Playbooks
At a Glance
Overview
Empty Bunch Y Flex is the five wide answer inside Shotgun that keeps 11 personnel on the field while emptying the backfield. Your running back detaches into the slot and the tight end flexes off the formation, so you get a three man bunch to one side with a two receiver stack or split look to the other. That alignment forces the defense to declare coverage before the snap: if the bunch side shows a single defender over the point man with no help, you are looking at man coverage and every rub concept in the set becomes live. Unlike standard Empty sets that spread all five receivers across the numbers, the bunch cluster compresses the release area, which makes press man nearly impossible to execute cleanly and gives you natural traffic on crossers.
Strengths
- Z Spot and Spacing Switch generate legitimate rub action out of the bunch, and against man coverage the point man and the inside receiver create traffic that defensive backs cannot navigate without losing a step.
- Dagger and Speed Dig Out attack the intermediate middle of Cover 3 and Cover 4 by clearing the deep safety with the vertical and dropping the dig underneath at the 12 to 15 yard level.
- Flood puts three levels on one side and is the cleanest zone beater in the set, giving you a corner route, an out breaking route, and a shallow flat option all reading off the same defender.
- Emptying the backfield with 11 personnel means five eligible receivers with no blocker, so the defense has to either drop into coverage or bring pressure it cannot disguise, and pre-snap you can identify the extra rusher immediately.
- Jailbreak Slot Screen and QB Draw punish over aggressive pressure users, and a mobile quarterback in this set turns any vacated middle into a first down without needing to complete a pass.
Weaknesses
- Zero pass protection help means any six man pressure gets a free rusher, and you have no back to chip or pick up a delayed linebacker off the edge.
- Nano blitz looks and A gap overloads collapse the pocket before the bunch routes develop, especially on Dagger and Branch Return which need three to four seconds to work.
- Cover 2 Man with a user controlled safety sitting over the bunch takes away the rub concepts, since the user can jump the point man's out or shallow before separation occurs.
- The compressed bunch alignment means a single well timed user defender can cover two routes at once, and quick pressure combined with a user swat on the flat throw creates turnover risk.
- Going empty on obvious pass downs tips your hand, and experienced opponents will simply call heavy pressure or drop eight into a match zone shell every time they see this set.
Usage Tips
Read the bunch side pre-snap: single high with one defender over the point man means man coverage, so run Z Spot or Spacing Switch. Two deep safeties with defenders sitting flat footed means zone, so go to Flood or Dagger.
On third and medium, motion the flexed tight end back toward the bunch to reveal coverage, then hot route the isolated outside receiver to a slant or fade depending on the leverage you see.
Hot route your slot receiver to a drag or curl as a built in pressure release valve, because with no back in protection you need one route breaking open inside of two seconds.
Save QB Draw and Jailbreak Slot Screen for after you have hit two or three passes out of this set, once the opponent starts sending extra rushers and vacating the middle of the field.
Use this set on second and long or third and long from midfield where you can throw the intermediate digs and floods with a two way go, not in the red zone where compressed field space kills the vertical clear outs.
