Empty Formation
Empty means nobody lines up beside or behind the quarterback: he stands alone in the shotgun while five receivers spread across the field.
Tip: Look only at the backfield: if no dot sits beside or behind the quarterback, it is Empty, even when a running back is lined up out wide.
How to Spot It
Start at the quarterback. In Empty he stands alone in the shotgun, a few yards behind the center, and nobody lines up next to him or behind him. The backfield is the area behind the offensive line, and in Empty it holds a single dot. Everyone else who can catch a pass has moved up to the line or out into the slot.
Next, count the receivers. You will usually find five dots split away from the line, often three on one side and two on the other, or four bunched to one side. A running back or a tight end can be one of the five. That still counts as Empty. In cover0 the formation is about where players stand, so a running back split out wide is a receiver for this question.
The defense gives you a hint too. Against Empty, defenses often pull a linebacker out to cover a slot receiver, so the box looks thin. The box is the area near the ball, between and just outside the offensive tackles. Some defenses answer with a blitz, which means sending extra rushers after the quarterback. Five blockers against six rushers leaves one man free, so the ball has to come out fast.
When Teams Use It
Empty is a passing look. Offenses like it on third down and in the two-minute drill, when they need to move the ball quickly. Spreading five receivers forces the defense to show its plan. It has to account for each one, and the quarterback can often tell before the snap whether he faces man coverage, where each defender follows one receiver, or zone, where defenders guard areas of the field.
Runs do happen. With nobody to hand to, the quarterback can keep it himself on a draw or a sneak, and a quarterback who runs well makes that threat real. In the plays cover0 draws from, Empty shows up on about 8 percent of snaps in a typical season, peaking at 9.6 percent in 2021.
History
Empty starts with the shotgun, because the quarterback needs room to stand alone. On November 27, 1960, San Francisco 49ers coach Red Hickey had his quarterbacks take the snap several yards deep against the Baltimore Colts, hoping to buy time against a strong pass rush. The 49ers won 30-22. Defenses adjusted the next season and Hickey shelved the idea.
Tom Landry's Dallas Cowboys brought the shotgun back as a regular part of an NFL offense in 1975, with Roger Staubach at quarterback. Once the passer stood deep, offenses could clear the backfield and send every eligible receiver into the pattern.
By the 2010s, empty sets were common. In 2015 Sports Illustrated wrote that no team used them more than Bruce Arians' Arizona Cardinals, who spread five receivers to stretch defenses from sideline to sideline. Today it is a normal part of every NFL playbook.
Coaches Known for It
Red Hickey. As head coach of the San Francisco 49ers, he unveiled the shotgun against the Baltimore Colts on November 27, 1960, and won 30-22. He dropped it the next season after defenses caught up.
Tom Landry. The Dallas Cowboys coach made the shotgun a regular part of his offense in 1975 with Roger Staubach taking the snaps. It set the stage for the lone-quarterback look that Empty depends on.
Bruce Arians. In 2015 Sports Illustrated wrote that no team used empty sets more than his Arizona Cardinals. By 2016 a weaker offensive line had pushed Arizona away from them.
How Often It's Used
Share of the plays cover0 could label each season.
| Season | Share |
|---|---|
| 2016 | 8.0% |
| 2017 | 7.8% |
| 2018 | 8.1% |
| 2019 | 8.3% |
| 2020 | 9.4% |
| 2021 | 9.6% |
| 2022 | 8.2% |
| 2023 | 8.4% |
| 2024 | 8.7% |
| 2025 | 7.4% |
Charted by NFL Next Gen Stats through 2022 and by FTN Data from 2023, so part of any jump between 2022 and 2023 comes from the change of source.
More offensive formations
Sources
- Pro Football Hall of Fame: The Shotgun Formation (opens in a new tab)
- San Francisco 49ers: 75 for 75, The Shotgun Formation (opens in a new tab)
- Fox News: Staubach recalls when Landry installed shotgun for Cowboys (opens in a new tab)
- Wikipedia: Shotgun formation (opens in a new tab)
- Sports Illustrated: Carson Palmer, the Cards and an Offense on Empty (2015) (opens in a new tab)
- Last Word on Sports: A Look at the Arizona Cardinals' Schematic Philosophy (2017) (opens in a new tab)
Written for cover0. Usage numbers come from the play data credited on the About page.