What is the QB Keep concept in 5v5 flag football?
In 5v5 flag football a quarterback keep is legal in some leagues and not in others, so check your rulebook first. Where it is allowed, the quarterback fakes the handoff up the middle and runs the opposite way behind it. The fake is the play: the back has nothing in his hands and no one to block, so selling it is his entire job on the down.
Why QB Keep works in 5v5
Whether you can run it at all is a local question
This is the most variable rule in flag football. NFL FLAG's rulebook states the quarterback cannot run the ball across the line of scrimmage, full stop. Other 5v5 rule sets permit it only after the ball has been handed off or pitched first, which rules out a keep specifically. A minority allow it freely. Nothing else in this run game needs checking as badly as this.
The fake has to carry the play because nothing else can
In tackle football the back fakes and then blocks somebody. In flag he fakes and then his down is over, so the quality of that fake is the only thing his share of the offense produces. If he does not sell it with his eyes, his shoulders and his speed, the defenders who were supposed to chase him simply watch the quarterback run.
You are running your passer, with five defenders and no protection
At eleven players a quarterback keep has a pocket collapsing behind it and bodies in the way. At five there is nothing between him and anyone who reads it, and he is the one player you cannot afford to have running into traffic every down. Treat it as a change-up rather than as part of the base run game.
The defense counts the quarterback last
Almost every defender is taught to find the ball carrier, and almost none of them expect that to be the man who just handed it off. A keep exploits a habit rather than a weakness, which is why it works against defenses that are otherwise well drilled.
It is a numbers problem the defense cannot solve
A defense that accounts for every eligible receiver and the back has, by definition, nobody left for the quarterback. Making him a runner adds an attacker they have not planned for without adding a player to the field.
The fake is free
The back is going to run somewhere anyway. Sending him into a fake costs nothing that was not already being spent, and it buys the two or three defenders who follow him. Few concepts convert so little effort into so much space.
How to read it
- 1
Sell the handoff with the whole body
The fake has to look like the run it is imitating, including the depth and the direction. A quarterback who turns his shoulders early has told everyone where the ball is before anyone has to guess.
- 2
Get depth away from the fake, then flatten
The keep works by arriving outside the defenders who chased the back. Running straight upfield too early puts the quarterback back into the traffic the fake had just cleared.
- 3
Read the last defender on that edge
One man decides it. If he has followed the fake, there is nothing outside him. If he has stayed, the quarterback cuts up inside him rather than trying to beat him wide.
- 4
Know the yardage you need, and take it
A quarterback running is the least protected player on the field. Getting the first down and getting out is the outcome; hunting a touchdown after the sticks are made is how a good call becomes an expensive one.
What changes in 5v5
Whether you can run it at all is a local question
This is the most variable rule in flag football. NFL FLAG's rulebook states the quarterback cannot run the ball across the line of scrimmage, full stop. Other 5v5 rule sets permit it only after the ball has been handed off or pitched first, which rules out a keep specifically. A minority allow it freely. Nothing else in this run game needs checking as badly as this.
The fake has to carry the play because nothing else can
In tackle football the back fakes and then blocks somebody. In flag he fakes and then his down is over, so the quality of that fake is the only thing his share of the offense produces. If he does not sell it with his eyes, his shoulders and his speed, the defenders who were supposed to chase him simply watch the quarterback run.
You are running your passer, with five defenders and no protection
At eleven players a quarterback keep has a pocket collapsing behind it and bodies in the way. At five there is nothing between him and anyone who reads it, and he is the one player you cannot afford to have running into traffic every down. Treat it as a change-up rather than as part of the base run game.
When not to call QB Keep
It may not be legal at all
Whether the quarterback can run is the most variable rule in flag football, and in some rule sets the answer is simply no. This is a concept that has to be checked against a rulebook before it is drawn on a whiteboard.
It works once or twice, then it is scouted
The fake is the play, and a defense only has to be fooled once to start checking the quarterback. Called repeatedly it becomes a slow run by a player who is not usually your best runner.
Take it to your team
Draw your plays in the free flag football play designer, collect them in the football playbook maker, and print play cards so every player knows them come Saturday.
Open QB Keep in the designer
Opens this exact 5v5 diagram. Move anybody, change the depths, then save it to your playbook.
Open this play in the designerRelated questions
Can the quarterback run in 5v5 flag football?
How is a QB keep different from a QB draw?
How often should I call it?
Related guides
Coach Ray Carroll
Coaches 5v5 flag football from kindergarten through 7th grade in San Mateo and San Carlos, California, and built RC Football to design, teach and print the plays his own teams run.