During the 2018 season, NFL teams used fly motion more than ever before. Today, we take a look at five concepts NFL teams paired with fly motion.

Fly Sweep

The offense lines up in a 12 personnel, 2x2 formation. The offensive line works to reach the defender over them to create a lane on the right edge. The left flanker goes in fly motion and takes the handoff before bubbling back to get depth and accelerate to the outside. The right flanker blocks the corner while the RB and QB fake inside zone to the left after the handoff to the flanker.

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The defense fails to adjust to the motion, and they are outflanked on the edge. The misdirection fools the Will LB, as he cannot find the football. The right side of the offensive line all execute their reach blocks to perfection and the flanker turns the corner for a 17-yard gain.

Inside Zone 

The offense lines up in a 21 personnel, 3x1 formation with the TE shifted over to become No. 1 to the right and the second RB lining up as the No. 3 receiver. Just before the snap the No. 3 receiver goes in fly motion. The offensive line blocks inside zone to the right. The QB fakes the handoff to the motion man then hands off to the RB. The RB reads double teams on the nose tackle to the backside 3-technique and then cuts accordingly.

The offensive line dominates at the point of attack and the backside end is not able to get in position to make the tackle due to his alignment over the X-receiver. The RB sees the nose and 3-tech get moved front side, so he cuts back into the backside C-gap for a 15-yard gain.

Split Wide Zone

The offense lines up in an 11 personnel, 3x1 formation. The No. 1 receiver to the three-receiver side goes in motion and fakes like he’s getting the handoff. The offensive line blocks wide zone to the left. The TE shifts back to block the backside end. The RB accelerates downhill with an aiming point of the outside leg of the play-side tackle. He reads “bounce, bang, bend” rules: read the end man on the line of scrimmage. If he gets reached, the tailback bounces the ball outside to the C-gap. If the end man on the line of scrimmage does not get reached, the tailback then reads the next defender inside on the line of scrimmage. If that defender gets reached, the tailback runs through the B-gap. If he does not get reached, the tailback bends the ball back inside to the A-gap.

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With the end, 3-tech and nose all getting moved to the front side and the TE cutting off the backside end, the RB is able to cut the ball back to the backside C-gap. The X-receiver makes a great block on the free safety to spring a gain of 29 yards.

Misdirection Toss Sweep

After shifting a receiver over from left to right, the offense lines up in an 11 personnel, 2x2 formation. The left No. 1 receiver goes in fly motion just before the snap. The QB turns as if he will hand the ball off, but then he pitches it to the RB. The offensive line blocks outside zone to the left. With the new No. 1 receiver to the left blocking down on the end, the left tackle loops around and blocks the nickelback.

The fly motion causes the Will LB take false steps, which puts him out of position. The line executes their blocks and the RB runs for a 26-yard gain.

Play Action Dagger

The offense lines up in an 11 personnel, 2x2 formation. The No. 1 receiver to the right goes in fly motion, fakes like he receives the handoff, then flares to the left. The RB releases to the left flat. The TE clears out the middle of the field on a deep crosser. The No. 1 receiver to the left runs a dig route. The new No. 1 receiver to the right runs an out route. With the defense in Cover 3, the QB reads seam to dig.

With the Mike and Will running to cover the RB and fly motion, the middle of the field comes open. The QB sees the strong safety drop underneath the crosser so he bangs the dig for a 16-yard gain.

Any offense would benefit from adding fly motion to their arsenal. Fly motion threatens the defense’s edges while also creating misdirection when paired with other concepts. Misdirection leads to defensive confusion and confusion often leads to explosive plays for the offense.