Elements of the Wildcat
When a team runs the Wildcat, there are essentially three elements involved in the formation and the play style that make it a true Wildcat play.
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Element No. 1: A skill position player taking the shotgun snap
This is the most widely known element of the Wildcat, and it's what gets people yelling "Wildcat" every time they see someone in the backfield who shouldn't be there. Having a running threat taking the direct snap creates an additional player for the defense to account for in the run game.
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Often you will see the quarterback split out wide as a receiver. The offense chooses to split out the QB rather than sub him for a runner or blocker because it prevents the defense from figuring out that the Wildcat is coming and substituting appropriately.
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Element No. 3: Unbalanced line
Element No. 2: Motion
The specific type of motion used in the Wildcat is the motion used for jet sweeps, which are sweeps that happen at full speed right at the snap of the ball. Think Dallas Burroughs sprinting in motion and receiving a handoff.
In the Wildcat, the outside player (typically a running back) takes off on a dead sprint into the backfield where he either receives the jet sweep handoff immediately after the snap or he continues running for a fake or a pass route.
Element No. 3: Unbalanced line
The above picture is a balanced offensive line where the center is flanked by a guard on either side and the guards are flanked by tackles. This is normal. The Wildcat formation is not.
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In the Wildcat's unbalanced line, one of the offensive tackles shifts over to the opposite side of the formation so that there are two tackles on the same side. The tight end moves into the tackles vacated spot on the weak side of the formation.
Running behind the strong side of an unbalanced line gives the offense a big advantage, and combined with the multitude of options and play fakes from the jet sweep
