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Quick Reference
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Breakdown
Mtn Dagger is a Dagger concept run out of Bunch X Nasty, a Shotgun 11 personnel bunch set, and the diagram shows pre-snap motion from the bunch into a stack alignment before the snap. The backside receiver runs a deep vertical clear route up the numbers while the inside slot from the bunch runs a seam that sits down as a dig underneath it, creating the classic high-low Dagger stretch on one side. On the play side out of the bunch, one receiver breaks outside on a corner route while the running back releases to the flat, giving a three-level read from corner to dig to flat, and this is a clear pass play designed to attack both zone and man coverage with the seam/dig combo as the primary read.
Defensive Reads
Pre-snap, check safety depth and alignment, if both safeties are deep and even you are likely looking at Cover 2 or Cover 4, which the dig and corner combo is designed to exploit. Watch the motion man closely, if a defender mirrors the motion across the formation that is your man coverage indicator and you should expect the dig to work against a trailing linebacker. Post-snap, track the underneath linebacker responsible for the middle of the field, if he sinks too deep on the vertical clear route the dig will come open behind him. This play struggles against a disciplined Tampa 2 or robber coverage where a user-controlled defender sits in the throwing lane of the dig route, so be ready to check down to the flat route if that window is closed. Cover 3 with a fire zone blitz can be a problem since the underneath defenders may rob the dig route while corners squeeze the flat, so identify blitz pressure early and get the ball out to the flat route as an outlet.
Usage Tips
Use pre-snap motion out of the bunch to identify if the defense is playing man or zone, if the defenders shift and follow the motion man it confirms man coverage and you should key the dig against a chasing linebacker.
Your first read is the dig route sitting down in the middle of the field, throw it as soon as the underneath linebacker clears if you see Cover 2 or Cover 3 shells.
If the safety rotates late or the corner route occupies the deep half defender, work back down to the seam-to-dig combo since the vertical clear route is designed to pull coverage away.
Use this on second and medium to third and long situations where the defense is more likely to sit in zone shells, since the dig route needs room to sit down for the sticks.
Pair Mtn Dagger with Mtn HB Choice or Mtn Clear HB Seam in the same set to keep the defense guessing between quick game and the deeper dig read, this keeps linebackers honest and slows down their zone drops.
