Playbooks
Quick Reference
In 1 playbook
Breakdown
Deep Curls out of Shotgun Split Slot Open sends both outside receivers vertically up the seams before breaking down into curls at roughly 12-15 yards, while the slot receiver runs a deep crossing dig that settles in the middle of the field. The backside receiver on the line runs a shallow drag underneath, giving the quarterback an outlet against pressure or a checkdown versus zone drops. This is a zone beater at its core, using the curl-flat and dig combo to sit in the soft spots between linebackers and safeties, with the primary read progression starting at the deep crossing route, working to the curl on the boundary, and finishing with the underneath drag as the last resort.
Defensive Reads
Pre-snap, check safety depth: if both safeties are sitting at 10-12 yards, they are cheating on the curl breakpoints and you should look to the dig route instead. Watch linebacker depth at the snap, since sinking hook defenders will jump the curl routes if they read the quarterback's eyes early. Identify any user-controlled defender lurking in the middle of the field, as that player will often bait the throw to the dig or curl and jump the route late. Cover 3 with a deep middle safety can be attacked underneath with the shallow drag since the flat defender often bites on the vertical stems of the curl routes. Man coverage with no safety help over the top is vulnerable if the outside corners bite on the vertical stem, allowing the curl break to create separation, but tight press coverage with an underneath robber will shut down the shallow drag read.
Usage Tips
Look for two-high safety shells pre-snap since the curls and dig settle right into the voids that Cover 2 and Cover 4 leave underneath the deep safeties.
Use the deep crossing route as your first read against zone coverage because it sits down in the throwing lane between the hook and deep third defenders.
If the defense shows man coverage, hot route the shallow drag into a speed out or slant to give yourself a quicker, more reliable option against tight press alignment.
This play works best on second and long or third and medium situations where sitting routes in zone windows creates high completion percentage throws.
Pair Deep Curls with Dbl Slant or RPO Peek Slant from the same set to keep the defense honest, since those quick game concepts punish teams that sit back in zone anticipating the deep curls.
