Playbooks
Quick Reference
Breakdown
Bench Dig Pivot lines up out of Shotgun Tight Open with 11 personnel and shows a five man route concept built on the left side while the protection holds up front. The two outside receivers on the left run a bench route (deep out breaking to the sideline) stacked with a corner route working up and away at a steeper angle, while the inside receiver runs a pivot out of the slot that snaps back to the flat. On the right side one receiver runs a deep dig that sits down in the middle of the field and the other works an out and up into the sideline, giving the quarterback a full field high low read from the pivot underneath to the dig sitting down over the middle. This is a man beater first thanks to the pivot's built in break away from leverage, but the dig also settles into soft spots against zone, making the primary read the pivot to dig progression depending on whether the defense shows man or zone post snap.
Defensive Reads
Look for off coverage on the slot receiver pre-snap since press corners can jam the pivot route and disrupt its timing before it snaps back. Cover 3 and other single high shells struggle with this concept because the flat defender has to choose between the pivot and the corner route stacked outside it. Man coverage with no safety help over the top gets exposed by the pivot's built in separation move, so watch for man shells with the free safety shaded away from the play side. Cover 2 with a hard corner and squatting flat defender can undercut the pivot route, so if you see two deep safeties pre-snap be ready to work the dig instead of forcing the pivot. Watch for a delayed inside linebacker blitz off the mesh point since the protection is built for a standard four man rush and can break down against a five or six man pressure package.
Usage Tips
Check the pre-snap leverage of the slot defender before the snap, since the pivot route is designed to sit down away from inside leverage and is a nightmare for man corners playing tight.
Against zone shells, key the underneath linebacker depth: if he sinks into the pivot's landing spot, work the dig on the opposite hash where the middle of field defender has to choose one target.
Use this play on second and medium to third and long when you need a full field flood concept that stresses both man and zone coverage without needing a play action fake.
Pair Bench Dig Pivot with Bench Z Spot or Dig Z Spot earlier in a drive so the defense sees similar route stems and then gets hit with the pivot's snap back for a chunk gain.
If the user drops a linebacker into the pivot's window, hot route the dig runner to sit at a shorter depth to stay ahead of any late rotating safety help.
