Playbooks
Quick Reference
In 2 playbooks
Breakdown
Empty Mtn Drive lines up five wide out of Shotgun Spread Y-Flex, empty backfield, and attacks the middle of the field with a classic Drive concept. The two inside receivers run a shallow crosser under a deep dig (the red route breaking in then up the seam), while the far outside receivers on both sides push vertical to hold the safeties and clear the intermediate window. The near right receiver runs a short out to the flat as a checkdown and the drag route works from right to left underneath the dig, giving the QB a clear high-low read. This is a man beater first (the drag and dig combo creates natural rub and separation against man coverage) but it also holds up against zone thanks to the clearing verticals stretching the deep defenders, with the primary read progressing from the dig, to the drag underneath, to the flat route as the checkdown.
Defensive Reads
Pre-snap, check safety depth and spacing; two deep safeties with soft corners signal zone drops that clog the drag route, so the dig becomes the priority target. Watch the middle linebacker or nickel defender at the snap; if he sits or spies the shallow crosser instead of dropping to depth, that is a strong indicator of a user controlled lurk trying to jump the drag route. Man coverage with a single high safety is the ideal shell to attack, since the dig and drag combo naturally creates traffic and forces defenders to fight through picks. Cover 4 and quarters shells struggle against this concept because the outside verticals occupy the corners and safeties, leaving the drag and dig uncontested in the intermediate middle. Be alert for a delayed blitz or nano blitz up the middle since the empty backfield leaves no running back to chip, so if the interior line shows pressure indicators, expect the quarterback to need to speed up the progression to the drag or checkdown flat route quickly.
Usage Tips
Use this on early downs or third and medium when you need a defined progression against man or zone coverage.
Pre-snap, identify if the defense is showing two-high or single-high; two-high shells widen the window for the dig route since only one safety has to account for the vertical stretch.
If you see man coverage with no help over the drag, hot route the outside vertical receivers to break off their routes into hitches or comebacks to force a numbers conflict underneath.
Pair this with Empty Mtn FL Screen or RPO Alert Screen out of the same set so defenders start jumping the quick game, opening up the dig and drag combo on early downs.
Against teams that sit in zone and spam user lurk in the shallow area, look to climb the ladder faster to the dig instead of forcing the drag, since the shallow crosser is the route most likely to get squeezed.
