Playbooks
Quick Reference
Breakdown
U Cross out of Shotgun Empty Ace 12 personnel is a five man route concept built to attack man and zone coverage with a deep crosser as the primary target. The backside receiver runs a deep dig that breaks across the field while the outside receiver on that side clears out on a corner route, and the frontside slot runs a deep out breaking route with the running back releasing on an angle route into the flat, while the far outside receiver runs a vertical seam to hold the safety. With no running back to pass block, this is a full empty protection look, so the primary read starts with the deep crosser working from backside to frontside, then progresses to the flat route from the running back as the checkdown or man beater against trailing linebackers.
Defensive Reads
Pre-snap, identify single high versus two high safety shells, since single high tells you the deep crosser has more room to work against Cover 3 or Cover 1. Watch linebacker depth at the snap, if they sink deep into shells and take away the crosser's window, look immediately to the running back's angle route as the built in man beater against blitzing or aggressive linebackers. Cover 2 with hard flat corners will squeeze the running back's release, so if you see two deep safeties with corners staying low, the deep crosser and corner route become your primary options. User controlled defenders sitting in a lurk position over the middle are the biggest threat to this concept, so if you see a defender drifting into that crosser lane pre-snap, be ready to redirect flow to the flood side. This play struggles against disguised blitzes that bring extra rushers up front, since there is no running back protection to buy the quarterback time, so recognize overload blitz looks early and get the ball out on the quick angle route.
Usage Tips
Use this play on second or third and medium to long when defenses are more likely to sit in zone shells like Cover 3 or Cover 4, since the deep crosser sits down in the void between the underneath zone and deep zone. Before the snap, check for single high safety alignment, if you see two deep safeties rotate your first read to the corner route on the backside since that usually signals man coverage. Hot route the vertical seam receiver into a shallow drag if you are facing heavy blitz looks to give yourself a quick outlet and beat pressure before the crosser has time to develop. Pair this play with Stick or Curl Flats earlier in a series to condition the defense into sitting on shorter routes, then hit them with U Cross for an explosive gain over the middle once they bite. Against man coverage with a lurking linebacker, drag your eyes to the running back's angle route since it naturally picks up any inside defender trying to trail the crosser.
