Many coaches have mixed feelings about 7-on-7 scrimmages and competitions. In some regards, they don’t simulate many things that happen during a real game. On the offensive side of the ball, the quarterback works without a pocket or pressure. On the defensive side, the linebackers don’t have anything to hold them on the run game, and defenders don’t have inside keys to read.

The benefits come in having your team work together and compete even if some of the game day aspects are missing. With some thought and planning, you can get more out of your own 7-on-7 competitions as well as tournaments or scrimmages you might take your team to.

Format

Timing and rhythm can be developed between receivers and quarterbacks. This is one of the main reasons for doing 7-on-7s. To eliminate stalling that can occur when you are playing games based on the clock, give each team a prescribed amount of plays. At Baldwin Wallace, we run a summer tournament that uses this type of format. When I coached high school football, I brought my teams to BW’s tournament because with this type of format I could plan what plays I wanted to get work as well as deciding how many plays each player would get.

Rules:

• Two referees per game calling high school rules.
• Coin to determines who goes first on offense.
• Each team gets ball on 40- (six plays), 25- (six plays) and 10-yard-lines (four plays). The ball moves forward on a completion and comes back to the starting point on a touchdown or interception if there are plays left from that yard line.
• Any player is down with a one-hand touch.
• Helmets and mouth pieces are required.
• A sack is called four seconds after the snap.
• Coaches can be on field behind the offensive huddle but not in the secondary.
• Sportsmanship is emphasized. Flagrant fouls may result in disqualification from the tournament.
• The tournament winner is determined by won/loss record in games played. Tie-breakers are determined by total points scored.
• Scoring system:
  • Touchdown = 3 points
  • Interception = 1 point
  • Fumble by opposition = 1 point
  • Opponent interference (offensive or defense) = 1 point
  • Shutout for the game = 2 points

We ran the tournament in a four-game format. This gave every team plenty of repetitions – 64 on offense, 64 on defense. We never left feeling like we didn’t get enough work.

Set a purpose

When I brought my teams to a 7-on-7, we focused on our third down passing package as well as red zone and goal line passes. Our script would be about a total of 12 plays we might use with much of it coming in variations of formation and motion. This approach just makes sense, since many 7-on-7s are done in a half-field setting.

When you are working on your own

When we were unable to run full team-full contact drills, we would run a drill that we called “Pro Bowl.” Unfortunately, it was named after the Pro Bowl a few years ago in which the offensive and defensive lines were taking only a few steps. Up front, we tell our offensive line to take their pass sets and drop like they normally would and target a punch on the defender. The defensive linemen could perform a stunt or blitz right up to the point of contact and stop before engaging the offensive player. We didn’t want contact or collisions up front, but we wanted to create the feel of the pocket and have visual keys for the defense.

7-on-7 Scramble Drill

It is difficult to make a scramble drill feel live as far as timing. We create it by giving the quarterback a series of movements after his initial drop.

Prior to the play, the quarterback coach gives the quarterback a series of movements but not direction of the movement. After the ball is snapped and he hits the last step of his drop, the quarterback coach will begin pointing and giving him the movement. An example of this would be “A-A-D.” “A” refers to an A gap escape. To us, an A gap escape means that he will move one step to the right, left forward or back to put himself in better position to throw the ball out of harm’s way. “D” refers to a D gap escape where we expect him to run toward the sidelines and get away from interior pressure. That movement might look like this:

 

We will incorporate B gap and C gap escapes as well. A B gap escape is when the quarterback steps up into the B gap to find a man downfield or run. In a C gap escape, the quarterback steps up into the B gap then dips around pressure and back outside. We will incorporate all three.

We will give at least two movements in the scramble drill and have him move in multiple directions. The effect this has is that it simulates the timing there might be on a real scramble play and allows the receivers to run the initial breaks of their routes and then adjust into scramble rules. To keep everyone honest, we will allow the quarterback to throw on the last step of his drop to the first receiver in his progression. This works by telling him “1-A-D” for example. Because we calibrate routes with footwork, we could go “2-C” or “2-A-D,” etc., to allow him to throw to his second receiver in the progression. This helps keep the receivers honest in that they may still receive the ball on their break. They need to be alert for throws and just not think they are getting into scramble rules.

B gap and C gap releases can be seen in the video below. The first is the B gap escape and throw followed by the C gap escape and throw.  

 

 

The whole idea behind any practice or drill is to get game application. Here is the B gap escape in action.

With a little planning, you can get much more out of your 7-on-7 drills this summer. The game is played in situations with certain objectives. Don’t let your summer drills turn into passing for the sake of passing. Make it serve the purpose of making your players situationally aware.

Ideally, you leave the summer with the timing and execution you need to use your passing game in certain situations.