Cutup Friday: 2022 Miami Dolphins Outside Zone - Lead Weak

This article is taken directly from The 2022 Miami Dolphins Complete Offensive Manual. This book breaks down Maimi’s entire offense, concept by concept.

Outside Zone Weak – Lead is historically a complimentary play for Kyle Shanahan offenses. With the addition of a lead blocker, the offensive line can get better angles on their combination blocks.

This concept was critical for the Dolphins getting their offense back on track after struggles against the 49ers and Chargers. Running the ball and true play action with less Soda.

The Dolphins featured this concept heavily in their week 15 matchup with the Bills, specifically the version in the first diagram (Z inside of X though). The Bills consistently played the concept out of nickel and single high, and bumped with the fake jet motion. This put the fullback on a secondary defender, with the offensive line working back a man. Additionally, the down safety to the tight end often bumped out with the fake jet motion along with the corner, pulling the unblocked box defender out further. The next image shows how this played out. A great example is the first play of the game in week 15.

The variation shown in the 3^rd diagram shows a way to account for strong safety rotation. Similar to the previous diagram with the fake jet motion, the Z receiver will account for this safety with his “Wrap” block.

The 2^nd and 6^th diagrams show variations with fast motion. The motion man becomes the lead blocker. This motion allows the offensive line more time on their combination blocks, and better angles. The next image shows the concept playing out in week 5.

Why it Worked: In general, this concept was effective for the Dolphins. It is a natural complement to the Shanahan-tree desire to run Outside Zone Strong - Lead out of 21 personnel. With the use of fake jet away, fast motion to, and wrapping the slot receiver, the offensive line was often given good angles for their combination blocks.

In week 5, the Dolphins ran the version shown in the 3^rd diagram. They used the Z as a wrapper for the back side secondary support. The BSLB sees this misdirection and falls out of his run responsibility gap. In The 2021 Los Angeles Rams Complete Offensive Manual, I go into extreme detail (about 20 pages) on the Outside Zone – Wrap concept. The next image shows how it worked for Miami in week 5. This plays out real similar to the fake jet version drawn in the previous image.

Why it Didn’t Work: In the last clip of week 15, the Bills slant away from the run call. The defensive tackle slips into the backfield free, but is not able to make the tackle. These types of stunts can often give outside zone trouble.

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The video below is a 9-minute cutup of the concept