Playbooks
At a Glance
In 1 playbook
Overview
Doubles Y-Flex Offset takes the standard Shotgun Doubles alignment and makes two key changes: the tight end flexes out of a true attached position into a slot or wing gap, and the running back offsets to one side of the quarterback instead of sitting directly behind him. That offset back tips the protection slightly, but it also gives you a cleaner release path for HB Slip Screen and better angles on Inside Zone and Outside Zone without needing to motion anyone. With 11 personnel you get two outside receivers, a flexed Y who can win against a linebacker or safety, and a back who is on the field as a legitimate receiving threat, which is exactly why the 3DRB tag matters here.
The flexed Y placement is the whole point of the set. Against base man coverage the defense either walks a linebacker out over the tight end (which you attack with Angle Smash and Y Shallow Cross) or bumps a safety down (which opens the deep middle for Four Verticals and Fork Wheel). Because the Y is not attached, the defense cannot easily reduce the box and still cover him, so you are forcing a personnel decision before the snap. If they leave a 90 speed slot corner on your outside receivers, the SLWR tag tells you the alignment can support a burner on the outside where you can isolate one on one and throw the backside route regardless of the concept in the play art.
The play list is unusually complete for a passing set. Four Verticals, Curl Combo, Weak Flood, and Z Spot give you flood, high low, and vertical stretch answers against every zone shell. Inside Zone, Outside Zone, HB Draw, and 0 1 Trap keep the run game honest out of a spread look, and Read Option, PA Read, RPO Read Dbl Screen, and the Gadget tag give you constraint plays that punish over aggressive user defenders who abandon their run fits to chase the flexed Y.
Strengths
- Four Verticals out of this alignment creates a natural four over three problem against single high, and the flexed Y running the seam is the primary read because he is usually matched against a linebacker or a dropping safety rather than a corner.
- Angle Smash and Z Spot are elite zone beaters, with the corner route and spot sitter creating a high low on the flat defender that punishes Cover 3 and Cover 4 flat drops on third and medium.
- Y Shallow Cross and Weak Flood are your man beaters, using natural traffic and drive routes to defeat press man, and both are throw and go concepts that do not require a full progression read.
- The offset back opens up HB Slip Screen and RPO Read Dbl Screen as legitimate constraint plays, so heavy nano blitz and edge pressure users get punished immediately without you needing to slide protect.
- Inside Zone, Outside Zone, and 0 1 Trap out of a spread look force the defense to defend the run with a light box, and Read Option plus PA Read give you the same shell answers with a QB keep threat attached.
Weaknesses
- The offset back declares your protection strength before the snap, so a user who reads the back alignment can send an A gap or opposite edge blitz that arrives before your Y clears the flex release.
- Five wide spacing means only five blockers plus a back who is often releasing on screens or option paths, so overload pressure from the flexed side collapses the pocket quickly against six man rushes.
- Cover 2 Invert and quarters shells with a hard corner squeeze the Z Spot corner and Fork Wheel wheel route, taking away your two best deep sideline concepts and forcing you into the checkdown.
- A user controlled safety sitting on the flexed Y seam kills Four Verticals as designed, and if you have already shown that read the defense will pattern match it every time you show this set.
- The run game is a light box run game, so 0 1 Trap and Inside Zone stall out against 4-3 and 3-4 base fronts with a plugged nose tackle, meaning you cannot lean on this set to close out clock in short yardage.
Usage Tips
Read the defender over the flexed Y before the snap. If it is a linebacker, run Y Shallow Cross or hot route the Y on a seam and take the mismatch. If it is a safety walked down, the deep middle is open and Four Verticals or Fork Wheel is the call.
On third and 6 to 9 lean on Angle Smash and Curl Combo, and hot route your back to a flat or angle route so you always have an outlet under the pressure rather than eating a sack in an empty pocket.
Set your protection based on the offset back. Slide the line away from the back or block the back inside against known nano users, then run PA Read or Weak Flood to attack the vacated space.
Use HB Slip Screen and RPO Read Dbl Screen early to establish that you will punish edge pressure. Once the user backs off, Four Verticals and Z Spot open up because the flat defenders start sinking.
Alternate Inside Zone and Read Option from the exact same look to freeze the user defender. If the defense commits to the run fit, the Gadget plays and PA Read hit for chunk yards on the same alignment.
