Playbooks
Vert Double Under
Quick Reference
Breakdown
Vert Double Under is a five man route concept out of Shotgun Empty Quads that isolates the backside X on a lone go route while the trips side stacks a deep cross under a vertical seam and a corner route from the outside slot. The backside receiver runs a straight go to hold the far safety, the inside trips receivers work a deep cross and vertical seam that cross the middle of the field, and the outside trips receiver breaks off a corner route to attack the flat to deep quarter. There is no run action or blocking scheme shown since this is a five wide empty set, and the concept is built to beat both man and zone coverage with the deep cross serving as the primary read against man and the seam/corner combo working versus zone drops.
Defensive Reads
Watch the strong safety depth before the snap, if he is shaded toward the trips side it signals help over the seam and corner routes so throw the backside go instead. Read the flat defender on the corner route side, if he sinks with the corner the underneath window for the seam opens up. Against Cover 3, key the middle linebacker's drop since a shallow drop leaves the deep cross wide open crossing the field. Watch for user blitzes off the edge on the trips side, since empty formations are vulnerable to overload pressure and the quarterback has no blocking help. If the defense shows Cover 1 or Cover 0 with a deep safety cheating toward the crossers, take the one on one go route on the backside immediately.
Usage Tips
Presnap, identify whether the defense is showing two high or single high safety look because that dictates whether you start on the backside go or the trips side crossing routes.
Against man coverage, key the deep cross first since it creates natural rub traffic against man defenders trailing the seam and corner routes.
Against zone shells like Cover 3 or Cover 4, work the seam route into the honey hole between the flat defender and deep safety, then move to the corner route if the safety widens.
Use this play on second and long or third and long since it takes time to develop and needs a clean pocket for the deep routes to open.
Pair this with WR Screen or QB Draw from the same set to keep defenses honest on early downs, then hit Vert Double Under once they start jumping run fakes or screens.
