Playbooks
Quick Reference
Breakdown
Z Spot lines up out of Shotgun Spread with 10 personnel and attacks the underneath zones with a five man route concept built around the classic Spot combo. The two outside receivers to the left run corner-breaking outs at different depths while the inner slot works a quick corner route on the far side, and the Y runs a flat route working underneath. The red route is the Z receiver running a pivot or spot route back to the flat, sitting down in the hole created by the corner route stretching the zone vertically. This is a Cover 3 beater by design, using the corner route to clear out the deep third defender and the pivot/spot route to settle into the vacated zone, with the flat route underneath giving a quick outlet if the middle read is not there.
Defensive Reads
Pre-snap, identify single high versus two high safety shells since this concept is most vulnerable to Cover 3 with a hard sitting curl to flat defender. If the flat defender widens fast with the underneath route, the user needs to snap back inside to the spot route sitting in the void, this is the key coverage defeater on this play. Watch for a robber or lurk defender sitting in the shallow middle since he can jump the spot route if the quarterback stares it down too long. Man coverage with press corners tends to shut this down quickly since the pivot route loses its advantage without soft zone spacing to sit into. Zone blitzes that bring extra rushers off the edge while dropping a linebacker into the shallow hole can disrupt the timing of the spot route and force the quarterback into a rushed decision.
Usage Tips
Read the flat defender or curl to flat player before the snap to see if he widens with the flat route or stays home for the spot route sitting underneath. Against Cover 3 look immediately for the spot route settling into the hole vacated by the corner route, this is your primary read on this concept. Use this play on third and short to medium situations where the underneath sit routes give the quarterback a high percentage completion against zone drops. Pair Z Spot with Four Verticals or Deep Attack in the same set to punish defenses that start sitting on the short spot route after seeing it a few times. If you see man coverage pre-snap, consider hot routing the flat route into a quick out or checking to a different man beater like Mesh or Y Cross instead since Spot concepts are built to exploit zone drops rather than man leverage.
