Playbooks
Breakdown
Drive Corner out of Shotgun Tight (11 personnel) shows a five man route concept with no protection help attached, meaning it is a full pass concept designed to stress a Cover 4 shell. The backside receiver runs a deep drive route across the field underneath, the outside receiver on that side sprints a deep vertical, and the front side stacks a corner route (the red breaking route working outside), an out breaking route in the flat, and an underneath in cut crossing the middle. The primary read starts with the corner route against the flat defender and safety, then works backside to the drive route as the coverage rotates, making this a Cover 4 beater built around high low stress on the outside corner and deep quarter safety.
Defensive Reads
Read the free safety and strong safety depth pre-snap, if both are aligned at 10 to 12 yards showing quarters, expect the corner route and drive route to have the most separation. Watch the flat defender at the snap, if he sinks with the corner route the quarterback should hit the underneath in cut or drive route immediately for a quick completion. Key the corner’s hips at the snap, if he opens and runs with the vertical route on the same side, the corner route behind him becomes a max protect window against a Cover 4 defender. Man coverage with press alignment on the outside receivers is the toughest matchup since the corner route can get squeezed by physical jam technique, look to the underneath crossing route as the man beater outlet. If the defense shows a delayed blitz or nano blitz with linebackers crashing off the edge, get the ball out fast to the flat or drive route before the corner route has time to develop.
Usage Tips
Pre-snap, identify if the defense is showing a two high or four across shell since this play is specifically built to punish Cover 4 quarter defenders who have to choose between the corner route and the vertical stretch.
If the corner is playing off man, hot route the flat route into a quick out to speed up the timing and beat press or bail coverage before the corner route develops.
Use this on second and long or third and medium situations where defenses lean on quarters or Cover 2 shells to protect against explosive plays downfield.
Pair this call with Verticals HB Burst or PA Deep Post from the same set to keep the defense guessing between vertical shots and the corner breaking concept.
If you see a single high safety rotate late, check down early to the drive route underneath since the corner window will likely be taken away by the extra deep defender.
