporated the blocking scheme into its direct snap package this past season. The Rebels have been responsible for 61 of the SEC’s 89 direct snap runs the last two years.

63: Shoot Bash Counter Split: Miss State

Mississippi State had one of the most creative run games in all of college football. No, things didn’t always work. But, credit to Jeff Lebby and Co. for consistently tinkering and testing opponents with kookie ideas. This design was only repped five times total by the league. Still, combining Bash (“back away”) tactics with tight end motion and bluff read techniques might have legs considering who the Bulldogs QB this year will be.

62: Unbalanced Wheelie Flat: Ole Miss

A fun setup after a muddle huddle in a late down, short-yardage situation. The unbalanced formation overloads the zone. Play action bites the second level and our playside flat pulls the corner to create room for our downfield throw.

61: Shoot Insert RPO Hitches: Ole Miss

The veer and shoot’s RPO scheme uses more shoot/escort motion than practically any other in college football. Whether it’s an off-ball tight end firing out wide to set up a perimeter screen or in this case with a slot propelling himself thru the formation as a lead blocker for the running back, its dynamism is unmatched. This shoot Y Insert design strives to widen the box defenders, isolate receiver matchups, and out-number and/or leverage the remaining defenders near the point of attack inside.

60: I Form PA Yankee: Alabama

The NFL recently has re-invested into multiple tight end formations, with the rise of multi-safety shells being the base for many defenses these days. Markedly, college playcallers might be wise to follow the trend. If the old mantra is to attack you opponent’s weakest spot and take what they give, light boxes are ripe for 12 or 13-personnel punishment. And conversely, safeties will be more itchy to leave their perch and not keep a cap on downfield routes. These things can be cyclical. How much so, remains to be seen.

59: QB Split Zone RPO Stick Swaps: Oklahoma

Playcallers far and wide are getting pretty crafty when it comes to figuring out ways to run the ball from empty formations. Obviously, the QB game is the most straightforward. That said, this dual double Stick Swap RPO is a tremendous wrinkle that can pull the defense towards the numbers and gash them inside, especially from this tight double TE-off set alignment.

58: Swapped “Dangle” RB Wheelie: Texas A&M

Trail patterns are commonplace from tight bunch sets, particularly on 3rd downs. Even when the defense knows they’re coming, they often can work someone open. Still, it’s always nice to switch things up occasionally. This pattern swaps out routes around on a “Dangle” (Drive + angle) trail opposite an aggressive RB Wheelie (wheel + inbreaker) combo. This pattern can work both underneath, over the middle, and deep downfield.

57: Zip Toss C Fold: Alabama

Using at-snap “cheat”/”zip” motion to widen the corner, this Toss design benefits from space around the edge. To help, this play calls for the center (or uncovered interior lineman) to fold around the playside down blocks and chaperon our ball barrier towards the perimeter. Tosses pooled together for a 5.3 Y/A in the SEC this season.

56: Shoot Escort Fox Wheelie: Ole Miss

College football offenses exploit at-snap motions nowadays more than ever, especially in the screen game. And as it were, escort swing screens to running backs are, let’s say, having a moment. So I absolutely love a fake screen design that can capitalize off that window dressing – even if only four teams were bold enough to try it out last fall.

55: “81 H Cross Z Corner”: Texas

Coupling a Cross combo with Smash variations into the boundary is a classic football trope. But, the reason so many teams have this full-field pattern in their repertoire is due to it’s effectiveness. Not only does the inverted Smash in this design offer an easy high-low read that’s close, but the middle of field cross raises its ceiling as a potent play. Conference offenses generated 13 completions of at least 20 yards on this pairing last year.

54: Shoot Double Bluff Read: Miss State

Arcing one or two tight ends on split zone — or “Bluff” in StatCat lingo — paths in the read option game has been around for awhile. But like many things, the extra inertia it can provide an offense’s run game is a sexy element in today’s go-go-gadget game. Here, Miss State does a nice job of using shoot/escort motion from an unbalanced set to open the door for a QB keeper.

53: Frank Double Spot X OutUp: Alabama

Playing off the idea that most 4-strong patterns have an isolated short game route on the other side of the formation, this sly out-and-up design only showed up once in the SEC last year. But, its lone rep certainly didn’t disappoint.

52: Y Zip Wheelie Rail: Alabama

This combo is a great way to try and manufacture a downfield rub. It doesn’t show up as frequently as the normal Wheelie Switch concept. But, I find this certain setup with “cheat”/”zip” motion to be pretty neat… even if it resulted in a drop.

51: Fake Triple Option Leak Play: Vanderbilt

A fake triple option leak play? Need I say more? Even if this rep was doomed, you can see the elements that make it a potentially scary play in the red zone.

50: Jet Orbit Return PA Throwback: Texas

This Sarkisian screen uses “boomerang” at-snap motion on a play fake for a throwback screen. Texas’ offense loves a good throwback. In fact, of the SEC’s 16 such screens last fall, half came from the Longhorns. Sark’s Squad repped the concept to a decent 6.1 Y/A.

49: Y Shoot Bluff Counter RPO Hitches: Miss State

This RPO is another veer and shoot singularity. While most counter runs are drawn up to hit the weakside of the formation (since the TE is often asked to perform as a puller), this “Claw” or “Bluff Counter” kink flips that notion on its head. After feigning for a beat towards the backside, the TE allows the pulling guard to hit his mark trapping the end man before executing his role as the wrapping lead blocker like a typical design of the concept. To add more juice to the recipe, this rep used at-snap shoot/escort motion.

48: Wheel Switch Bullet Flanker Under with RB Bullet: Arkansas

Though this pattern is a bit of an oddity, I like its upside, despite one measly try last year. Depending on how you look at it: This design is either a transposed Dagger Under pattern with the RB acting as the clear out/takeoff man for the dig, or it’s a Wheelie Switch with an additional seam threat. Either way, I find it to be cool beans.

47: Fast Poster H Wheel Y Shallow: Arkansas

That last pattern might have had some ambiguity to it, but this is a full-blown double post + wheel set up. Helped by fast at-snap motion to bring one of our deep posts over to the strength of our formation, this pass play also calls for a backside shallow in an effort to anchor the second level.

46: Missouri Dagger: Missouri

This pattern has consistently popped up in Missouri’s script in the Drinkwitz era. It plays off a classic Dagger design but with a few key tweaks. First the inside vertical influencing takeoff zigs and runs and outside leveraged fade. Instead of working a high-low over the middle against a safety, this route when paired with a slot/TE wheel creates a funky conflict outside the numbers for corners and flank defenders. But despite its ingenuity, mid QB play has seen its production wane in recent years. The Tigers are only averaging 6.5 Y/A repping it the last couple of seasons.

45: Drive Sail: Texas A&M

This coupling is a classic full-field read. A standard form of Sail includes a vertical, outbreaker, and flat stressor stacked outside the numbers usually with a backside dig to route out the pattern. But, this idea allows offenses to test the backside with a shallow and create an additional high-low to potentially pick on linebackers. It gives passers plenty of options, and it’s one of my favorite staples in the sport.

44: QB Outside Zone Stab RPO Bubble: Miss State

Another way to feature the Outside Zone Stab blocking technique from Mississippi State’s veer and shoot scheme, this unbalanced RPO really helps the offense maximize numbers and space.

43: Sting Pattern: Ole Miss

In terms of route utilization, sure one could make a case for another design of a Sting (shallow climb) concept that was worthy of shine. But since the majority of the conference leaned on double posts to do the heavy lifting, I wanted to shout out an example that largely can be considered a two-man effort. Not every dropback needs to be the work of whiz kids. Still, designs like this deserve praise for both their simplicity and potency.

42: Stem Traffic Mesh: Alabama

In terms of the dialed-up routes, this Kelly/rail Mesh pattern is ordinary and Emmitt. But, personnel and alignment craftiness make this an interesting red zone zag. Lining a WR up at RB is only the start. The stem backfield action keeps the defense from setting their keys and results in a wide open dump off for a score.

41: Zip Dagger Escort: Alabama

This pattern plays off of ideas discussed in other blurbs. For one, it couples an escort swing screen to attack and threaten the flank of the formation under a concept designed to do work against 2-deep shells. Plus, it also uses “cheat”/”zip” motion to leverage the zone for a potential inbreaker completion downfield. It’s a complete and well thought-out pattern using modern principles.

40: Jet Play Action RB Slip Screen: Texas A&M

This slip screen was one of my favorite within the conference last year. As WR runs on Power Veer (or Power Read if you prefer) become more standard in spread offenses, playcallers have developed a number of counterpunches for opponents to handle. Still, this screen can help teams beat some tendencies. Only about an eighth of the SEC’s screens last year featured power play action, regardless of subconcept.

39: Buck Read Split: Texas A&M

Like a couple other examples, this play embraces blending split zone arc (“bluff”) techniques with gap runs. The Buck aka Lombardi aka Power Sweep remains an effective bully run as is. But it gains even more teeth when both perimeters have lead blockers for potential ball carriers. The guards are assigned for the RB and our motion sifter is the personal protector for the QB. Cumulatively, Buck Sweep in all its forms has combined to average 5.9 Y/A across the conference the last two years.

38: Jet Sprint Sail: Arkansas

For a play action boot concept, the routes are pretty typical. But, this sprint-out’s value holds firm in my eyes. When Sail was used on any play action bootleg family, SEC offenses averaged 6.6. Y/A on a 50% Success Rate.

37: “Whiskeys” – Fake Wheelie China: Vanderbilt

I still don’t know exactly how to view this pattern. It only recorded one official rep last year, which was an incompletion. But as teams continue to indulge in fast motion wheels and straight-up Wheelie Switch combos, double moves and mechanizations off of those setups should be explored more.

36: Y Zip Bubble Fox Wheelie: Florida

Another worthwhile “Fox” fake screen setup that featured “cheat”/”zip” motion window dressing. In terms of reps, Fox plays have increased within the SEC for three-straight seasons (63, 72, 91).

35: “Wave”: Missouri

“Wave” (or Crosser Post in StatCat lingo) is a popular shot play in the Yankee family. Like the core concept, it features a deep cross with flowing post working overtop from the other side of the formation. But to add a little more spice and potential stress to backends, another deep cross is included in this design. The two deep intersectors can make communications breakdown downfield. And even if those routes can get capped and passed off without a hitch, the crossers can attract and lock the eyes of safeties, which can help a homerun post come open. Subsequently, “Wave” designs were responsible for a more-than-respectable 8.3 Y/A in the SEC last year.

34: Power PA Y Cross Wheelie: Ole Miss

Peanut butter with jelly, peas with carrots, and power play action with Y-Cross: Some things just naturally go together. This classic pattern has been one of the most productive patterns the last few decades in a number of leagues. By using basic gap integrity principles to move linebackers out of the way with a pulling lineman, a simple void is created with second-level defenders momentarily locked into run-stop mode. And, little time is needed for our tight end to enter that orchestrated opening in order to capitalize on it. Though the depth of the crossers can vary — some teams even opted to outright engineer a Follow combo (inside drag + outside dig) to accentuate that desire for a quick hitter — this coupling’s effectiveness is clear. In case you were curious, when used on a Cross design, power play actions put up a 9.9 Y/A last year in this conference.

33: Bumper Motion Sail: Texas A&M

Coming out of a pony — or two-back set — a classic Sail pattern is propped up by bumper motion out into the slot. The process might be a little off on this rep, but it still saw the backside dig move the chains.

32: Bumper Motion PA Buck Sweep Sail: Ole Miss

Most play action bootlegs and waggles in this conference are rooted off zones. Pulling linemen just isn’t a widely-adopted tactic. So when a team can draw up a successful design that not only does that but also bakes in running back return motion, my attention is had. And while play action boots off Counters is fun, Buck Sweep is even more enjoyable.

31: X Shoot Dive Wrap: Kentucky

Behind the motion movement taking over football, Duo Wraps have seen their usage explode in recent years. In the Land Where It Just Means More. After a slight year-over-year increase from 2023-24 by about a dozen reps, 162 showed up last fall, which was more than those two seasons combined. By using at-snap motion to reposition a blocker towards the point of attack, this north-south accomplishes a basic thing. Nonetheless, Wraps have been one of the consistent winners amongst run concepts in the league as of late.

30: Dagger Trey Blazer: Texas

This Blazer Post design is geared towards gaming backenders. Along with Double Posts, Dagger has consistently been one of the top compliments to that shot family in recent years. And, this pattern masterfully merges all these ideas into one play.

29: Stumblebum Y Leak: Alabama

The Leak concept routes are pretty standard on this play. But, come on! The backfield stumble was one of the more creative ideas in all of college football last fall.

28: I Form Lead Draw: Arkansas

Three decades ago, one of the conference’s most prolific offenses based it’s down-to-down attack off the I-formation Lead Draw. The last ten years, you can count the number of instances within the SEC on two hands. And while they remain sparser than well-intentioned athletic directors, Lead Draws have opportunity to start doing damage to these small defensive shells that rock light boxes. But, who might be so bold in this current climate?

27: Sprint Counter RPO Wheelie: Auburn

Sprint Counter can be a little bit of an electric football play. And when I say that, I don’t mean a play that lights the world on fire. But rather, a play that is random, half-cocked, and ultimately not than fun — as players buzz around waywardly trying to execute a wild idea. With all that being said, this was one of the more crafty combinations Hugh Freeze and Co. manage to serve up last year. Paired with our Sprint Counter, an RPO Wheelie Switch boosted by a jet motion flat provides a juicy downfield outlet.

26: Rocket Counter: LSU

Pooling a number of subconcepts, a little less than 70 Rocket WR runs have popped up in the SEC over the last two seasons. And while their success and potency is not entirely reliable — some would even argue they’re not worth the effort — they are undoubtedly unique wrinkles to throw at unsuspecting defenses. But again outside of this rep, SEC offenses only netted 5 yards off Rocket Counters in 2025. Razzle Dazzle, Pizzle Fizzle (But still a neat idea).

25: Fat Empty Dash Wheelie: South Carolina

This Dash pattern utilities a “Fat” set of six O-Linemen. No sloppy seals on the edge with a tight end. Six dedicated blockers. And coming from empty, fast motion kickstarts the design’s 3-man read towards the field to provide a little more kineticism.

24: Empty F Cross Stick Swap: Alabama

As a child of the Air Raid, I like when I see offenses lean into ideas that help grease staples like Sail, Stick, and Cross. This setup from a tight empty formation that couples the later two concepts is something I would absolutely spam if it was in a certain video game. Providing answers versus a number of coverages and shells, Cross and Stick pairings birthed a 6.3 Y/A across the SEC.

23: Fast Y Shallow Omaha: Kentucky

Whether orchestrating a leveraged quick out to the field or developing a dropback completion, this pattern can make life easy for QBs. At-snap motion makes the perimeter route a more simple read; and if the defense sinks to space denying our verticality, few throws are simpler than nailing a shallow.

22: Jet Reverse Throwback Screen: Alabama

In this conference, reverse flipbacks to QBs overly result in one of two plays: a TE wheel along the sideline or a throwback screen. Last year, the former only produced 11 yards on 7 tries. Meanwhile, the latter went 3/3 for 114 yards.

21: X Jet QB Load Counter: Miss State

I think a lot of folks would like to see more Load Counters in their lives. This rep uses a jet motion fake as eye candy before pulling the backside guard, tight end, and running back to clear a path for the QB.

20: Pony PA Rocket Escort Y Cross: Alabama

Just as interesting, if not more so, to see a well-executed rep of this idea from a pony set. Additionally, it was a pretty ballsy move to call for a spinner play action in an attempt to trump up the trickery. Collectively Cross + Escort patterns were one of the conference’s top bang-for-buck designs. The league’s 20 some-odd snaps produced 255 yards, including six explosive completions.

19: Slot Mills Y Blazer: Texas A&M

This aggressive shot play pairs the classic Mills combo (outside post + inside dig) with a Blaze Out in an effort to further manipulate 2-deep shells. Almost 24% of Blazer Post patterns generated an explosive completion in the SEC last year.

18: “Stem” Counter Read: Oklahoma

This clever backfield movement allows a team to run a “same side” concept — or have the running back attack the same side of the formation he originally aligned — with a standard shotgun cross-mesh handoff exchange. I have no idea what it’s called in the wild, but I’ve referred to it as “stem” in my charting. On this snap, it helped Ben Arbuckle’s offense deliver a nice rep of Counter.

17: Seattle Dagger Y Shallow: Texas A&M

This pattern is drawn up to overload one side of a coverage’s backend. With three deep routes to one side from a nub set and inside switch release on a pair of verticals, this chaotic-good design helps drives that enter the red zone finish with points.

16: QB Counter RPO Pop: Oklahoma

This play is a great stressor for rushing offenses. First, the QB run aspect of the play gives the offense a natural numbers advantage. In this picture, you can count 8 box defenders against 9 for the good guys. And then if the opponent manages to change the math in their favor with an excellent play by the boundary force defender, the QB can flip it to the back thanks to a built-in semi-impromtu RPO wheel.

15: Bumper Double Post Wheel Shallow: Vanderbilt

While most 4-strong pass patterns are concerned about overloading the underneath areas of coverages, this pattern is all about hunting for a downfield dinger. And even though a good number of 4-strong vertical designs have a route threaten the flat, Vandy’s play opts to send a man over the middle on a drag. Moreover, that man is bumping out of the backfield. With time, this route is bound to manufacture a homerun.

14. RB “Arches” Trail: Vanderbilt

This tight alignment on this formation opens the door for the RB to get involved in a Trail pattern, which typically come from 3-man bunch sets.

13: Jet Orbit Return PA Rocket Y Skipper: Georgia

A little “boomerang” motion on a play action rocket to set up a “Skipper”/”Thumb” technique on this Sail pattern into the boundary. Named for a hitchhikers thumb, the outbreaker in this concept initially inside releases and feigns like running Y-Cross before bending back hard to the outside. The Outside receiver almost usually has the go-ahead to peak his route to a post and help manufacture more room for the bendback.

12: Zoom Spot Cross: Alabama

The Spot (or Snag for some folks) concept is a West Coast Offense staple. Though still dependable in its basic form, this “zoom” motion setup seen within Ryan Grubb’s script is a nifty zag to the classic combo. The movement changes angles for defenders. And, the ante further gets upped due to reassigning route roles. Normally, the outside man would run the spot, even the with motion. Yet here, our motioner has the honors. And rounding out this pattern’s might, a Cross combo is tagged on the other side of the formation. Again, I like designs that can present passers answers.

11: “Crunch” Trap: Arkansas

Traps, Whams, and other “sucker” plays are well beyond their heyday in the SEC. Due to the abundant amount of quick twitch defensive linemen, increasingly high number of hodgepodge offensive lines, and homogenized run schemes, those designs just lack the value that they once did. All else considered, I still think they have a place within SEC scripts, particularly this double trap look “Crunch”. Whether this example or with an off-ball tight end, this play is primed to help hard-nosed offenses.

10: Rocket Lead: Vanderbilt

Vanderbilt recorded almost 43% of the conference’s Down Lead runs in 2025. And when including with QB Down tries, Tim Beck’s script was the single-largest catalyst in that concept group gaining visibility within the SEC. So when an offense features something a bunch, it needs to have cheeky ways to window dress those oft-run plays. Riding the recent wave of Rocket WR runs, this inspired wrinkle certainly was one of the more bright designs in a very shiny scheme. Vanderbilt already enjoys “boomerang” motions for triple options, making it an ideal compliment. Chiefly, this extra agency via Rockets makes the ‘Dores all the more difficult to diagnose and defend.

9: Duo Jab Wrap: Texas

Duo Jab Wrap – also known as “Scissors” or “Windback Duo” – is a fantastic design that yearns to add an extra body playside to maximize numbers and mass at the point of attack. The backfield steps are like counter, and why chunks of people refer to Jab as “Counter Duo”. So there is a bit more built-in deception compared to its brother concept Dive Wrap. The defense reacts towards the action, the OL seals, mashes, and mauls with our motioner adding more support near our run alley.

8: Zoom Cross H Mesh: Kentucky

Mesh has been paired with copious concepts over the years. Though a little similar to what offenses want to accomplish pairing Dagger with Mesh, this pattern is quite good attacking the middle of the field. I love the idea of stressing man coverage further by folding in a concept like Y/H-Cross. Not only is that weakside flood fairly capable creating openings versus zones, but the long over route beyond the underneath fray can be a challenging route to cap one-on-one. This rep stunk, but behind at-snap motion and route reassignments, this pattern is a top-notch tendency breaker.

7: QB Down: Vanderbilt

The single-wing ideas of old keep creeping back into modern offenses. Whether it’s been Counter, Buck Sweep, Pin/Pull Base, or this design, playcallers have displayed a true dedication seeking to capture situational wins with the QB run game. Usually towards the boundary and strength of the formation, these plays tend to have a numbers advantage over opponents. From a leverage standpoint, QB G-Down checks more boxes for me than other looks in this context. And when the defense presents an open C-gap like on this rep, it can be free candy. Buoyed by short yardage tries, this concept rocked a 56% Success Rate across the SEC last year.

6: Z Zoom Drive H Post X Poco: Texas A&M

This aggressive pattern should get more reps this season. From a double TE wing set, zoom at-snap motion helps merge two classic middle of the field high-lo reads into a single idea. Formationally, our Mills combo (inside dig + outside post) is well-leveraged to come open deep. Moreover, if the defense sinks all the way back in an attempt to cap those routes, our Drive drag off the motion has lots of room underneath. This is a true three-man stack towards the inside. That said, those routes are all smoke on this snap. The deep double move post corner (or Poco in StatCat lingo) destroys its counterpart and generates an explosive, proving how difficult this pattern is to thwart.

5: Unbalanced Zip Dash Double Post Sail: Missouri

The 13 examples of this pattern — regardless of formation — racked up 173 yards in the SEC in 2025. Though a somewhat-standard Dash design, this route combo from an unbalanced formation makes it potentially even more incendiary. This rep results in finding our hot route to the back versus pressure. But like many double post ideas, the dual inbreakers do a beautiful job at manufacturing space outside the numbers for other routes to stress secondaries.

4: Zoom Dagger Blazer: Alabama

Of all the Blazer Post setups in the SEC last fall, this one is my favorite. At-snap zoom motion launches out takeoff towards the middle of the field, the defense takes the bait, bingo!

3: Zoom Y Under Dagger: Vanderbilt

Dagger Under is simply one of my favorite patterns. It has vertical elements, middle of the field elements, and answers to a number of defensive looks. And this particular design uses at-snap motion to help create better leverage for our Under combo routes. Rather than zooming the receiver across the formation on a shallow, the motion establishes him with inside alignment, which can help his outbreaker come open and give a release angle for coveragemen to respect.

2: Levels Whip R Wheelie: South Carolina

It takes more than few flips to find this gem in the playbook. Playing off a trending design from last decade, this Levels pattern (or a 3-man combo of a inside dig and a pair of underneath in routes) borrows some trail concept elements. The whip route allows No. 1 and No. 2 in the pattern to essentially swap roles. This idea is also featured on some Chinas where the inner most man runs a corner instead. On the other side of the formation, the RB Wheelie Switch also compliments the basic Levels schematic, which tends to work out as an inverted Smash.

1: Mills Z Under R Wheel: Arkansas

Duh-Dum.

Duh-Dum.

Duh-Dum.

Just in time for beach season. Shark Wheel — or Mills Z Under R Wheel using StatCat’s clunky verbiage — tops this list as my favorite play last year. This play sends routes outside both set of numbers, creates a 3-man stack high-low in the middle of the field, uses 3 deep routes including a RB wheel, and can be run from incessant formations.

Duh-Dum.

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