Playbooks
Stick Ohio is a five-man empty concept out of Shotgun Empty Trey Flex built around quick-hitting Stick combinations to both sides of the field, pairing flat and stick routes with a deeper option route from the trey side. It is a man beater at its core, using the natural picks created by the stick concept to shed off-ball linebackers and slot corners in man coverage, but it also holds up against zone due to the flat-to-curl stretch on each side. The primary read progression starts with the trey side stick/flat combo, then works to the backside stick concept if the leverage or defender depth does not favor the initial read.
Read the flat defender first since if he sits on the flat route, the stick route sitting behind him is open in the soft spot of the zone. Watch for user-controlled linebackers dropping into the stick window, a common lurk spot that can jump the throw if the quarterback does not manipulate with eyes or pump fakes. Identify Cover 3 sky or cloud rotations pre-snap since the corner rolling down into the flat can take away the shallow option and force a check to the backside stick. Look for blitz packages that bring five or six rushers since the quick game nature of Stick Ohio allows for fast releases that beat man pressure before the rush arrives. Against Cover 4 or match quarters looks, the stick concept can get squeezed if the slot defender sinks with the stick route, so be ready to work the checkdown or backside flat immediately.
Check pre-snap for single high versus two high safety alignment since Stick Ohio thrives against single high man coverage where the stick routes create natural rubs on man defenders.
If the defense shows Cover 2 or Cover 4 shell, hot route the backside stick receiver into a deeper corner or bend the flat route wider to stretch the zone horizontally.
Use this play on second and short to medium third down situations where the underneath stick combos give the quarterback a fast, high percentage completion versus pressure looks.
Combine Stick Ohio with Four Verticals from the same set to keep the defense honest against both shallow and vertical stress, forcing linebackers to widen their drops on early downs.
Pair with WR Screen out of the same formation to bait aggressive linebackers into crashing downhill, then hit the stick concept behind them once they start jumping short routes.