Playbooks
Quick Reference
Breakdown
Y Trail is a five man route concept out of Shotgun Box Y Off that stacks the field with two deep clear out routes and an underneath trail route from the TE (Y) working left to right across the middle. The outside receiver to the left runs a deep out breaking route while the far right receiver climbs a deep corner/flag to stretch the safety, and the Y trail crosses underneath into the vacated middle to create a natural pick and rub against man defenders. This is a man beater built on the trail concept: the primary read is the Y trail underneath since it exploits any man coverage trailing from behind, then work to the deep corner route if the defense shows zone and clears out a soft spot on the backside.
Defensive Reads
Pre-snap, identify if the safety is showing single high or split safeties since single high signals man coverage that this play is designed to exploit Watch cornerback alignment on the outside receivers, tight man press alignment favors the offense on the trail route since the defender has no help crossing underneath Post-snap, key the underneath linebackers and their zone drop depth, a shallow drop or a linebacker sitting in the throwing lane can jump the trail route for a user pick Look for a user controlled lurk defender sinking into the middle of the field, this is the biggest counter to the trail concept since it takes away the primary read Cover 3 with a deep half robber can shut this play down by having a defender sit underneath the trail and force the quarterback to hold the ball longer
Usage Tips
Check the middle of the field pre-snap because this play thrives against single high man coverage where the trail route can rub off underneath traffic
Use the trail route as your first read against Cover 1 or Cover 3 man matchups since defenders trailing from behind cannot cleanly break on the ball
If the defense shows Cover 2 or Cover 4 shell, look to the deep corner route on the right for the window behind the underneath defenders
Pair this play with Quick Short Post or Quick Unders in your play calling sequence to condition the defense to sit on short routes before hitting them with the trail concept for a big gain
Best called on second and medium or third and short when defenses are more likely to sit in man coverage to stop the run
