A sweep is a running play in American football

American football

American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...

 where the running back

Running back

A running back is a gridiron football position, who is typically lined up in the offensive backfield. The primary roles of a running back are to receive handoffs from the quarterback for a rushing play, to catch passes from out of the backfield, and to block.There are usually one or two running...

 takes a pitch or handoff from the quarterback

Quarterback

Quarterback is a position in American and Canadian football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive team and line up directly behind the offensive line...

 and starts running parallel to the line of scrimmage

Line of scrimmage

In American and Canadian football a line of scrimmage is an imaginary transverse line beyond which a team cannot cross until the next play has begun...

, allowing for the offensive linemen and fullback

Fullback (American football)

A fullback is a position in the offensive backfield in American and Canadian football, and is one of the two running back positions along with the halfback...

 to get in front of him to block defenders before he turns upfield.

QB sweep

A running play where the quarterback

Quarterback

Quarterback is a position in American and Canadian football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive team and line up directly behind the offensive line...

 takes the snap from center, typically in a shotgun formation, and then runs to the outside. This play can best be run by a fast, athletic quarterback like Vince Young

Vince Young

Vincent Paul Young, Jr. , nicknamed "VY", is an American football quarterback for the Philadelphia Eagles of the National Football League . He spent the first five seasons of his career with the Tennessee Titans. Young was the third overall draft pick in the 2006 NFL Draft. He played college...

, Mike Vick  or Tim Tebow

Tim Tebow

Timothy Richard "Tim" Tebow is an American football player who is currently the starting quarterback for the Denver Broncos of the National Football League . He was drafted by the Broncos as the 25th overall pick in the 2010 NFL Draft...

. Sweeps often involve pulling of offensive linemen, usually one or both guards, to provide extra blockers at the point of attack. Teams such as Arkansas have had success running this play by lining up the halfback as the quarterback and running this play.

Buck sweep

A play usually run from a wing-t formation that includes a variety of play fakes. The quarterback takes the snap and fakes trap to the fullback. He then hands off to a halfback or wingback, who runs to the outside. The buck sweep is normally blocked by pulling the playside guard to kickout the force defender, and the backside guard pulling and turning up on the playsided linebacker. This allows for the other linemen to downblock on the other defenders, giving the offense an advantage when it comes to blocking angles. The buck sweep also provides an advantage in the possibilities available from its action, with the fullback trap before the sweep, the waggle pass or bootleg after it, and the sweep itself.

Toss sweep

A play that is usually run out of the I or Singleback formations. The quarterback takes the snap, reverses out, then tosses the ball to the tailback. When run from the I it allows the fullback to pick up any defenders who have penetrated into the backfield. Blocking from the offensive line ranges from straight zone blocking to pulling the playside guard. While this sweep doesn't have as many playfake combinations as the bucksweep, it tends to be more powerful and allows the running back to turn upfield faster.

Flanker sweep

A running play that is run from a set with a flanker receiver split out to the side away from the play, often run with the flanker in motion. The quarterback receives the snap and runs out to the flanker side, the flanker in turn makes a deep arc into the backfield behind the quarterback, and then there is an exchange either by handoff or by pitching the ball to the flanker. Flanker Sweep typically resembles the Student Body Right

Student Body Right

Student Body Right is the popular nickname for a simple running play in American football known as a sweep right, in which the tailback runs toward the right end of his offensive line at the snap of the ball and receives a pitch from his quarterback before reaching the line of scrimmage, while his...

in that every available blocker blocks to the playside.