Playbooks
Quick Reference
In 2 playbooks
Breakdown
Indy Outs lines up in Shotgun Doubles 11 personnel with both outside receivers running hard out routes breaking toward the sideline at roughly ten to twelve yards, giving the quarterback a true horizontal stretch on both edges of the field. The inner slot receiver runs a quick out or speed cut underneath while the backside receiver works a shallow crossing route into the middle of the field to occupy linebackers and hold the deep hole defender. This is a zone beater built on out route spacing, with the primary read starting to the boundary out route and progressing to the field side out based on which cornerback sits deeper or which zone defender widens with the route.
Defensive Reads
Watch for cornerbacks playing outside leverage with deep zone drops, since this is a strong indicator the underneath out routes will have a soft spot for the quarterback to attack. Key the flat defenders and outside linebackers, if they widen quickly with the out route the throw window closes fast and you need to check the middle crosser instead. Against man coverage, user your best cornerback onto the outside receiver running the out route to jump the break point before the ball arrives. Show a Cover 3 or Cover 4 shell pre-snap and bait the quarterback into the out route, then have your underneath zone defender sit on the route stem for a jump ball opportunity. A hard blitz with man coverage behind it can shut this play down completely, since the out routes take extra time to develop and the quarterback may not get through his first read before pressure arrives.
Usage Tips
Pre-snap, identify whether the defense is playing a two high shell or a single high shell since the out routes create the most separation against zone defenses that drop underneath rather than sink deep.
Hot route the shallow crosser into a deeper dig or drag if you see man coverage across the board so you are not throwing into a trailing defender.
Use this play on second and medium or third and short to medium since the out routes sit down quickly and give you a safe, high percentage completion against zone.
Combine this play with Double Slants or Slant Flat in your play calling sequence to condition the defense to jump underneath routes, then hit the out routes when they start cheating inside.
Pair this with a play action shot like PA Dagger later in the drive once the defense starts keying the quick out throws, since it sets up the same initial receiver spacing before hitting a deeper shot.
