Playbooks
At a Glance
Overview
Empty Chips Nasty is the five wide, no back look inside Shotgun that pulls your running back out of the backfield and puts him on the field as a receiver. The "Chips" alignment stacks and bunches receivers to one side while the "Nasty" split tightens a receiver down near the tackle box, so you get a compressed side and a spread side out of the same 11 personnel grouping. Unlike standard Shotgun sets with a back in protection, there is no chip help and no check release, which means every defender in the box is accounted for pre-snap by your read, not by your protection.
The personnel value here is the mismatch math. Your 3DRB tag means the back lining up as a receiver is a coverage problem for linebackers, and if the defense stays in base personnel you can motion him into the slot or leave him wide and attack whoever walks out. The SLWR tag gives you a true slot threat working the middle of the field on the Dagger and Post Cross concepts, and the tight end in the nasty split becomes an isolated seam runner against safeties who have to widen with the bunch.
Concept wise, this set is built around high low and vertical clearout combos: Dagger and Dagger Deep Curl put a seam route over the top of a dig, Deep Post Out and Post Cross flood the middle third, Slot Sail and Out X Dig give you clean levels against Cover 3 and Cover 4, and Double 7 Stop plus Double Swirl are your quick answers when the defense pressures. Dig Stick is the RPO style read that lets you attack a single high shell without holding the ball. Emptying the backfield also forces the defense to declare, so your pre snap read on the bunch side tells you man or zone before the ball is even snapped.
Strengths
- Dagger and Dagger Deep Curl are elite zone beaters: the vertical from the slot clears the hook defender and the dig sits down right in the vacated window, and against Cover 3 you can user the QB read straight to the dig every time.
- Empty forces the defense to reveal coverage pre snap, so counting defenders over the bunch side tells you man or zone before the snap and lets you check to Double Swirl or Double 7 Stop when you see press man.
- The 3DRB aligned as a receiver creates a linebacker mismatch that you can attack with a hot route drag, slot option, or fade depending on who covers him, and motioning him across the formation confirms the matchup.
- Post Cross and Deep Post Out flood the middle third and split two high safeties, punishing Cover 2 and Cover 4 users who try to cover the deep middle with one defender.
- The nasty split tight end has a compressed release that beats outside leverage in man coverage and gets a free run at the seam when the safety widens with the bunch, and Slot Sail gives you a flat, intermediate, and deep triangle on the same side.
Weaknesses
- Zero backfield help means no chip, no check release, and no blitz pickup, so five man pressures and nano blitzes off the edge get home fast if you have not identified the extra rusher pre snap.
- Interior blitzes and A gap pressure are brutal here because you cannot slide protect toward an unblocked defender without leaving the other side one on one, forcing you into a quick throw or a scramble.
- Deep concepts like Dagger, Deep Post Out, and Post Cross develop slowly and hold the ball long enough for a user controlled defender to bait the dig or the crosser and jump the throwing window.
- Empty removes any run threat, so opponents can play pure coverage, drop eight, and sit in Cover 3 match or Cover 6 without respecting play action, which kills your Dig Stick RPO read.
- Compressed and stacked alignments let the defense press and bracket the bunch side with a user, and if your outside receiver loses the release the timing on the entire concept breaks down.
Usage Tips
Use this on second and third down in the seven to twelve yard range where Dagger, Out X Dig, and Dagger Deep Curl all break right at the sticks, and save Double Swirl and Double 7 Stop for third and short or when you have already been pressured.
Read the bunch side pre snap: if a defender travels with the motioned back, treat it as man and go to your isolated receiver, and if the defense stays static and the linebackers sit at depth, work the dig or the sail into the zone window.
Hot route the tight end in the nasty split to a seam or a corner when you see single high, because the safety has to choose between the vertical clearout and the dig underneath.
Against heavy pressure, hot route the 3DRB to a flat or a quick slant as your safety valve, and consider blocking him only if you have identified the exact blitzer, since keeping him in negates the biggest matchup advantage in the set.
Rotate between Dagger and Slot Sail to attack the same coverage from both sides so users cannot camp on the middle of the field, and mix in Dig Stick to punish defenses that jump your deeper concepts.
