This piece of football analysis was first published in Buccaneers Review, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ ground-breaking answer to the traditional game program. Buccaneers Review is sold at every Tampa Bay home game and it includes entirely new material, cover to cover, every issue. The magazine-style publication includes exclusive interviews with Buccaneer players and their opponents; in-depth feature stories; technical explanations of the game’s fundamentals by Buccaneers coaches, a close look at the opponent and their key players; cheerleader features; columns by Jon Gruden and long-time Buc standout Dave Moore; trivia quizzes; rosters, depth charts and much more. It is edited by Bucs UK Hall of Fame member Scott Smith. Feature- The Zebra In this edition of Fundamentally Speaking, Wide Receivers Coach Richard Mann describes the responsibilities of the receiver position the Buccaneers call “Zebra,” and the type of player necessary to fill it. The Zebra comes into the game as a third receiver and lines up closer to the center of the formation than the other receivers. He often must navigate through a significant amount of traffic to run his route. Quick decision-making and veteran instincts are crucial to the position, because the Zebra often runs option routes and must rely on pre and post-snap reads. Former Buccaneer Keenan McCardell thrived in the role and current receiver Ike Hilliard is putting together a career season in that capacity. Here is a closer look at the Zebra in Mann’s own words. Basically, the Zebra man is the third receiver that comes in, usually but not always in passing situations. We can take that guy and move him around to either side of the formation, weak side or strong side, or we can put him the backfield and then bring him out to another position. We also can use him in a set that we call two-by-two, where there are two receivers on either side, or we can go three-by-one, where there are three on one side and one on the other. So the guy has to be flexible, he’s got to be smart, and he’s got to be a good knee-bender. He’s got to be a good decision-maker because a lot of his routes are read on the run. I need a guy with good knee bend because a lot of the routes we run are option routes, where the receiver has to have good C.O.D. When I teach a receiver how to run a route, one of the techniques we learn is called, “dropping weight and snapping down.” It’s a hard fake with the head and body that gives the illusion of a move and is designed to make the defender react in that direction. It allows the receiver to get separation. Ike is very good at it. Maurice Stovall, even though he’s a tall guy, can do it. Usually it’s the smaller, shorter-legged guys who are good at it, but not necessarily. It’s a technique I’ve been teaching for a long time and I know that it works. I don’t force it on these guys, but they see it work for other guys on tape and they want to learn it. That’s why we spend a lot of time in practice on route-running techniques. We try to train two or three guys to run that position. It’s extra duty for a receiver to learn that position, because when you run those routes inside it’s a big difference from running routes on the outside. You’ve got a lot of traffic in there, a lot of stunts, ‘backers blitzing or running to their spots. You have to get used to all that traffic and understand how you have to get through it to get your job done. On option routes, the Zebra may have one or two or even four choices as to where he’s going to go after the ball is snapped, depending on the coverage. Sometimes the play call takes some of those options away. When they hear the specific name of the play, the receiver and the quarterback know which options are available. Glossary: Weak Side – The side of the offensive formation opposite from where the tight end is lined up. Strong Side – The side of the formation where the tight end is lined up. C.O.D. – Change of direction; a player with good C.O.D. can make cuts very quickly and without giving away his intentions by breaking down before the cut. Option Route – A play on which a receiver chooses from several possible directions to run based on the defense he sees. Cross-Train – To teach a player two different positions, such as a receiver that learns the responsibilities of the split end and of the Zebra. Stunts – Combination moves by several defenders meant to confuse offensive blockers by bringing rushers from unexpected directions. During the course of the week we look at tape of the opposing defense and get a feel for what options we might have against them. A lot of the time, the receiver and quarterback get a pre-snap read on what the defense is doing and they both have a good idea of which route the receiver is going to run. That’s why the Zebra has to be a smart guy. He needs to be able to stop on a dime, and he needs to be a guy you can trust to make the right decision. Ike is our Zebra guy. He’s a starter this year, but when the third receiver comes in, Ike moves inside and the third receiver stays on the outside. We’ve cross-trained Maurice on the position, and Joey Galloway has been spotted in there a little bit. Maurice is still learning the position, and as I said he’s taller than most players that we would put in there, but he can do it because he’s a good knee-bender despite his size. He knows the position well enough to know what to do, but a lot of it is on-the-job training. He knows what to do but not necessarily how to do it. Most of the time, you just have to go in there and figure it out through trial and error. The Zebra position is very important to our offense, but it’s not an easy one to learn.