Playbooks
Quick Reference
Breakdown
X Dagger out of Shotgun Normal Y Off Wk (11 personnel) is a classic dagger concept built to attack two deep safety shells. Off the diagram, the outside receiver runs a deep clear out to the sideline, the inner receiver pushes vertical then breaks into a deep dig sitting behind the linebackers, and a third route runs a vertical seam to hold the safety while the backside receiver runs an isolated deep out breaking route on his own. The primary read progression is dig to seam to backside out, with the dig as the true Cover 2 and Cover 3 beater since the clear out route drags the corner or flat defender out of the throwing window.
Defensive Reads
Pre-snap check safety depth and spacing, if both safeties are deep and split wide you are likely facing Cover 2 or Cover 3, which is exactly what this concept punishes. Key the flat defender or corner on the clear out route, if he sinks with the vertical release the underneath window for the dig opens immediately. Watch for a user controlled linebacker sitting in the middle hook zone, since a disciplined lurk defender can jump the dig route and bait the quarterback into a turnover. Man coverage with no safety help over the top is a hard read against this play since the dig has to fight through a wall of defenders, look to backside out route instead. Fire zone or zone blitz calls that bring five rushers can disrupt this timing based concept, check for extra defenders creeping toward the line before the snap.
Usage Tips
Pre-snap identify two high safeties before snapping this since Dagger is designed specifically to punish Cover 2 and Cover 3 shells.
If you see single high Cover 3 with a hard sink from the flat defender, hit the dig route as soon as it clears the linebacker level.
Use the vertical seam route as a hold route against Cover 2 robber looks to freeze the safety before working back to the dig.
Call this on second and medium to second and long where defenses are more likely to sit in zone shells rather than blitz.
Pair X Dagger with Four Verticals and Curl Combo in the same set so the defense cannot sit on the deep dig without opening up verticals or curl windows underneath.
