What is the End Around concept in NFL Flag?
In NFL Flag the end around is the reverse you can afford. It hands off once rather than twice, and the rulebook charges for handoffs in a way no other format does: each one eliminates the pass clock and makes every defender eligible to rush instead of the usual two. One exchange, one payment, and the ball is going the other way.
Why End Around works in NFL Flag
Exchanges are expensive here, and this one has half as many
The rulebook frees the entire defense to rush the moment the ball is handed off, where before only two could come from the seven-yard line. A reverse pays that price and then keeps developing behind the line for a second exchange. An end around pays once and the receiver is already going somewhere with it.
It sits between the dive and the reverse in the install
NFL FLAG's own playbook puts End Around on page 49, immediately after the two downhill plays and immediately before the four-page reverse series. That order is a teaching sequence rather than a table of contents: the dive makes the defense honour the middle, the end around punishes the flow, and the reverses punish the defense that has learned the end around.
The receiver who takes it can still throw
Any player who receives a handoff may throw from behind the line of scrimmage, which the rulebook states plainly. So the end around is not only a run: a receiver who gets to the edge and finds it closed has a legal pass available, and a defense that has not accounted for that is defending half the play.
One exchange is the whole advantage
Every handoff is a moment when the ball belongs to nobody. Taking one of them out halves the risk and shortens the play by roughly a second, and against a defense that recovers quickly that second is often the difference between a big gain and a runner caught from behind.
The receiver is already moving when he gets it
He has run behind the formation to arrive, so he takes the ball at speed and pointed where he intends to go. That is a better starting position than most runs offer, and it is why an end around frequently turns the corner before the defense has finished reading it.
The fake costs one player and buys the whole backside
The back sells a run in the other direction with nothing in his hands. He is not blocking anyone and could not, so his entire contribution is the picture he paints, and if he paints it well the defenders chasing him are out of the play without anybody touching them.
How to read it
- 1
The receiver leaves early enough to arrive at speed
He should be moving before the snap or immediately on it. An end around where the receiver is still accelerating at the exchange has given up the one thing that makes it better than a reverse.
- 2
The back fakes it like he has it
Eyes down, shoulders square, full speed for four or five steps. A visible fake is not a fake, and the defenders it was meant to hold will simply look past him at the receiver.
- 3
Take it flat, then get north
The receiver runs behind the line to gather it, but the yards are upfield. A runner who keeps arcing toward the sideline is running into the pursuit rather than away from it.
- 4
Beat the edge, do not beat everybody
The end around is a play to the perimeter. Once the edge is turned, taking what is in front is the right outcome; cutting back across the field to look for more usually finds the defenders the fake had already removed.
What changes in NFL Flag
Exchanges are expensive here, and this one has half as many
The rulebook frees the entire defense to rush the moment the ball is handed off, where before only two could come from the seven-yard line. A reverse pays that price and then keeps developing behind the line for a second exchange. An end around pays once and the receiver is already going somewhere with it.
It sits between the dive and the reverse in the install
NFL FLAG's own playbook puts End Around on page 49, immediately after the two downhill plays and immediately before the four-page reverse series. That order is a teaching sequence rather than a table of contents: the dive makes the defense honour the middle, the end around punishes the flow, and the reverses punish the defense that has learned the end around.
The receiver who takes it can still throw
Any player who receives a handoff may throw from behind the line of scrimmage, which the rulebook states plainly. So the end around is not only a run: a receiver who gets to the edge and finds it closed has a legal pass available, and a defense that has not accounted for that is defending half the play.
When not to call End Around
It shows itself earlier than a reverse
The receiver has to start moving before the ball does, so an alert defense sees the shape of it coming. A reverse hides behind a genuine run for longer, which is the trade: the end around is safer and less deceptive.
It puts your fastest player in the backfield
The receiver running it is usually the one you would otherwise have threatening deep, and while he is gathering a handoff behind the line he is not stretching anybody. Called too often it quietly removes your best player from the passing game.
Take it to your team
Draw your plays in the football playmaker, collect them in the playbook maker, and print football play cards so every player knows them come Saturday.
Open End Around in the designer
Opens this exact NFL Flag diagram. Move anybody, change the depths, then save it to your playbook.
Open this play in the designerRelated questions
End around or reverse in NFL Flag?
Can the receiver throw the ball on an end around?
Where can I not call it?
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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.