Playbooks
Quick Reference
Breakdown
Deep Flood is a classic three-level flood concept out of Shotgun Empty Bunch Wide, designed to overload one side of the field vertically. From the bunch alignment, one receiver clears out deep, the middle route breaks to a corner route at intermediate depth, and the flat route sits underneath, creating a high low read for the QB on the same side. On the backside, the isolated receiver runs a vertical route to hold the single high safety or corner, while there is no run blocking shown since all five eligible receivers release into pattern. This is a pure zone beater built to attack Cover 3 and other single high shells by stressing one defender across three depths.
Defensive Reads
Pre-snap, check safety depth and alignment since a single high safety cheating to the flood side is the biggest tell that Cover 3 or Cover 1 zone is coming. Watch the flat defender at the snap, if he sinks with the corner route instead of stepping to the flat, that opens the underneath throw immediately. Key on the corner or safety responsible for the deep third on the flood side, if he opens his hips to the sideline too early the deep clear out route behind him is the answer. User controlled defenders sitting in a lurk position between the flat and corner route are the primary threat to this concept, since a good user can rob the middle read and force the QB to hold the ball. Cover 2 shells with two deep safeties can shut this down by having the corner jump the flat and the safety rotate over the top of the corner route, so recognize two high alignment pre-snap and consider checking to a different concept.
Usage Tips
Pre-snap, identify if the defense is showing single high safety or two high, since this play is at its best against Cover 3 and Cover 1 zone drops on the flood side. If the corner route defender bites on the flat route, the QB should climb the progression from flat to corner to the deep clear out route. Use the backside vertical as a hot route outlet against man coverage if the flood side gets jumped by an aggressive underneath defender. This play pairs well with Z Spot N Go or Z Spot Smash from the same set, since those plays punish defenders who key on the flood tendency and sit on the flat. Best called on third and long or in two minute situations where you need a defined high low read and want to attack a defense playing off zone coverage to protect against the deep ball.
