Playbooks
Redzone DT Drop is a disguised zone blitz look out of the 3-3 Swap Dbl Mug front designed specifically for compressed redzone situations. Instead of sending the mugged linebackers on a straight blitz, the defensive tackle drops into an underneath zone to take away quick hitters and slants while the second level defenders read the quarterback's eyes. The primary read progression starts with the mugged linebackers at the line, then flows to the dropping DT for any hot throw over the middle, and finally to the deep half defenders who are reading route breaks in the tight redzone spacing.
Watch the running back and slot receiver releases pre-snap, if both check into quick option routes the DT drop is designed to sit on those throws Read the quarterback's eyes at the snap, if he is going to a hot route immediately the DT drop should be sitting in that throwing lane This play struggles against verticals and corner routes to the boundary since the underneath drop cannot help outside, so watch for stacked or bunch formations releasing vertically Man coverage beaters that use rub routes or pick concepts can still create separation before the pressure and drop fully develop, so be ready to trust your man defenders Against play action or RPO looks the DT drop can get sucked up on run fakes, so key the offensive line splits and running back alignment before committing the drop underneath
Use this call inside the 10 yard line or in short yardage situations where the offense is more likely to run quick game or hot routes against pressure looks
Show the same pre-snap mug alignment as your other blitz calls in this set like Blitz Loop 0 and Blitz Loop 3 so the offense cannot key on the DT drop specifically
Spy the drop with a user controlled defender over the middle if the opponent has burned you with a slot slant or drag route against your zone blitz calls previously
Pair this play in a sequence with SS Dog 3 and Cover 1 Games so the offense sees three different mugged pressure shells and cannot tee off on one blocking or coverage answer
Bait shotgun spread quarterbacks into throwing hot to the middle of the field, then let the DT drop erase the easy completion window before the rush even gets home