Playbooks
Quick Reference
Breakdown
Dagger from the I Form Slot 21 personnel package shows a classic vertical clear out on the deep left with the outside receiver running a straight vertical route up the numbers, while the inner receiver on that side runs a deep dig sitting behind the linebackers and in front of the safeties. To the right the flexed receiver runs a flat/out route underneath to occupy the corner and hold the underneath defender. The user-controlled TE or slot defender look off the blue post breaking route on the right side, which acts as an underneath crosser to manipulate linebackers. This is a man and zone beater concept, with the primary read progression starting on the deep dig, then working to the vertical clear out if the safety cheats down, and finally checking down to the flat route against aggressive underneath coverage.
Defensive Reads
Key the safety depth pre-snap, if both safeties are deep at 10 plus yards this is a strong indicator of Cover 2 or Cover 3, both of which Dagger is designed to exploit with the dig sitting in the seam. Watch the underneath linebackers post-snap, if they sink too deep into their zone drops the flat route becomes wide open for an easy check down throw. Beware of a user-controlled safety sitting in the deep middle hole (Tampa 2 look or robber technique), since that defender can jump the dig route if the quarterback stares it down too long. Man coverage with press corners can disrupt the timing of the dig route at the release point, so if you see man alignment pre-snap consider hot routing to attack space instead of running the full concept. A hard blitz look with linebackers crashing downhill signals man coverage behind it, in this case the quick flat route or a hot route adjustment gives the fastest answer before the pocket collapses.
Usage Tips
Pre-snap identify whether the defense is showing two deep safeties or a single high shell, since Dagger is built to punish Cover 2 and Cover 3 when the dig sits in the void behind the linebackers and in front of the safeties.
Use the vertical route on the left as a clear out to open a passing lane for the dig, and only progress to it as a second read if the safety jumps the dig route.
Against man coverage, hot route the flat runner into a quick out or speed out to give yourself a rhythm throw if the dig gets banged up at the top of its route.
Pair this play with PA X Dagger in the same set to disguise your intentions pre-snap, since both plays share the same route shell but one adds play-action deception to freeze linebackers longer.
Best called on second and long or third and medium situations where you need a chunk gain over the middle of the field, since the dig route is the conversion route of the concept.
