There is a pick play in football that occurs when an offensive player intentionally impedes a defender from covering the receiver assigned to him by the offense.
In these plays, two receivers typically make the pick in order to create separation between the other receiver and his defender, while the second receiver simply runs his route and finds himself open as soon as his pick is set.
Are Pick Plays Legal?
In the NFL, pick plays are technically illegal, though it is often a judgment call made by the official.
The purpose of the pick play is to use one receiver’s route in order to allow another receiver to get free. Depending on how you get the defender off the intended receiver, it will determine whether the pick will be called or not.
Imagine that your receivers are running slants from either side of the field. As you cross the field, the cornerbacks are forced to run around the opposing receivers, which leads to one of the receivers breaking free from the cornerback.
There is a pick play here, because it was the intention of the play designer to make the crossing routes on the corner difficult for the play to be played.
Due to the fact that the receivers did not make contact with the corners themselves, this call will not be allowed.
If you were running these slant routes and one of the receivers made physical contact with a corner in order to make room for the other receiver to be able to get open, it would almost certainly be called and the play would not count.
As a result, it is very difficult to determine whether a pick play is illegal or legal. However, if it is executed perfectly by the offense, you should predict that one receiver will be able to get wide open.
The other receiver does not have to make physical contact with the corner in order to earn a penalty, as it is almost always the plays in which the “picked” corner is physically hit by the offensive player that earn a penalty for the offense.
Here is what the official NFL rulebook has to say about pick plays:
It is also possible to make contact with an opponent to cut off his path, without having to play the ball, in order to stop him from playing.
Are you Allowed to Place Football Bets?
It is important to note that, just like the legality of pick plays, the legality of setting picks in football is not black and white. It is technically legal to set picks in football, but you must be careful not to initiate contact prior to the pick being made.
The same applies to basketball, if you set a pick, keep your feet planted, and do not initiate contact, then your pick will be legal.
You should keep in mind, however, that this is not true in all football scenarios in which you are involved. If you are a receiver setting a pick, you should ensure that you do not move or initiate contact and your pick will typically be ruled legal.
What Routes Are Used In Pick Plays?
Crossing Routes
The crossing route is one of the most commonly used routes in pick plays, due to the fact that they run laterally across the field, which adds to their effectiveness.
It should be noted that two receivers running in opposite directions may be able to get in the way of each other’s defenders when they run crossing routes.
There is a likelihood that the two receivers and their two defenders will meet somewhere in the middle of the field if these routes are run at the same depth.
A receiver should be forced to work their way around the crowd and enable one of the receivers to achieve separation by forcing the defender to sort through the crowd and stay with their man. Forcing the receiver to work their way through the crowd should allow the receiver to achieve separation.
Slant/Out Route
Pick plays are often run from two routes on the same side of the formation. Slant and out routes are one of these route combinations that are often used in pick plays.
The outside receiver will run a slant route cutting towards the middle of the field, while the slot receiver will run a shallow out route.
As a result, these players will make their cuts so that one cut will be slightly shallower than the other. This should allow for enough room for the receiver to be able to get by, but at the same time, it should make it difficult for the defender to stay with them.