Playbooks
WR Under
Quick Reference
Breakdown
WR Under runs out of Shotgun Tight Y Off Wk with 11 personnel and shows a five man route concept built to stress zone drops and man leverage underneath. The two receivers to the trips side run a shallow drag under a corner route from the slot, while the backside X runs a slant flat combo that clears the underneath area, and the tight end from the strong side releases outside on a deep out. The primary read starts with the shallow drag crossing the field, working through the corner route as a window opens against zone, then bailing to the flat/slant side or the tight end out if the underneath is jumped, making this a strong man beater and Cover 3 beater.
Defensive Reads
Watch the cornerback over the trips side pre-snap, if he is playing soft outside leverage the corner route behind him will be open once the shallow drag clears. Key the middle linebacker's depth at the snap, a shallow drop signals zone and opens the drag/corner combo, while an aggressive man trigger tips blitz or man coverage. Look for user-controlled defenders sitting in the shallow crossing lane, this is the most common way defenses try to shut down WR Under, so be ready to reset to the deep out or corner route. Against Cover 3, the seam between the underneath zone and deep third defender is the primary exploit, attack it with timing on the corner route before the safety can rotate over. If the defense shows blitz with the slot defender crashing, the shallow drag becomes a built-in answer since it clears the vacated area almost immediately after the snap.
Usage Tips
Pre-snap, identify if the defense is showing two high or single high safety look, since this concept punishes Cover 3 hard with the shallow drag and corner combo.
Use the drag as your first read against man coverage, it creates natural rub traffic and separation versus linebackers and nickel defenders.
If you see zone drops sitting on the shallow route, work to the corner route on the deep third or the deep out from the tight end for an explosive gain.
Hot route the flat/slant side receiver deeper if the defense is soft in that area, giving you an easy checkdown against blitz looks.
Pair this play with Shallow Cross or Slot Cross in your play-calling sequence, since both attack similar zones and force the defense to guess whether you are working underneath or stretching vertically.
