Playbooks
Quick Reference
Breakdown
Z Spot out of Shotgun Bunch Spread lines up three receivers tight to the formation with a fourth split out wide left. The bunch releases into the classic Spot concept: the outside receiver runs a corner route, the middle receiver runs a quick spot/hitch settling underneath, and the point man runs a flat route to the sideline, while the isolated receiver on the backside runs a vertical seam up the numbers and one bunch defender runs a shallow drag. This is a Cover 3 beater built to attack the flat defender and hole defender with the classic high low low stretch, and the primary read progression starts with the flat, works to the spot sitting down in the window, then climbs to the corner if the cornerback bites down.
Defensive Reads
Watch the flat defender at the snap, if he widens with the point man release out of the bunch, the spot route sitting down behind him will be wide open. Key the curl to flat linebacker or nickel defender, in Cover 3 he has to choose between the flat and the spot, and whichever he leaves is your throw. If the defense shows Cover 2 or Cover 4 with two deep safeties, expect the corner route to be squeezed by the deep half defender, so lean on the spot and flat instead. Man coverage with no underneath help, particularly Cover 1 or Cover 0, is where this concept struggles most since the bunch traffic can get picked but the spot has no natural pick advantage against tight man technique. Post snap, look for a user controlled lurk defender sitting in the shallow middle, since that player can jump the spot route if the user reads it early, so be ready to reset to the flat or bail to the backside seam.
Usage Tips
Pre-snap, identify whether the corner over the bunch is playing outside leverage or bailing into a deep third, since that tells you if the corner route or the spot will be open first.
Use this against zone heavy defenses, especially Cover 3 and Cover 4 match, because the spot sitting in the hole punishes the curl to flat defender who has to choose between the flat man and the spot.
On third and medium, prioritize the spot route since it settles right at the sticks and gives you a built in conversion throw against zone drops.
Hot route the backside seam runner into a deeper post if you see single high safety rotation, turning this into an explosive shot play instead of just a checkdown concept.
Pair Z Spot with Mtn Snag Under or Mtn Slot Under from this set so the defense has to respect both spot and snag concepts out of the same bunch look, making it harder for defenders to sit on the underneath windows.
