Tosses and Sweeps are a great way to provide your running back with a little bit of freedom in the backfield. Once your runner receives the pitch you can look to cut it upfield at any point, providing those users with good vision and stick skill an advantage on these types of run. You'll want to use tosses and sweeps with a running back that has exceptional speed because you never know when a defender might get instant penetration into the backfield. Take a look at the example below.
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To get the best results when using a toss or a sweep you may want to call the play out of a twin wr set. Calling a toss out of a twin wr set will open up the opposite side of the field if the opponent is in man to man defense just as we're showning above. |
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The Atlanta Falcons have 7 defenders in the box, but that's exactly what we want because we know that this play is headed for the outside. |
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| New Orleans' quarterback Drew Brees pitches the ball out wide to running back Reggie Bush. |
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| Bush hauls in the easy pitch and is already on his way up the field with a lead blocker clearing the path in front. |
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| Bush uses his great speed to quickly get to the line of scrimmage while the linemen continues to look to make a block downfield. |
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Bush is finally dragged down after an easy gain of 5 yards on the play. |
Conclusion
Sweeps and tosses are good choices if you have a speedy running back and you're having trouble finding room up the middle of the field. However, there's always a risk that you could lose yardage on these types of runs because they start so deep in the backfield. if you feel that you've got the vision and the stick control to succeed with sweeps and tosses, then see what you can do incorporate them into your game somehow this season.
