Playbooks
Quick Reference
Breakdown
This WR Screen out of Shotgun Empty Trey is a true bubble screen concept designed to get the ball out quick to the slot receiver. The diagram shows the outside receiver on the trips side running a deep clear-out route to pull the corner and safety away, while the near slot receiver runs a short bubble toward the sideline behind a wall of blockers. The backside X receiver runs a vertical release to occupy his defender and prevent help from rotating over. This is a classic screen play built to beat aggressive man coverage and blitz-heavy fronts by getting playmakers in space with blockers already in front of them.
Defensive Reads
Watch for linebackers or slot corners crashing hard downhill pre-snap since aggressive blitz packages get gashed by this screen if you diagnose it fast enough to sit and wait. Key the flow of the defensive line at the snap, if they are selling out to rush upfield the screen will have running room, but if you see a linebacker spy or delayed blitzer sitting in the throwing lane the QB may hold the ball too long and eat a sack. User a linebacker or slot defender and stay home on the bubble receiver instead of biting on the outside clear-out route, since that user-controlled lurk defender is the best way to blow this play up before blockers set the edge. Look for Cover 3 or Cover 4 shells with corners playing off, since those coverages allow blockers to get set and turn this into a explosive gain if the flat defender bites on the clear-out. Against man coverage, jam the bubble receiver at the line if possible to disrupt his release and buy time for the pass rush to affect the throw before blockers can wall off pursuit.
Usage Tips
Throw this the instant the ball is snapped since the blockers need time to get set up in front of the bubble receiver before the defense closes the throwing lane.
Use this against defenses showing blitz or man-heavy pressure pre-snap since the clear-out route on the outside will pull coverage away from the bubble and remove any short zone defenders sitting underneath.
Hot route the backside X receiver into a quick slant or drag if you see a Cover 2 shell, since that gives you a built-in checkdown if the screen side gets sniffed out by a linebacker with eyes in the backfield.
Pair this with Quick Slants or Stick from the same set to keep the defense guessing between quick game and screen game, forcing linebackers to hesitate on their run-blitz reads.
Avoid calling this on third and long against zone-heavy defenses that sit back, since the extra defenders in underneath zones can trigger fast enough to blow up the screen before blockers get outside.
