Playbooks
Breakdown
Z Spot from Shotgun Stack Y-Flex is a classic Spot concept designed to attack Cover 3 and other zone shells with a five man route combo. The diagram shows the stacked receivers running a corner route and a deep dig from the left side, the TE running a flat/flex route out of the backfield area with a red blocking assignment shown on the inline blocker, and the right side receiver running a hitch to flat combo with the backside route working up the sideline. The primary read progression starts with the underneath flat/hitch combo to hold the corner defender, then works to the corner route as the deep zone clear out, with the dig sitting down in the void created between the linebackers and safeties as the money route against zone drops.
Defensive Reads
Watch the flat defender post snap, if he sinks with the corner route the underneath spot route will be wide open for an easy completion. Key the middle linebacker depth pre snap, shallow linebackers signal man coverage or a blitz look which makes the corner route and dig more vulnerable to a nano blitz or lurk defender jumping the throwing lane. Identify if the defense shows two deep safeties, that shell invites a user controlled safety to sit on the corner route so be ready to check down to the flat or dig instead. Against Cover 3, the deep dig sitting in the seam between the hook defender and deep third safety is the primary answer, so any late rotation to single high should trigger an immediate progression to that route. Man coverage with no safety help over the top exposes this concept to a jump route or rub technique from the defense, so if you see press man alignment be ready to hot route the corner into a quicker breaking route to avoid a pick six.
Usage Tips
Diagnose the safety alignment before the snap, two high shells with soft corners are prime spots for the corner route to work over the top while single high indicates the dig will be your primary answer against Cover 3 drops.
Use motion or a quick glance at the flat defender to determine if he is sinking into a zone drop or squatting on the hitch, that tells you whether to trust the flat route or climb straight to the dig.
Hot route the flat route to a speed out if you see man coverage on the TE, since the natural flat concept can get picked off in tight man leverage.
Pair this play with Curl Combo or Levels in your call sheet so the defense sees similar route stems out of the same personnel and formation, forcing linebackers to hesitate on their zone drops.
Best used on second and medium to second and long where the defense is more likely to sit in zone shells, since the dig and corner both need time to develop against soft coverage.
