Z Dagger

Z Dagger is a classic dagger concept out of Flex Y Off Wk in Shotgun, pairing a deep vertical clear-out with an underneath in-cut to attack the void behind zone drops. The outside receiver to the closed side runs a corner route breaking away toward the sideline while the inside slot receiver climbs vertically up the seam before sitting down on a dig in behind the linebackers, and the backside X runs a deep drag across the field underneath everything. The frontside receiver on the boundary releases and turns upfield on a straight vertical to occupy the deep defender and clear the dagger dig behind him. This is a zone beater that also holds up against man coverage due to the natural rub created by the vertical clearing the underneath defender, and the primary read progression starts with the seam-to-dig runner, works to the deep corner route if the safety jumps the dig, and checks down to the drag as the outlet.