Eagles Film Room: Concept of the Week – Double Post Wheel

This year, in addition to writing the All22 offense and defense reviews after each Eagles game, I will also be adding another article known as ‘Concept of the Week.’ I will break down a certain concept or play on offense and defense and explain the play in more detail. Hopefully, this will allow you to look out for that play in future weeks. This week, we will look at Jalen Hurts’ touchdown throw to Saquon Barkley.

Double Post Wheel

It’s probably from my Madden days, but post-wheel has always been one of my favorite concepts. Post-wheel is designed to hit the wheel route and can effectively attack both man and zone coverage. Post-wheel is also frequently run with the wheel coming from the running back because if you have a running back who can catch, a running back vs. a linebacker is usually a fantastic matchup for most offenses. However, post-wheel is also run from 2×2 sets, with the outside wide receiver running the post and the slot receiver running the wheel. In fact, going back to Madden, one of my favorite plays to run was post-wheel with a drag route attached. Just like this!

The Eagles ran an awesome version of the post-wheel that included two post routes from the outside receivers, a wheel route from the running back, and a drag route from the tight end. This is a basic look at the actual play that was called.

And here is the actual play!

There are so many cool elements to this play. I’m just going to rattle through all the reasons why I absolutely love this play. There are so many nuances to this play that make it awesome.

• AJ Brown and DeVonta Smith are the two wide receivers running the post routes. Unless an ‘alert’ is called (such as a cover 0 blitz where Hurts just throws the post), these receivers are more of a decoy than a part of the progression. The progression is probably the wheel to the drag, with the two posts being a decoy.
• Not many teams have a running back good enough to catch a wheel route with both feet in bounds. Only a handful of teams could run this play in the Red Zone and complete it. You need a top receiving back.
• Due to Dallas Goedert crossing to the same side of the field as the two receivers and running back, the Eagles have a 4-strong concept going on here. 4-strong concepts have been hugely effective in recent years at completely flooding zone coverages.
• The other wonderful thing about 4-strong concepts is that the quarterback can get through his reads without having to read the other side of the field at all. Hurts can eliminate the deep post routes immediately post-snap, then check if the wheel is open, and finally, check it down to the drag route if necessary. All of these routes happen directly in this line of vision, so he doesn’t need to reset his feet or complete a full-field read. This is outstanding coaching and a way of making the game easier for your quarterback.

• The Eagles put a ton of stress on the linebackers, who will try to cover Saquon Barkley. Firstly, they use motion to create some horizontal movement and force the defenders to react post-snap to the motion. Secondly, they pull the left guard to make this look like a running play. Many linebackers are told to key on a pulling guard and get downhill quickly. In week 1, we saw a lot of explosive plays coming off of passing plays where the guard is pulled. The issue with doing this is it can cause problems in the pocket so that you can see Hurts has to drift slightly to stay clean, which he does exceptionally well.
• If you watch Saquon Barkley’s route, he actually runs through the B-gap rather than outside the offensive line. In some ways, it reminds me of a TE Leak route where a TE sneaks out behind the offensive line. One of the biggest trends on film this week was teams getting their playmakers vertically quickly through. Here are some other examples, courtesy of the wonderful Ollie Connolly. It’s not bad when you run the same things as Sean McVay, Kyle Shanahan, and Ben Johnson. That’s some good company! Isn’t it nice to have a modern offensive coach?

• There are loads of teams who play forms of match zone coverages now (including the Eagles!) and this play is designed to take on those modern defenses because the cornerbacks will usually carry the vertical routes down the field rather than just leave them to the next zone defender. This is a great play call against any form of match zone or man coverage. If you do get standard zone coverage, you might struggle to hit the wheel, but you should be able to check it down to Goedert or take a risk on one of the post routes, depending on what the zone coverage is.

Lastly, I am going to be doing the same segment on my podcast weekly, so if you want to check out a video explanation in addition to the article, you can do so here!