Cutup Friday: 2021 Rams Keeper - Smash Delay
Sean McVay and the Rams always feature Keepers as a part of their offense. Regardless of who the quarterback is. Keepers are a natural pairing off their run game.
Keeper - Smash Delay is one of their base Keeper calls. Out of 3x1, they get a quick hi-low on the outside, while protecting the quarterback with the Delay route.
The following breakdown is taken from The 2021 Los Angeles Rams Complete Offensive Manual
The base version of this Keeper is shown in the first diagram. This is the same formation the Rams love to run Duo and Outside Zone Weak out of. This Keeper plays off one of the Rams most commonly called run plays.
I call the route form the #1 receiver a “stalk-flat”. Sell the block for 4 steps on the #2 defender, then break flat at about 3 yards.
Against single high defenses, the stalk-flat from the #1 receiver should be open, regardless of man or zone. With the #2 defender thinking run, he will be leveraged outside easily on his flat responsibility. This leaves the corner back in a high low conflict. The next image shows how this plays out.
This looks the same against cover 4 as well, the corner back *should* stay high with the corner route, leaving the #1 receiver open on the stalk-flat.
This will also look the same against cover 1. The nickel will have to crack replace for the #2 receiver looking to dig out the strong safety.
Against cover 2, the defense can account for both the stalk-flat and the corner route with the corner and safety. This is where the low cross and delay route come into play most often. The nickel/Sam and defensive end are placed in a 3 on 2 with the low cross, delay, and threat of QB run. The next images show how this looks.
A couple quick coaching points:
The quarterback doesn’t have to be an insane athlete for the concept to work. If he gets depth out of the fake, then attacks the line of scrimmage, the threat of the run will be enough to be a viable factor for the defense.
The low cross must keep the near safety from gaining leverage on his route. He must use the available horizontal and vertical space to remove any angles the safety may have.
The third diagram shows the tight end on the low cross, out of a nub formation. From a tight end alignment, the near safety becomes less of a factor in cutting off the low crossing route.
The 2nd diagram shows a neat adjustment the Rams make if the defensive end (EMOL) is lined up outside the tight end. The delay route and corner route will get “swapped” at the line of scrimmage. The idea here is to create a free release for the corner route while still getting a good angle to protect the edge for the quarterback. I go into further detail with this adjustment in my 2021 Browns Manual, as they do this with many of their Keeper variations out of many personnel groupings. The next image shows how this adjustment looks.
Why it Worked: The long gain in week 9 shows Stafford hitting the stalk-flat route against what looks like an inverted cover 2 (that plays out like cover 3).
The other week 9 clip shows Stafford hitting the delay route against cover 2.
In general, the concept was very efficient for the Rams and allowed them to protect one of their base runs while staying on schedule. The concept also allows the Rams to get the receivers some easy touches in the pass game.
Why it Didn’t Work: In the first clip of Divisional game, the Bucs are able to get the 4 tech free on the QB in an odd front. 1 on 1 with the PST, the 4 tech just gets up field and the PST does not engage hard, instead just simulated outside zone away.
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The video below is a 7-minute cutup of Keeper - Smash Delay
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