Playbooks
At a Glance
Overview
Open Flex is Shotgun's RPO hub. You get 11 personnel with the back offset next to the QB, the tight end flexed off the line into a slot or wing alignment, and receivers spread to both numbers. That flex alignment is the whole point: the TE is no longer a blocker attached to the tackle, he is a route runner working from a two way go with grass on both sides. Defenses that answer with base personnel are stuck putting a linebacker or a strong safety on that flexed body, and Madden's route running animations on seams and out breaking stems make that a losing matchup every time.
Strengths
- RPO Read Y Flat and RPO Read WR Screen give you a free conflict read on the box defender, so you can hand it off against light boxes or pull it and hit the flat when the second level triggers down.
- Dagger and Double Post are elite Cover 3 and Cover 4 shell beaters, clearing the deep middle with the vertical stem and dropping the dig or the second post into the vacated window behind the hook defenders.
- The flexed TE creates a legitimate linebacker isolation on X Seam and Vertical TE Out, and both concepts win against single high man without any hot route work.
- Deep Outs punishes soft squat corners and any zone shell that plays with outside leverage bail technique, and it pairs with a streak hot route on the slot to hold the safety.
- HB Dive off the same look keeps the second level honest, which is what makes the RPO alert screens and the pull throws land later in the game.
Weaknesses
- Only one back and no attached tight end means interior pressure and nano blitz looks get home fast, and the Dagger and Double Post developing routes leave you exposed with no sixth blocker.
- The RPO Alert Cntr Screen and RPO Cntr Alert Screen plays get destroyed by user controlled defenders who read the screen key and jump the throwing lane for a pick six.
- Heavy man press with a robber or a user in the middle takes away X Seam and Vertical TE Out, since the flexed TE has nowhere to sit and both concepts rely on space over the ball.
- HB Dive is your only true inside run here, so short yardage and goal line situations become predictable and easy to stuff with a pinched line.
- The spread alignment tips pass heavy tendencies, and disciplined opponents will sub in nickel or dime and sit in a two high shell without ever respecting the run threat.
Usage Tips
Read the box pre snap on any RPO. Six or fewer defenders in the box means take the give, seven or more means pull it and work the alert route or the flat.
Against single high shells lean on Dagger and Double Post. Against two high, motion a receiver to identify man or zone, then attack the flat and out breaking concepts instead of the deep middle.
Hot route the flexed TE to a drag or slant when you diagnose man press, which turns X Seam into a quick rub and gives you an easy man beater on third and medium.
Use HB Dive early in a series to make the second level defenders honest, then come back to RPO Read WR Screen once you see the linebackers crashing.
Block your back or slide protect toward pressure before you call anything long developing, and keep a check down hot route available so a nano blitz does not force a sack.
