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Breakdown
Jets Dig is a man beater built out of the Shotgun Bunch 11 personnel look, using the tight bunch alignment to create natural rub release and free up the dig route working across the middle of the field. The concept pairs the dig with an underneath crosser and a vertical clear-out from the bunch, giving the quarterback a horizontal stretch read from the deep breaking route down to the shallow option. Primary progression starts with the dig sitting down against zone or breaking open against man traffic, then works down to the underneath crosser as a checkdown if the middle linebacker sinks into the throwing lane.
Defensive Reads
Read the middle linebacker depth at the snap, if he sits shallow or blitzes the dig window opens immediately for an explosive gain. Watch for user lurk defenders sitting in the intermediate middle zone, a smart user will bait the quarterback into throwing the dig into a jump ball situation. Cover 3 with a robber underneath is the biggest threat to this concept since the extra defender can sit right in the dig's throwing lane, check the checkdown crosser instead in this look. Man coverage with a deep single safety is where this play shines, the bunch alignment naturally picks off trailing defenders and creates separation on the dig before the safety can rotate over. Identify blitz packages pre-snap by checking for stacked linebackers or safety creep toward the line, if a blitz is confirmed get the ball out fast to the shallow crosser since the dig takes too long to develop against pressure.
Usage Tips
Use pre-snap motion or a shift out of the bunch to force the defense to declare man or zone before the snap, since bunch sets often bait defenders into busted assignments. Look for single high safety shells with press corners, this tells you man coverage is likely and the dig route will have a clean rub off the bunch traffic. Hot route the outside receiver on a quick out or speed cut if you see Cover 2 shells with corners sitting at the flats, this removes a defender from the underneath zone the dig has to sit in. This play hits best on second and medium to third and short situations where the defense has to respect the run first, opening up the intermediate crossing window. Sequence this with HB Base or Inside Zone earlier in the drive to set up linebacker aggression, then come back to Jets Dig to attack the vacated middle zone once they start keying run fits. Pair with Bunch Verts or PA Divide Wheels in your play-calling script to keep defenses honest against the deep shots off the same bunch look before hitting them with the intermediate dig.
