Breaking Down FSU's 2024 Draw Package
FSU had another tough year in 2024, but their offense flashed at times, and Gus Malzahn deserves credit for putting together a run game that ranked inside the top 11 nationally. A big piece of that production came from a scheme you do not see used with much intention anymore: the draw. Too often draw gets treated as a clock-killer before halftime, a throwaway call when a team just needs to burn a few seconds. The Noles ran it as a legitimate weapon throughout the season. In this article we are going to break down the versions FSU used, why they worked, and what you can take back to your own run game.
Traditional Draw
Remember when 2nd and long automatically meant screen or draw? FSU goes right back to that well here against Kent State on 2nd and 15. The Golden Flashes are bringing a five-man firezone pressure, ears pinned back, looking to get after the quarterback. The draw is the perfect answer. You are essentially using the defense’s aggression against them, letting the pass rush sell itself and creating the lane in the process. FSU gets hat on hat across the board and gets an explosive. Classic draw, classic situation, and it still works.
This one comes right before half, so fair enough, but it is still worth breaking down. When a defense commits six defenders to the pass game, you have to find ways to make them pay for it. FSU does exactly that here, running a draw with a guard folding to attack the lone linebacker left in the box. The backside guard pulls and climbs to the second level, and with only one linebacker to account for, it becomes a numbers advantage the offense has to capitalize on. Nothing revolutionary about it, but that is kind of the point. Sound football beats complexity every time when the leverage is there.
Sprint Draw
The sprint draw adds a wrinkle that changes the entire conflict for the linebacker. By incorporating a quarterback rollout action, you are forcing that linebacker to honor the edge before the handoff ever happens. The back is going the opposite direction, and if the linebacker has been biting on the rollout, the cutback lane opens up fast. It has a counter feel to it, and when your quarterback is a convincing runner or plays the rollout aggressively, that conflict becomes nearly unsolvable for the defense. The key teaching point on this play is the center. He has to be patient, let the play develop, and then climb to the play side linebacker. That block at the second level is what springs the back for the big gain. If the center fires out too early, the linebacker stays clean and the play dies. Patience up front makes this one go.
FSU comes back to the sprint draw later in the game and hits it for a touchdown. The defense shows a mugged front pre-snap, which can create confusion up front if the line overreacts, but the offensive line stays patient and sorts out their assignments. Each lineman finds their defender, the quarterback sells the rollout, and the back explodes through the gap. The safety is caught off guard by the burst, takes a poor angle, and cannot recover. Six points.
Q Draw
If you watched FSU at all this season, this one should not surprise you. The quarterback draw is a natural fit for a Malzahn offense, and anytime you can simulate pass action and get a lead blocker in front of an explosive quarterback, you are in business. That said, this play does not require an elite athlete at the position to be effective. Think Mendoza in the national championship. The concept works because of the conflict it creates, not just the playmaker running it. The design here is clean. The offensive line stays patient against the blitzing linebacker, sorts out the pressure, and releases two blockers to the second level to account for the linebackers who are already dropping into coverage the other direction. The defense is essentially out of position before the quarterback ever gets to the line of scrimmage. FSU gets hat on hat, the quarterback finds the crease, and the offense picks up a nice gain. When your line executes the patience piece, this play is as reliable as anything in your run game.
Final Thoughts
The draw is not a gimmick and it is not just a clock management tool. FSU showed this season that when you commit to it as a legitimate part of your run game, it can hurt defenses in a variety of ways. Whether it is the traditional draw against a fire zone, the sprint draw creating a counter conflict for linebackers, or the quarterback draw stressing a defense that is already pass dropping, each variation puts a specific problem in front of the defense that they have to solve. The common thread across every version the Noles ran was patience up front. The offensive line won these plays before the back ever touched the ball. If you are looking to add some wrinkles to your run game without overhauling your entire system, the draw package is worth a serious look. The concepts are simple, the teaching points are clear, and as FSU proved, defenses still struggle to defend it when it is called with intention and executed with discipline.