Playbooks
Quick Reference
Breakdown
China Y Corner out of Pistol Strong Slot Open shows a five man route concept built around a deep corner route from the Y that clears out the sideline. The two outside receivers to the closed side run vertical seams while the backside runs a corner and a shallow drag underneath, with the offset back releasing into a wheel route up the sideline. The single blocker on the strong side runs a shallow drag across the formation, giving the quarterback a built in checkdown against a hard sell of the corner route, this is a man beater first because the corner and wheel combo stresses a defender in trail technique, but it also holds up against zone thanks to the deep corner sitting behind cover 2 corners and the drag working underneath linebackers. Primary read starts with the Y corner route to the boundary, then works to the wheel route if the corner is capped, and finally checks down to the shallow drag.
Defensive Reads
Read the cornerback leverage before the snap, outside leverage on the boundary receiver signals the corner route will have room to work against off coverage or cover 3. Watch the flat defender or nickel corner on the wheel route side, if he stays flat footed reading run action, the wheel will beat him up the sideline for an explosive gain. Identify single high safety looks like cover 1 or cover 3, this play is designed to exploit those shells since the corner route settles in the void behind the corner and in front of the safety. Post-snap, key any user controlled defender sinking into the deep half or quarter, if he breaks late toward the corner route sideline, check down immediately to the drag before the pocket collapses. Beware disguised cover 2 shells with two deep safeties splitting the field, this concept struggles when both the corner and wheel routes run into help over the top, so be ready to reset protection or check down early.
Usage Tips
Use this play on second or third and medium to long when you need to attack a defender in man coverage without a deep safety over the top.
Check the safety alignment pre-snap, if you see a single high safety shaded toward the corner route side, get ready to work the wheel route instead since the corner will be capped.
Hot route the drag runner into a deeper in-breaking route if you are seeing heavy underneath zone drops, this keeps the checkdown alive while still stressing the middle of the field.
Pair this play with HB Dive or Inside Zone Split earlier in a series to get linebackers creeping downhill, that hesitation opens up the wheel route out of the backfield on this play.
Combine with Mesh or Mid Slants on the following snap so defenses cannot sit on the deep corner concept, forcing them to respect the quick game before you come back to this shot play.
