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Quick Reference
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Breakdown
Texans Hook is a zone beating concept out of the Shotgun Bunch formation built around a hook route sitting down in the intermediate middle of the field with an out breaking route and a vertical release working off the bunch stack to hold defenders. This is a passing play, not play-action or RPO, and it leans on natural picks created by the bunch alignment to spring the hook route open against off man and zone coverage. The primary read progression starts with the hook sitting route in the middle of the field, then works to the out breaking route on the boundary if a linebacker or safety jumps the sit route, and finishes with the vertical or corner route as a low percentage shot if the underneath defenders collapse.
Defensive Reads
Pre-snap, identify if the defense is showing Cover 3 or Cover 2 zone drops behind the bunch, since the hook route settles right into the classic hole in those shells. Watch the flat defender and the underneath linebacker responsible for the hook zone, if they widen with the out route or bail with the vertical release, the middle opens for the sit route. Against man coverage, look for a linebacker or slower defender matched on the hook route, since a size or speed mismatch there is an easy completion window. Cover 4 and Cover 6 shells with disciplined underneath zone defenders can shut this down if the hook defender sinks and stays square, forcing you to work the out route instead. Post-snap, key any user controlled lurk defender sitting in the shallow middle since that player can jump the hook route and bait a turnover if the quarterback stares it down too long.
Usage Tips
Use this play on third and medium situations where the sit route at the sticks gives you a built in first down conversion against zone drops.
Check the pre-snap alignment for a single high safety versus two high shell, since a two high shell tells you the hook will have room to settle in the soft spot between the flat and deep zones.
Hot route the vertical releaser into a deeper crossing route if you see man coverage with no help underneath, turning this into more of a rub concept that clears space for the hook.
Pair this call with Bunch Verts or Bunch Sail earlier in a series so the defense respects the vertical shot, then come back to Texans Hook to attack the space defenders vacate when they bite on the deep threat.
Against aggressive user blitzers, get the ball out on rhythm to the hook route since the bunch alignment naturally slows down defender releases on blitz pickups.
