Using Wide Receivers in the Backfield

One great way for an offense to use personnel to its advantage is to align skill players in non-traditional positions. We see this regularly throughout the NFL with running backs and tight ends aligning on the perimeter to help provide pre-snap indicators of the coverage.

Another effective approach is to put wide receivers in the backfield. This provides the offense with an advantage in several ways. It gives that receiver a free release since he’s several yards behind the line of scrimmage. It can also force the defender responsible for him to have to fight through traffic. And because the receiver is aligned in the middle of the field, this approach often leads to him being matched up on a linebacker or safety depending on the coverage.

Below are some great examples of this.

This first play was from a 2023 game between the Rams and Commanders. L.A. faced a 3rd-and-4 from Washington’s 11-yard line. They would break the huddle and hurry to the line before snapping the ball on a quick count:

That was to keep the Commanders from quickly recognizing the personnel distribution and being able to adjust. They were forced to match up to the formation and not the players, which was important because wide receiver Cooper Kupp was in the backfield:

Kupp would be left in a 1-on-1 matchup against a linebacker:

The other routes on this play took the rest of the coverage away from Kupp, leaving him with lots of space to manuever and run a choice route. The results were predictable:

As my 5-year old likes to say, that’s not fair.

This next example from the 2021 season also came in the red zone on 3rd down (it’s a great situation for using this tactic).

The Chargers faced a 3rd-and-5 (also against Washington coincidentally) and aligned in a 1x3 formation with a tight end to the single-receiver side. Washington matched up with a safety over the tight end and 3 cornerbacks over the 3 receivers, a strong indicator of man coverage: