Playbooks
Quick Reference
Breakdown
Okie Roll 2 is a Cover 2 zone defense out of the Dime 2-3-6 Sam set (Big Dime personnel) that drops five underneath and two deep. The diagram shows both deep thirds/halves defenders (the blue ellipses) bailing to their landmarks, a linebacker to each side dropping to the flat with cushion (the light blue ellipses), and two underneath defenders (gray and yellow ellipses) working short zone drops while four rushers (red arrows) attack the pocket, with a designated spy or contain defender on the offensive line marked by the white line and X. Coverage responsibility is clearly a two deep shell with underneath zone drops, making this a zone coverage call designed to squeeze the flats and take away quick game while keeping two safeties over the top of verticals. Primary read progression for the defense is flat to hook to deep half, forcing the quarterback to work underneath throws into tight zone windows before anything opens up over the top.
Defensive Reads
Pre-snap, check safety depth: if both safeties are shaded deep at 10 to 12 yards with corners playing off, that confirms the two deep shell and tells you flats and hooks are the priority throws to protect. Watch for trips or bunch formations that can flood one flat with three receivers, since the single flat defender to that side can get outleveraged in Cover 2. Post-snap, key the underneath zone defenders sinking into hook/curl areas, they are your lurk threats against drag routes and shallow crossers that man beaters try to exploit. This shell is vulnerable to seam routes and corner routes attacking the void between the flat defender and deep half safety, so if the offense trips or motions a receiver into that seam window, expect a big play unless the safety squeezes down in time. It struggles against hard play-action rollouts and rollout passing since the four man rush lanes shown by the red arrows can be manipulated with misdirection, so watch for quarterbacks bootlegging away from pressure into the vacated flat.
Usage Tips
Call this out of Big Dime personnel when you expect 11 or 12 personnel spread concepts or obvious passing downs where the offense wants to attack the flat. Use the pre-snap picture to bait the quarterback into thinking Cover 3 or man, then rotate into the two deep shell at the snap to disguise the coverage. Combine this with Cover 2 Man and Cover 2 Hard Flat from the same set so quarterbacks cannot key on flat defender depth or leverage. Mix in Zero Blitz and Edge Blitz 1 through 3 on early downs to keep the offense guessing before dropping into this zone shell on third and medium. User the underneath hook defender (gray or yellow zone) to rob crossers and dig routes since the flat defenders and deep safeties are already zoned up to handle perimeter and vertical threats.
