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Breakdown
Curl Outs out of Shotgun Tight Slots (11 personnel) shows a five man route concept with no visible protection help, meaning it is a quick game passer answer built to attack zone drops. From the diagram, both inline receivers to the left run vertical stems that break outside and settle as curls at the sticks, while the two receivers to the right side (slot and outside) run vertical stems that break into an out breaking route toward the sideline. There is also a middle read running a short in breaking route underneath, giving the quarterback a built in checkdown against a hot blitz. The primary read progression works right to left: start with the out route on the boundary since it clears space quickly, then work to the curl combo on the opposite side, using the shallow middle route as the blitz beater if the pocket collapses.
Defensive Reads
Pre-snap, check safety depth. Two high shells indicate Cover 2 or Cover 4, which allows the curls to work into the soft zone under the safeties and over the flat defenders. Watch the flat defenders (corners or outside linebackers) at the snap. If they widen with the out routes, the curls behind them will have a clean throwing lane. Against Cover 3, the middle in breaking route becomes the primary answer since the deep third corners will carry the outside verticals before they break, leaving the underneath hole exposed. Man coverage with off corners will struggle to close on the out breaking routes, but press man with inside leverage linebackers can jump the shallow crosser, so be ready to move to the curls immediately. Blitz-heavy fronts with a lurking linebacker in the middle of the field can undercut the shallow route, so read the mike linebacker's depth and drop angle before committing to that throw.
Usage Tips
Use this on third and medium to long since the curls sit down at the sticks and the out route can pick up first down yardage on the boundary.
Pre-snap, identify if the defense is showing two deep safeties or single high. Against two deep shells the curls will sit in the soft spot between the flat defender and the deep safety.
If you see man coverage with press corners, hot route the middle in breaking route into a quick slant or speed out to beat the leverage before the underneath defenders can wall it off.
Combine this play with Stick or Stick Switch from the same set to keep the defense honest, since both attack similar horizontal stretches but with different route depths and timing.
Against zone blitz looks, get the ball out fast to the middle route or the near out route rather than climbing the pocket, since the curls take longer to develop and are vulnerable to late arriving underneath defenders.
