I was just watching an interview with Charles Clay. He was asked, "Did you feel like there was an effort to get you more involved in the offense?" His answer was the "coaches do a good job of designing plays to get guys open for a lot of guys". This got me thinking, I wonder is WR's and TE's, even RB's have any "tell" signs like in a poker game when a play is called that is designed for them. If I was a DB coach, I would definitely look for them and point that out to the safeties and LB's. I know it would take a lot of effort in going the extra mile in studying for "tell" signs, but it could pay off if someone has a nervous tick or shows extra excitement breaking out of the huddle and lining up waiting for the ball to be snapped.
Even pin pointing the guys that look like they are taking a play off while breaking out of their huddle and lining up could be very valuable info. Nothing should change with individual coverage, but pointing out these "tell" signs could be very valuable concerning a Safety getting a heads up on who the ball is likely to be thrown to or who it is likely to not be thrown to. I think these tendencies can be pointed out in studying game film and knowing what kind of body language to look for in certain players.
Well just because a play is designed for a guy doesn't mean he always gets the ball. In fact I'd say more often than not, the second or third read ends up getting the pass. It also depends on the defense presnap and what reads Tannehill makes.
Plays are designed with progressions. The QB looks at his receivers in order according to the progression of the play called. If #1 is covered, he moves to #2. If #2 is covered, he moves to #3, and so on. On some plays, the WRs might be the first read. On others, it might be the TEs. The RBs are often the last read, or the 'check-down'. Also, a QB can make anyone the #1 read based upon how the defense lines up, what defender is covering what offensive player, how the defense brings pressure, and what type of coverage they fall into. So, the ball could wind up going to anyone depending upon what the QB reads. However, to answer your question... yes. There are different plays designed to target different positions as the #1 read. Clay gets his.
