Playbooks
PA Bronco Fork is a play-action shot play out of Shotgun Split Cowboy that uses a run fake to hold the second and third level defenders before attacking vertically. The fork concept splits routes to both sides of the field, creating a deep shot on one side and an intermediate breaking route on the other, so the offense can attack both zone drops and man leverage depending on the coverage shell. This is primarily a man beater designed to hit the go or corner route on an isolated cornerback, but the underneath option gives you a answer versus zone drops if the safety rotates over the top. Primary read progression starts with the deep outside shot route, then works down to the intermediate breaking route, and finishes with any check down or drag underneath if both are covered.
Watch for cornerback press alignment before the snap, tight press man on the fork route side signals a blitz or man coverage look that favors the deep shot if you win the release. Key the linebacker depth after the snap, shallow linebackers who bite hard on the run fake open up easy throwing windows on the intermediate route. Identify any user-controlled defender dropping into a deep third or hovering as a lurk defender, since a rover-style user defender can jump the intermediate breaking route and bait a turnover throw. Cover 3 with a sky safety funneling toward the fork route is the toughest shell to beat here, so be ready to reset to the underneath checkdown instead of forcing the deep throw. Man coverage with no safety help over the top gets exposed by the deep fork route, but disguised zone blitzes with delayed linebacker drops can cause the play-action fake to hang the quarterback out with no protection.
Sell the run fake by holding the play-action animation out fully before working through your reads, this freezes linebackers and opens throwing lanes underneath.
Check the safety alignment pre-snap, if you see two high safeties expect zone drops and prioritize the intermediate breaker, if you see one high safety expect man coverage and look to the deep fork route immediately.
Hot route the underneath receiver into a quick out or spot route against Cover 2 or Cover 3 shells to give yourself a faster answer versus a hard zone drop.
Use this play on second and long or third and medium situations where defenses are more likely to play zone shells, since the double move on the fork route punishes cushion-based coverage.
Pair this with HB Power O or HB Draw earlier in a series to set up the run fake, then call PA Bronco Fork once the defense starts sitting on the run action, and mix in Bronco Cross or Bronco Y-angle from the same formation to keep linebackers guessing on run fits.