Playbooks
Breakdown
Deep Attack from Shotgun Spread 10 personnel sends five receivers vertical to attack every level of the defense. The backside receiver runs a deep in-breaking route across the middle while the inline receiver next to him releases on a wheel route up the sideline. On the strongside, one receiver breaks outside on an out route, another climbs and breaks toward the post on a deep corner-ish in-cut, and the outside receiver runs a straight go route up the numbers. This is a shot play and Cover 2 or Cover 3 beater built off Four Verts concepts, with no play-action or screen elements, and the primary read starts with the vertical shots on the strongside before working back to the wheel route against man leverage.
Defensive Reads
Watch for two deep safeties pre-snap, this indicates Cover 2 and means the seams and the post-breaking route from the strongside stack will be your best window. A single high safety with corners playing off at the snap points to Cover 3, so key the middle linebacker's drop, if he sinks late the deep in route over the middle is wide open. If the cornerback aligned over the inline receiver bails hard at the snap, he is playing man and susceptible to the wheel route once he loses outside leverage. User lurk defenders sitting in the middle of the field can jump the deep in-breaking route, so if you see a defender hovering there post-snap, look to the corner or go route on the opposite side instead. Disguised Cover 4 with press corners at the line is the toughest shell against this concept, since it takes away the vertical stems and lets safeties help over the top on both verticals.
Usage Tips
Check the safety alignment before the snap, two deep safeties split evenly signals Cover 2 and tells you to attack the seams between them with the vertical routes on the strongside.
If you see a single high safety rotating late, that is Cover 3, and the deep in route crossing the middle becomes a huge void shot behind the linebackers.
Hot route the shallow out route into a deeper comeback if you are facing soft zone coverage that sits underneath, giving your quarterback a quicker outlet against a heavy rush.
Use this play on third and long or in two minute drill situations when you need a chunk gain, since every route is designed to hit fifteen or more yards downfield.
Pair Deep Attack with Curl Flats or Quick Slants earlier in a drive to condition the defense into sitting on shorter routes, then dial this up to hit the wheel route or post cut once corners start jumping underneath throws.
