Playbooks
Quick Reference
Breakdown
Deep Curls out of Shotgun Box (10 personnel) sends three receivers vertical before breaking down into curl routes at different depths, with the two outside receivers running deep curls off the numbers and the middle receiver working a curl from the slot, while the backside receiver runs a vertical stem straight upfield as a clear-out or seam threat. This is a zone beater designed to sit defenders down in soft spots between the underneath zones and deep coverage, letting the quarterback read from the deepest curl to the shortest based on how the zone defenders drop. The staggered depth of the curls creates natural passing lanes against Cover 3 and Cover 4 shells, with the primary read starting on the far curl and working back to the middle breaking route if the corner sinks too deep.
Defensive Reads
Identify pre-snap whether the defense is showing two deep safeties or a single high safety, since Cover 4 and Cover 3 shells are the most vulnerable to the staggered curl depths Watch the flow of the underneath linebackers and nickel defender after the snap, if they sink too deep into the zone the middle curl will sit wide open underneath Key on the cornerback over the far curl route, if he bails into a deep zone drop instead of matching the route the curl becomes an easy completion Man coverage with press alignment on the outside receivers is the best way to shut this down, since the curls lose their sit-and-settle advantage against tight man coverage Look for a user-controlled defender lurking in the middle of the field, since a smart user can jump the shallow curl route and bait the quarterback into a turnover
Usage Tips
Attack soft zone shells like Cover 3 and Cover 4 since the staggered curl depths create natural throwing windows between the underneath and deep defenders
Use the backside vertical route as a clear-out to pull the deep safety away from the middle curl, opening up the intermediate throwing lane
This play shines on second and long or third and medium situations where the sit routes can settle in front of zone defenders for a safe conversion
Hot route the backside vertical into a quick out or slant if you see man coverage press at the line, since the curls are more effective against zone drops
Pair this with HB Screen or Quads Screen from the same set to punish defenders who sit hard on the curl routes after seeing it on tape
Watch linebacker depth at the snap, if they are shallow you can throw the middle curl quickly before the zone fully forms
