Center Leak: a 5v5 flag football play
Everything goes right: the QB rolls out, a receiver drags across, another runs to the flat and a third goes deep. The center snaps, sits for one count as if staying home, then leaks back to the empty left side. When the defense chases the flow, the QB throws back across the field to a wide-open center.
Opens the free play maker with Center Leak added, ready to edit and print on a wristband card.
How Center Leak works
- QB rolls right behind the line.
- X drags across the formation to the right.
- Y runs the flat and Z runs a go, both to the right.
- C snaps, sits one count, then leaks to the left.
The quarterback's read
- Roll right and look at the flow routes to sell it.
- Plant and throw back to the center once the defense turns right.
- If a defender stays home on the left, take the drag or the flat.
Coaching points
- The center's one-count sit is what sells it. Leak too early and a defender follows.
- Receivers flowing right must run their routes, not drift into defenders to free the center. That's shielding.
- The QB has to be able to throw across their body, or plant and square up.
When to call it
After you've rolled right a few times, and on 1-point tries.
For youth teams
One of the best trick plays for young teams: nobody throws twice, and there's no hand-off to drop.
Rules check
IFAF (5v5, 7v7 and beach)
The snapper is an eligible receiver; IFAF's own AR 7-3-3-I shows a snapper running a route. The only limit is that a snapper can't take a forward hand-off (R 7-1-5-b). Flow routes must not shield defenders (R 9-2-2-a). It's a forward pass caught beyond the line, so it works in the no-run zone.
NFL FLAG and other rulebooks
The center is an eligible receiver in NFL FLAG too, so the leak is legal. What NFL FLAG bans is the 'center sneak': the QB handing off, pitching or lateraling to the center first.
Rule numbers refer to the IFAF International Flag Football Rules 2023, the current edition. See the trick plays guide for the six rules that decide most plays.
Put Center Leak on a wristband
Add it to your playbook in the free play maker, change the routes to fit your team, and print numbered wristband cards and a coach's call sheet on regular paper.