Playbooks
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Breakdown
Inside Dig out of Shotgun Trey 4WR (10 personnel) features a five route concept built around a deep dig crossing the middle of the field. The outside receiver to the trips side runs a go route to clear the top of the coverage, the inside slot runs the dig sitting down in the intermediate middle, and the backside X on the diagram runs a corner route while the backside single receiver runs a quick out breaking to the sideline. The HB releases into the flat as a checkdown option. This is a man beater and zone beater hybrid, with the primary read progression going dig first, corner route second, and flat checkdown as the outlet against pressure.
Defensive Reads
Key the middle linebacker or the hole defender in Cover 3, since if he widens with the trips receivers the dig route sits in a clean void. Watch the safeties post snap, because two high shells that stay split are vulnerable to the corner route working behind the underneath zone defenders. Look for a Cover 1 robber or lurk defender sitting in the intermediate middle, since this play struggles if a linebacker or safety is spying the dig lane. Blitz packages that bring six or more rushers force a quick decision, so track whether the HB releases clean into the flat or has to chip first. If the defense rolls to Cover 2 with hard corners jumping the flat route, the dig and corner combo behind them becomes the answer.
Usage Tips
Pre-snap, identify whether the defense is showing single high or two high safeties, since the dig sits down in the void created against Cover 3 and Cover 1 hole defenders. If you see man coverage with no safety help over the middle, prioritize the dig route as soon as the linebacker flows away from the throwing lane. Hot route the backside out to a quick slant if you are facing press man corners to speed up the timing against blitz looks. Use this play on second and medium to third and long situations where the defense is more likely to sit in zone drops and give you the dig window. Pair this with Four Verticals or Double Post from the same formation to keep the defense honest on deep safety rotation, since both plays attack the same trips alignment but stress different levels of the field.
