If you’ve read the entire series up to this point you have the basic elements of a very good offense. You have a philosophy with the players to execute it. The players are being put in the best position to pressure the defense. You have a solid basic running package against any defense, and you have the basics of a quick passing game and a few deeper throws as well.

In short, you have your base offensive package which should make you successful against any defense. The base package isn’t  quite enough however. Your base package should keep you moving at first, but a good defender will adjust. If you’ve played somebody multiple times they're going to know your offense. That’s where you need a little pick me up, a little tweak. A new wrinkle to the offense.

Wrinkle is a catch all term in football. It can be a once a year play; it can be your favorite play to counter a certain defense; it can be a formation or special package. Think of the Wild Cat formation, the option pass or even plays as simple as the draw and screen. Simply put, a wrinkle is no more than a counter to the defense.

There are many different types of wrinkles you can add. If you run a lot of I-formation and tend to run strong side a bit much, a wrinkle may be as simple as the FB dive to the weak side or a reverse. A spread team that passes 40 times a game and the defense blitzes and stunts, it can be a simple draw. Or it can be as different as a no-huddle package to change the game's tempo or an I-formation, double tight end team suddenly going 5 WR for a couple of series. It's just an unexpected to change.

For those that read the first 4 parts you may have noticed I omitted screens, draws and play actions. I did that for the simple reason that those are not (typically) base plays. You may be able to run 15 draws in one game, but don’t expect that success every game. Screens have a limited success ratio, the less you run them the better -- you can’t put them into a your every down offense. 

It's all about timing and setting them up with play-action, screens and draws. It's absolutely imperative that your play-action is setup with the correct running play. Just like your counter play needs to be based off the same run action as one of your power running plays, the same holds true for play action. The defense isn’t going to bite on the run action if it hasn’t seen it before. You need to test the play action to make sure it’s the same look.

Likewise with screens and draws, you need to use them in situations where you have previously passed deep. The defense has to react to the pass action for them to work. If you consistently run on 1st and 10, a draw isn’t going to do much. If you have already run a couple of draws and 3rd and long or 3rd and medium, don’t expect it to work again. You have to mix up these calls so you don’t run them in the same situation multiple times -- they aren’t designed to work if the defense isn’t fooled.

Another wrinkle that I haven’t talked about before is the double move by a WR. Like the above, it isn’t going to work more than a couple of times (unless you have Jerry Rice). Quite likely, it isn’t going to work at all if you don’t have a legend receiver. However, if you run a lot of outs, the out-n-up is a “wrinkle” you can add. The same works for hitch-n-go. However, just like play action, you have to run the pattern if you expect it to work. The DB isn’t going to be fooled by the curl and go if you don’t run curls.

I mentioned above tempo changes and personnel changes. The concept behind them is simple, but effective. Most humans get into a steady rhythm when on defense about what they call. They call in their plays based on your timing rhythm, and they normally go to the same fronts without checking personnel if you are the type to keep the same package on the field (double tight, spread, etc). Going into a no-huddle if you catch them with the wrong defense on the field or even if you just want a quick spark can get a stalled offense on the move. If you note your opponent always using 8 in the box, change it up with a spread look and you may catch him napping and get a big play opportunity.

Or, just changing where you play certain players on offense could be a wrinkle. Everybody knows about the wildcat formation, but you can get a mismatch playing a fast RB in the slot or even bringing over a fast DB to play WR if you don’t have much at the position. That different look you give could give you a quick score opportunity.

The last wrinkle I’ll mention is trick plays. I’ve never been a huge fan of them myself as I’ve never been able to run them very well, but a flea flicker, hook and ladder, reverse or HB pass can always result in a big play. They’re risky, but may give you momentum.

In this series you’ve learned how to get personnel to fit your system, how to deploy them and how a basic package for both running and passing the ball. You’ve also learned a few tricks to counter when the defense adjusts too your team. These basic packages are a very good start, and you keep your offense competitive. Over time you’ll likely change the packages you first start with, or even expand the offense to include more and more series as you get better at running what you already have.

Evolving your offense is important, and finding out how to attack the defense when it catches on to your package will lead to changes in your scheme. As long as you have a philosophy on offense and follow it, keep a balanced rushing attack and have a good basic passing set, you’ll be able to move the ball. Offense is far more than a series of unconnected plays, it's an entire system that works and grows off of itself.