Playbooks
Quick Reference
Breakdown
Corner Out Dig is a bunch concept out of Shotgun Bunch Wide Nasty that stacks three distinct route depths to attack every level of the defense. The bunch receiver runs a corner route up the boundary while the middle bunch receiver breaks off with a quick out toward the flat, and the tag route hooks over the top with a deep dig across the middle. On the backside, the lone receiver runs a swing route out of the backfield area that curls upfield as a checkdown outlet. This is primarily a man beater that uses natural rub action from the bunch alignment to spring the corner route, with the dig serving as the primary read against zone drops and the out as a quick answer versus soft coverage.
Defensive Reads
Watch the flat defender or curl to flat zone player presnap, if they sit too far inside or bite on the out route, the corner route behind them will be wide open against Cover 3 or Cover 4 shells. Key the middle linebacker or hook defender depth, a shallow drop invites the dig to sit right behind him for an easy completion, so aggressive dig droppers can shut this down. Against man coverage, watch for a user controlled defender sitting in the bunch to jump the rub route combo, since a well timed jam can disrupt the corner and out timing before they separate. Identify single high safety looks presnap, since a lone deep defender will struggle to cover both the corner route and dig route if the quarterback reads correctly and delivers on time. Man coverage with underneath robber support or a spy is the biggest threat to this concept, as it takes away both the rub advantage and the middle read simultaneously, forcing the quarterback to hold the ball longer than desired.
Usage Tips
Presnap, identify whether the defense is showing off man or zone shell by watching the leverage of the corner over the bunch, tight outside leverage often signals man and invites the natural rub to spring the corner route open.
Your first read should be the dig crossing over the middle since it exploits both zone hole coverage and man coverage with a natural pick from the bunch traffic, especially versus Cover 3 or Cover 1.
If the corner route gets undercut by a deep half safety, work back down to the out route for a quick, high percentage completion in the flat area.
Use the swing route out of the backfield as your check down against blitz-heavy fronts or when interior pressure forces an early throw.
Pair this play with Speed Dig Out or Verticals in your play-calling sequence to keep defenses honest, since both plays share route concepts but attack timing differently, forcing linebackers to hesitate on their drops.
