Custom Route Runs

For impatient people: Creating a Simple WR Motion Toss, Runs Out of Shotgun, and the Counter Toss play.

This is my most useful discovery with the Madden 2004 play editor. The basic principle: If you assign a player a custom route while he is assigned a handoff or playaction pass, it does two things. First, the player still follows through with his action, handoff/fake handoff. Second, he becomes eligible for motion.

This trick gives you a whole new world of running/PA plays. No longer are you limited to a basic set of runs out of the backfield - you can hand/toss the ball to any eligible player on the field. You have a lot more flexibility with what you can do, using custom routes to run the ball.

Remember, a PA pass is treated amost like a running play, so if I talk about runs, I also mean PA passes.

Handoffs/Tosses to a player outside of the "box": You can give/(fake handoff) the ball to players you normally wouldn't be able to, such as receivers and wingbacks. All you have to do: Give a running assignment to the player (if he doesn't have one already) and change his assignment to a custom route. Have the player run near enough to the QB to get the ball, or use motion.

Creating a Simple WR Motion Toss Play

• Starting from a blank playbook, add any play from Singleback-Normal.
• Create a new blank running play.
• Go to the formation editor and move the right-most WR (WR1) into a position next to the HB.
• Change him to HB2.
• Exit the formation editor. Edit the assignment of this player, HB2.
• Assign him "Receive Pitch/Sweep Left"
• Move him back to the original WR spot, and change him back to WR1.

• The custom route

  Edit his assignment once again, this time, assign him a custom route which extends backwards one row and three squares to the left.
• Go to the Test Play area.
• Motion the WR to the left, across the formation.
• Snap the ball when he nears the tight end.

Video Link (286k)

These are instructions for a simple play, chances are that it won't be very effective as it is right now. You can do a lot more with this trick, but this is to give you a general idea of the concept. On toss plays, the player will need to get depth in the backfield. On handoffs, you will need to either have the player lined up close enough at the start (like at a wingback position), or time the motion just right.

Ways to improve the above play

Both work nicely for outside runs

Instead of using a blank play from scratch, use a stock play which contains an outside blocking scheme with linemen pulling to get outside. "Split Backs-Big/Quick Toss" from the Carolina playbook has both the guard and tackle set to pull left, unless the defense is rushing hard to that side. The linemen will pull only if they are uncovered, which is ideal for a play like this. (In case you are wondering, "Singleback-Big/HB Power" (in almost every playbook) has the same thing going to the other side). Depending on the final formation, you could also use "Weak I-Big/Counter Trap", which has the center pulling towards off-tackle (I'd go with changing the left guard to base blocking).

Move the FB spot left, have him sweep right as the HB runs a fake toss left.

Alternatively, if you're not into blocking assignments, you can use a play with the HB running a fake toss right. You can add a simple FB Dive play from the I Form-Normal set, with the HB running his fake toss. Move the FB out as a slot receiver, and apply the custom route. Since this play is a direct handoff, you will need to time the motion down correctly for the handoff to take place.

Also, the running assignment has a bearing on the final play. You selected "Receive Pitch/Sweep Left" last time - if you select "Sweep Right" instead, the QB will pivot the other way, which can throw off the defense from time to time.

You can also use similar steps to create a pitch back to a player lined up as a wing/H-Back, or a quick dive handoff (since with a custom route, the HB doesn't take a second to do a fancy initial step, he just goes). Useful for a quick FB dive on 4th-and-inches.

Runs out of Shotgun

The Shotgun formation I will be using

This is a frequently asked question - creating runs out of shotgun using the default runs is tricky and inconsistent. But you can create a good amount of shotguns with the use of custom routes. (This tutorial is from a Shotgun formation with the HB and the QB lined up next to each other. By default, the HB is lined up one square ahead of the QB; you can still create runs out of that formation, but I am going with the assumption that most people have the HB next to the QB in shotgun. Correct my if I am wrong).

• Handoff play
  • Add a play from Shotgun-Normal. Go to the formation editor, move the HB to a spot directly behind the QB.
  • Create one blank running play.
  • Edit the HB's assignment, assign "Delay/Outside Rt" (the run will go left, but this is so the QB opens up right).
  • Move the HB to a spot directly right of the QB, change him to a WR.
  • Add a custom route - "Delay 1 Second" at the initial point, and "End - Get Open" at the same initial point.
  • Change the WR back to a HB and run the play.
• Toss play
  • Start from the same play as before (or by adding a new running play)
  • Move the HB behind the QB, assign him "Receive Pitch/Outside Lt".

  • The custom route

    Move the HB next to the QB, change him to a WR.
  • Assign a custom route going one space back, to the far left square which is lined up with the player's initial position (the route will look like stretched-out "V").
  • Change the player back to a HB and run the play.

Video Link: Run / Toss (240k / 248k)

Again, these are just two samples, and you should probably do more than just that. Instead of using plays from scratch, you can add stock plays. For the first play, you can find a play with the right guard pulling right, like one of the counters to the left out of the singleback formations.

The Counter Toss

This is one of my favorite plays to run. The QB fakes the ball one way, and gives the other way. You can tweak this in many ways to fit many different offensive formations. Instead of creating one for a Double Wing formation, I'll just describe it for a more conventional Singleback formation, with an H-back lined up wing left.

• Add the play "Fake Dive Pitch" from "Full House-Normal", in Atlanta's playbook (Remember, you can't combine this play to an existing formation, if you plan to incorporate a counter toss, you must begin with this and add plays to it).
• Move the left-most WR split far outside, as WR2. Move the deepest RB in the backfield far right, as WR1. Move the left RB into a singleback position as HB1. Change the TE to TE1. Move the right RB to a spot wing left, as TE2.
• Edit TE2's custom route to be a straight line right.
• Edit WR1's custom route to be: "Cut 90° left, back one space, and up one space to the far left (he will be in motion, so the 90° left as he is running into the formation will take him deeper into the backfield to gain depth). It will look just like the one for the shotgun toss.
• Run the play. Motion WR1 to the left, across the field. Snap the ball as soon as you can. The H-Back should get a fake handoff right, and the WR should receive a pitch left.

Video Link: Tutorial / 47 Counter Toss (436k / 100k)

Once again, this is a pretty bare play. Use your creativity with this play to do many things, experiment with custom routes, formations and motion.

Final Tips

• You can edit the second man (the final ballcarrier) on a reverse with custom routes, but don't mess with the initial guy who hands off.
• Use the "Cut 45/90° Rt/Lt" commands - they are very useful to adjust timing problems.
• If you need to "kill" time, to get everything to work ok (like if your ballcarrier gets there too fast), you can have them cut 90° the other way before going.
• As far as I know, all of this applies to PA passes as well as runs.
• Don't be afraid to ask questions - so I can better write the tutorial, to clear some things up. Post a note in the Forum, or drop an email.