What is a playdown for football?

Answer 1

The "Draw Play" is a play that in all aspects, looks like it will be a pass play, and the quarterback then hands the ball off to a running back. The linemen passblock and open lanes for throwing, just as they would for a pass play. The receivers run as if they will run a route. The quarterback does a 3-5 step drop, reading the defensive backs as if he were going through his progression (who will he throw the ball to) and the running back watches for blitzers, etc and reads the defense.

Many times there is a chosen gap the rusher intends to go through, but a draw play is very adaptable, and the most successful ones are plays that the runningback sees a hole in the defense and takes it in that direction.

Answer 2

you get four downs to pick up 10 yards and a first down, which gives you another four downs for the next 10 yards.