Playbooks
Quick Reference
In 13 playbooks
Breakdown
Verticals Under is a five-man route empty concept out of Shotgun that sends three receivers straight up the field on vertical stems while a fourth runs a deep out breaking route from the slot to the sideline, and the fifth crosses underneath from right to left as a shallow drag off the mesh. The three verticals stretch the field horizontally and vertically to overload Cover 2 and Cover 3 shells, while the underneath crosser gives the quarterback a check-down answer versus zone drops or blitz pressure. With no run blocking assignments shown, this is a pure dropback pass play, and the primary read progression starts outside with the boundary vertical against Cover 2 corners, moves to the deep out breaking off the numbers if safeties bracket the seams, and comes back to the underneath crosser as the answer against zone drop or man coverage collapsing on the verticals.
Defensive Reads
Pre-snap, check safety depth and spacing: two deep safeties splitting the field evenly signals Cover 2 or Cover 4, which this play is designed to beat with the vertical stretch. Watch the flat defender and outside linebacker leverage on the boundary vertical, since a corner sitting at the sticks in Cover 2 will get run past if he does not get a deep transition. Post-snap, key any user-controlled defender dropping into a deep middle lurk, because that defender can rob the seam verticals and force you to check down to the underneath crosser immediately. Man coverage without safety help over the top gets beaten by the outside verticals running straight through the cornerback's hip, so identify press or trail technique before the snap to confirm man beater potential. Blitz packages that bring five or six rushers leave the underneath crosser wide open as a hot route answer, so watch linebacker depth and edge alignment for blitz tells and get the ball out quickly if pressure shows.
Usage Tips
Use this out of empty formations on third and long or two minute situations where you need to stretch the field vertically and still have a checkdown built in.
Pre-snap, identify single high versus two high safeties: single high tells you the middle seam vertical has a bigger throwing window, two high tells you to work the deep out breaking route into the void behind the corner.
If you see man coverage with no safety help over the top, hot route the underneath crosser into a shallow drag with a speed release to beat off man leverage and get in front of trailing linebackers.
Pair this play in your call sheet with Stick or WR Screen from the same set to keep the defense honest on quick game answers before hitting them with the vertical shot.
Combine Verticals Under with Y Shallow Cross or Trail Shake as a sequence changeup once the defense starts sitting on the underneath crosser, since those plays hold the same initial read but attack different depths.
