Playbooks
Quick Reference
Breakdown
Smash Hammer aligns out of Shotgun Tight Y Off Wk with 11 personnel and shows a classic Smash concept to the right paired with a swing route out of the backfield. The outside receiver runs a deep corner route to clear out the top of the zone while the slot runs a hitch/flat route underneath to attack the void, and on the left side the TE runs a corner route off a quick out from the inside receiver stacked underneath him. The HB releases out of the backfield on a swing route to the flat as a checkdown or man beater against linebackers. This is a pass play built as a Cover 2 beater, with the primary read starting on the smash side (corner over flat) before working back to the HB swing.
Defensive Reads
Two high safeties pre-snap with soft corners at the line usually signals Cover 2, which is exactly what this play is designed to exploit through the smash concept on the right side. Watch the flat defender post-snap, if he sinks with the hitch route the corner route behind him will be open, if he stays wide the hitch is the easy completion. Man coverage with a linebacker matched on the HB is a green light to target the swing route immediately since the HB should win outside quickly. A single high safety look with press corners suggests Cover 3 or man free, which can take away the deep corner routes and force you to rely on the underneath hitch and swing. Watch for a nickel or slot blitz off the left side, since the quick out underneath the TE corner route can be there as a hot read if the blitz picks up the alert.
Usage Tips
Look for two deep safeties pre-snap to confirm Cover 2 or Cover 4 before snapping since this play is designed specifically to attack the flat defender on the smash concept.
Start your read on the corner route over the flat route to the right, if the corner drops deep and the flat defender sits, throw the hitch quickly before the underneath defender can close the window.
Use the HB swing as a built in checkdown against man coverage or if the smash side is jumped by an underneath defender, this route also punishes blitzes since the HB releases quickly to the flat.
Call this on early downs or third and short to medium since the swing route and hitch give you easy completions if the deep corners are covered.
Pair this with Smash Drag or Smash X-drag from the same set to give the defense the same initial picture pre-snap while attacking different levels, keeping linebackers and safeties guessing on route combos.
