Staple concepts stand the test of time because they are sound and hard to defend. Over time, coaches tinker with these concepts to adapt them to modern trends. An example of this is how the Vikings run variations of “Hank,” a dropback concept that almost every offense runs, out of their empty sets.
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A regular Hank concept is a mirrored concept with a curl and flat route on both sides of the formation. In the middle, a tight end or slot would run the “over the ball” (OTB) route.
The quarterback’s first read is the OTB route. If he’s open, the quarterback would throw him the ball right away. However, if the inside linebacker squeezes the route, he’ll look outside to one of the curls and then, finally, to the flat route on the same side. Usually, before the snap, the quarterback would pick which side of the field he would want to progress to if the OTB route wasn’t open.
The Vikings run a couple of effective variations of Hank out of empty. Defenses are more spread out when lining up out of empty, which makes the holes in their zones larger and the reads for the quarterback cleaner.
Second quarter, 11:37 remaining, first-and-20
On the two-receiver side, the Vikings have star receiver Justin Jefferson running the curl and running back Alexander Mattison running the flat route from the slot.
On the three-receiver side, they have tight end Tyler Conklin running a “juke” route, meaning he runs 4 to 6 yards upfield and, at the top of his route, fakes like he’s going to break outside, before breaking inside. This route essentially replaces the OTB route on a regular Hank concept and is also the quarterback’s first read. But on this variation, the defense is more spread out and Conklin could catch the ball on the run and have a better opportunity to run after the catch.
The Steelers dropped into a Cover 3 zone. Quarterback Kirk Cousins saw that their weakside hook defender dropped toward the three-receiver side and was frozen by Conklin’s route. This left a big void in the middle of the defense to the weak side.
Cousins could have thrown to Conklin or Jefferson running the curl, but since Conklin was his first read, he hit him on the run for a 19-yard gain.
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On the next drive, the Vikings ran another variation of their Hank concept, but this time Jefferson lined up to the three-receiver side and was the primary target.
Second quarter, 6:10 remaining, second-and-7
Jefferson was lined up in the slot next to Conklin. Conklin ran a seam to clear out space for Jefferson running a 5-yard in route.
Again, the Steelers dropped into a Cover 3 zone. This time, the weak hook defender was distributed more evenly to the weak side, but he had his eyes on Jefferson and didn’t drop close enough to defend the curl route.
Cousins made a good read and looked to the curl, which was the second route in his progression.
Later, in the fourth quarter, the Vikings ran this same variation with Jefferson in the slot.
Fourth quarter, 3:35 remaining, second-and-21
This time, they had running back Dalvin Cook motion out of the backfield as a coverage indicator. Linebacker Joe Schobert followed Cook out of the box, which clued Cousins that the defense was in man coverage.
The defense was in Cover 1 (man-to-man with one deep safety and a robber). The robber was the mike linebacker, and he had to bump over a gap with the motion and was lined up on the weak side.
Again, Cousins made the correct read and looked to Jefferson, who created separation with a good route. The robber was too far from Jefferson to make a play on the ball. Cousins threw a perfect strike and hit Jefferson on the run, which helped him fall forward for a gain of 12 yards.
Hank is a staple concept in almost any offense because it does an effective job of stressing out Cover 3 zone. With this variation of Hank out of empty, the underneath zones are even more stressed because the defenders have to spread out farther against empty. With a regular Hank concept, the receiver or tight end running the OTB route would usually get tackled for a short gain after catching the ball. Having the first read on the progression with the receiver on the move adds more of an explosive element to the play.
(Illustration: Wes McCabe / The Athletic)
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